001Heat. Heat. I'm [music] happy. Heat. You will yourself. [music] Hey, hey, hey. I'll be happy. You will yourself. Ooh. Io. Hey. Hey. >> [music] >> Woah woah woah. Oh. [music] Hey. Hey. Heat. [music] Hey, Heat. [music] Heat. Heat. Heat. N. Uh-oh. >> [music] >> Happy birthday. Hey, hey, hey. I love you. Hey, [music] hey, hey. again. Again, I feel heat. >> [music] >> Hey again. Heat. Heat. [music] I'm heat. >> [music] >> Heat. Heat. You yourself. [music] Heat. Heat. I'll be happy. You prove yourself. Oo. Ooh. God. Ooh. Ready to get started? Are we all set, Steve? Like there. Okay. >> All set. Okay. All right. The board met in close session at 6 p.m. this evening to discuss matters that fall into the following categories that are exception to Illinois Open Meetings Act. Close
002session minutes exception C21. Student matters exception C9. Personal matters exception C1, legal matters exception C11. At this time, I would like to ask for a motion to go into open session. >> Make a motion that we go back into open session. >> Motion by Miss Hannah. >> Second by Miss Lensing. Can we have a roll call vote, please? >> Miss Fabian, >> yes. >> Miss Hannah, >> yes. >> Miss Lensing, >> yes. >> Mr. McBride, >> yes. >> Mr. [clears throat] Ramirez, >> yes. >> Mr. Riddle, >> yes. >> President Rodriguez, >> yes. Motion carries. We are now in open session. Dr. Bubble, would you do us the honor of leading us in the pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one
003nation under God, indivisible, with liberty, justice for all. Thank you. Okay, next item on the agenda is the president's report. And I just want to uh instance some of the things that we've been doing this last couple weeks. Been a very busy couple of weeks. Um Thursday, May 14th, the annual board of education retirement dinner, which I um participate in. A very very sad event. Happy in in some regards. Um very sad in some regards. and uh was also a very enjoyable entertaining event. Um on May 15th, I participated in the IASP, the Illinois Association Association of School Boards large member district quarterly meeting. And um a couple of announcements were made about um changes that are taking place at this year's IASP conference. Uh, one change is going to be that there is going
004to be a shuttle between the uh, the Hyatt and the Sheridan. Okay? Because that was always kind of a treacherous walk at time. So, they're going to have a shuttle. And the other thing is that the uh, delegates meeting is being changed to Saturday at noon instead of being first thing Saturday morning. And they're also going to be providing lunch to the delegates. Okay. Um May 15th we participated in the Walkan High School commencement exercises. Beautiful event, not a drop of rain, >> very different from last year. And um we graduated 955 students, >> big class. >> Um May 20th, 21st, we participated in the eighth grade promotion ceremonies for middle schools and at the Genese Theater. And it was a beautiful event. It was well attended by uh board members and um very uh
005very emotional event and a lot of parents were there and very proud parents and uh the students. It's always very uh motivating to see all those students those uh excited faces looking forward to uh taking that big step from middle school to high school. Um, there's a beautiful article in the New Sun Thursday, April 30th about all of our future leaders that were participating in the Mikvah challenge. That's a big thing. And, uh, we're very proud of all of our students that participated in that. Um, Walkegan High senior wins our district for the 10th district. That's the 10th congressional district. That was um Annabelle Larson, a walking high school senior. Very proud of her. [applause] And as I mentioned at one of our prior meetings also this last month, Walkegan school board member Anita Hannah
006has her uh artwork on display for the rest of this month at the Jack Benny Center. [applause] You all see it and district hoping to add IB program. Okay, this was in the new sun on Friday, May 15th. As uh many of us are aware, school district is trying to add another U international bucket program to our district. This would be a middle school. This would be Robert Abbott Middle School. And uh the uh plan is taking place. It's underway and uh we're hoping to have very good positive results in the next uh how long will that take Dr. Sario? >> Another year. >> Three years. >> About three years. that is in the works. And then another beautiful article in the in New Sun Tuesday, May 19th about the Walkagan High students graduate looking
007to the future. So there's just a lot of lot of good things happening in in our district and we're getting a lot of good press and uh we're very grateful to that. And that is all that I have. Um where is my here? All right. Student board member report. We don't have student board members here. >> One is coming. >> Graduated. >> Oh, here we go. >> Yeah, the other one graduated. >> Frankie and um and I I had the pleasure of shaking the hand of Treasure Allen as she crossed the stage and giving her a big hug. We're very proud of her. Uh we really enjoyed having her with us as a student board member and uh we wish her a lot of success in her uh future endeavors. And um Frankie, are you
008here to give us a report? Uh hello. Is this on? Um so for today, I don't have much since the year just ended, but I'll have to say that it's been a pleasant year. Uh the school has been doing really great making improvements and especially like for our members. Uh, I feel like giving them the the opportunity to know what's going to happen, what's going to change, I I think that they really look up to it. And aside from that, I really don't have much. Thank you. >> Well, I I do want to I do want to say something, Frankie. I just want you to know that we've really appreciated having you as a student board member and uh uh it's it's been very um uh gratifying for us just to see the the progress
009that you've made, the way you've changed and and you've uh uh developed as as an individual. This I think this has been a learning experience for you too and we thank you for all the input that you've given to us and for all the input that you've taken back to the student body on behalf of the board. So, thank you. And uh I guess this is your last meeting with your last official meeting with us, but we're just all very happy to have uh had the honor to work with you. [applause] >> Okay. Item seven, special recognition and presentations. Spotlight on 60 civic sir. >> [music] [music] >> here in particular. We have our civics uh project these last about 2 months. And what the trifold you see is not the project. It's basically the
010summary of the project. So what do they do? There's several steps. They're doing their research. They're raising awareness, demonstrating support, getting people to support their idea. >> Most of the time I'll tell someone that I I go to walk high school and they'll be like, "You go to walking like and I'll be like, "No, like walking is a good school. They have so many resources for us. We're doing so much better. There's so much good student." But they don't see that. They see other stuff like they they see like other stuff like kids vaping in school and the other stuff, but I want them to see like the positive side. A C is one. I feel like not every school has a a like a whole separate school for other kids to actually like kids
011that are um struggling to actually have something like such a strong support system. I feel like a lot of our um counselors are have really strong support system like they'll always make sure that you're okay. There's also like classes like um like credit recover recovery classes and a lot of um teachers like one of my teachers she does like um a study hours. So like after school she stays like for two extra hours for like students to stay and do their homework like if they don't have like you know some people at home they have like such a chaotic like household and they just don't can't focus. So the our some teachers they do that for us. We believe that every student deserves a chance and an equal opportunity. So, how the school is set
012up right now, there's we're kind of separated into English, Spanish, and special education classes. And so, our goal is to bring them together through events and clubs. One idea we have is for clubs to have just kind of a requirement for how they would include these students whether through a translator or someone who needs to be there for special needs. Another is bringing back the best buddies club because it's this club that got cancelled. Um and it's just about how upper classmen get assigned to a younger student who um has special needs. So, um they just kind of like help them throughout high school and everything and they're there for them because you never know uh like if someone needs friends or needs some some type of person to talk to them. We have our
013issue, right? The problem that we face over here. We have families face rising housing costs and dramatic rent increases, right? with one of our three unknown facts being that landlords can increase rent from 20 to 50% legally with tenants having very little protections against it. >> Sorry, you go. But this falls under our policy alignment and they align with Illinois commitment to economic equity, responsible market regulation and public health and safety. Especially in W Keaggan where people are more to lower to moderate income. It really is important to raise awareness on these housing protections specifically to people because we don't want homelessness to increase. And with this in like continuous problem, it's really really important to have people know especially first-time buyers. You can see in our graph over here that the medium age for
014our US home buyers has increased to now 40 as the age 40 years old. And especially with repeat fires going to up to 62, this raising increase of housing um and like the age to buy a first-time house really reflects on how hard it is to get a house, especially right now in this economy. Good afternoon everyone. Teresa Placencia, District 60 School Superintendent. I'm so excited to be here today. We have so many wonderful presentations. I want to thank all the staff, the students, and the community members that came out today to make it a very special day in Walking Public Schools. Thank you for being a part of this with us. >> [applause] >> I want to speak. I don't know who was first. >> It doesn't matter. >> Did you want to go
015first? Oh. >> Um, so I want to say I went, it was great. I went with Mr. Riddle as part of um the Lions Club as well to provide a resource, but uh got distracted by all of the great projects that were out there and seeing the really thoughtfulness that our students have. Um, but even listening to the students that presented in this video, um, they're being very self-aware that we have a program like AOEC that really provides those supports inhouse where other districts have to kind of ship students out to get those really um, specific supports. Um, so I'm glad that they're um, acknowledging and understanding that and really thanking and I and I credit the staff over at AOEC. I've been there. I've used them. they do a great job. So, um, keep
016up the good work there. But also, she said something, you know, really important about perception, right? And the perception of Walk Keaggan. And this is why I say to the adults, words matter. And what you say matters because our students are listening. And so, if we keep perpetuating the negative speech and highlighting the negativity that our students do, which is very few of them, and they're going to do them. They're kids. they make mistakes versus all the great and fabulous things that they're doing and that they're capable of. They're going to hear it and they're going to feel it. So again, to our our adults out there, kids are listening and watching. So really watch your words and and words matter. Um and then just I I also saw a lot of um bilingual presentations
017as well, which I thought was great. And the inclusivity piece was amazing because again kids are are really watching and trying to gather together. the housing uh crisis. I didn't realize that the uh median age has gone up so high. So now I realize I really am never getting rid of my children. They're going to stay with me for another 20 years, I guess. Um but it is um it is very challenging. And so I hope that the this next set of children of our students will grow up to be those leaders that fix all of these um problems, right? and that come up with the systems and solutions to make our community better. So, thank you to all of you that put together a presentation. It was phenomenal and I got to see some
018former students. As a first grade teacher, you don't always get to see them all grown up um presenting. So, it was really nice as well. >> Thank you, Miss Fabian. Miss Lensing, >> um I've said it multiple times and I'm just going to keep saying it because it's true. We have the best kids. We literally have the best kids. I am so proud of our students here in Waggan and it infuriates me to no end that they're still dealing with the prejudices or prejudices that we received when we were going to school. As an adult, walking into spaces, people hearing that I'm from Walkagan. The things they say are just wild and so it's extremely frustrating. So yes, here in district we need to be mindful of the language we use, but we also have
019to understand that we're also battling the perceptions of parents of kids that during our time in school, we're saying the same things about walken. Let's be real, vaping is everywhere. Drugs are everywhere. So people who say, "I'm going to send my kid to, you know, Caramel or Libertyville or Lake Forest or whatever," drugs were flying all around. Like they they just are. So, it's just it is really frustrating that that's the perception that we get um when our kids are doing such amazing things. Um, and when it comes to the housing, especially here in Waggan, it's frustrating to see uh individuals getting priced out of being able to purchase their homes when we're battling against um corporations or um I don't know exactly what to to call them, but like the Airbnbs and the verbos
020where you have a landlord that owns five vacation homes on Sheridan where we can't get residents to be able to buy those houses because they're getting priced out by these types of situations. So, that's frustrating, too. Um, and while it sucks that the age in order to buy your own home is 40, I think you need to be careful because multigenerational households aren't a bad thing. It's not a stigma. There's a good reason that some people still live with their parents because they are providing aid to those parents that need those supports. So, I just want to be mindful about those conversations. But for those who want to buy their own house, the nation, not just walk, needs to figure out how to get it done for them. But I'm just so incredibly proud of
021our students. They do such amazing work. They're far more civically motivated, engaged than when I went to school. Um, so we we are so extremely proud of you. Thank you for all of your presentations. >> Thank you, Miss Lindsay. Hannah, >> I just want to say that it was amazing uh to be in that um in the dog pound with all of those thinking minds, those students. They covered um current social problems across the community. I uh was at one uh one of the um uh exhibits and they were talking about stop signs close to schools. They and ju just to see the um magnitude of the issues the social issues that they covered. It was absolutely refreshing and whenever I leave this seat, I'm going to be uh confident that the leaders out there
022will be replacing. And so it it was very refreshing to see that um that our students were so mindful of what's going on in society today. It was just magnificent. So good job young people. Keep up the good work because we are watching. >> Thank you, Miss Hannah. Anybody else? >> Mr. Weber. >> Uh, yeah. Good evening, uh, board president, members of the board. Um, and thank you guys for the kind words, um, for our civics project. This is the 9inth annual Mikvah showcase project. So, next year is the 10-year anniversary of this project. So, we're very excited about that. In a lot of ways, this is the culminating experience for our young K through 12 people um as this is their last required um social studies activity. Hopefully, they go on and do other
023wonderful things. But um tonight we have the privilege of um some of our student members who were chosen by all of the wonderful projects and they were amazing projects this year. I'm not just saying that because I say that every year. Um they were really well done. But we have a group of Mr. Sean Hanrahan's um students who are were 11th graders. They were soon to be seniors if I'm not mistaken. But um we would just like to welcome up Jessica Cardinis Garcia, Joselyn Frius, Zeta Alva Sanchez, and Raphaela Palencia. And they're going to tell us a little bit about the work. [applause] you're not completed. >> Uh good afternoon everybody. So our project was about our current outdated immigration laws. We wanted a revision or an update to these laws through our senators. We
024brought awareness and we also gained uh community support and we were able to present our concerns to Congressman Brad Schneider. >> All right. >> So through our project, we learned more about immigration laws. We got to see how some laws are outdated and make things difficult for immigrants to receive their documentation. What we hope from this project is to push our senators to create a bill that either revises, updates, or create a better and functional system. Um, one thing that I personally enjoyed about this project was being able to connect to other people and be able to discuss our project's issue and being able to spread awareness about our topic. A way for all of you to support our cause is to continue and allow opportunities like this to happen for the youth to be
025able to speak their voices and for you all to listen. allow and empower the youth into participating in their civic duty. So as we speak, we hope that you all listen to us. Thank you. [applause] >> Yeah, respectfully, Congress needs to get to work. So, thank you ladies for sharing this with us. I I thought it was wonderful that uh this group got to talk to Congressman Brad Snyder afterwards. >> Um and I really like the t-shirts that many of you were wearing. Democracy is indeed a verb. And I feel confident, as our other board members do, that we're in good hands, that the that the young people are really going to make some changes that this society has needed for so long. Thank you so much for all the effort you and your the
026rest of the students put into these projects. And and again, just as other board members here, I I really felt uh enthused and and just the the enthusiasm was contagious as you walked through there and saw all the different um projects and all the different concerns that people uh that students uh took on and and were working towards solutions. And thank you for talking to Congressman Snyder. Did you I had to leave. I know it was toward the end of the of the event, but did you spend quite a bit of time with him? Good. >> Great. Wonderful. Because something needs to be done on that. We've been trying for so many years to do something and uh I feel that it will happen with with you with your generation and and Cong and uh
027some of our politicians like you know, Congressman Brad Snyder. So, thank you very much. >> Thank you, Mr. Riddles. Mr. McBride. >> Well, I've been listening to you uh younger generation. Uh you said one thing. I hope you all are listening to us. And when you say you are, we're not talking about uh Brady Johnson. We're talking about from a local level cuz that's where it starts at. And we're the ones that's going to make the things happen for you. And we started just by having what's your name again sir? >> Frankie as you can see sitting with us for her for his voice to go back to you guys for whatever you get whatever you all conveyed to him he should convey it to us and we ought to make it happen for you.
028But uh once again um I just uh say that stay on us because we work for you. We're not just sitting here to be sitting here. We're here for you. Whatever the matter may be, your classroom, your gym, whatever you need, we're supposed to provide that for you. And then if you even against we talking about the just lunch, simple lunches. If you don't ask us, we don't know. But if you asked us, we supposed to do. So I want you to take that back with you to make sure that you stay on us because uh we're not in Springfield. We have we right here in Walking with you. So you stay on us. Okay. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. McBride. Anybody else? >> Thank you. Dr. Cesario Keegan Schools Foundation scholarship. Who's handling
029in? >> Oh, I should have known. >> Mhm. >> While we're waiting for them, Mr. Uh, President, I'd like to just acknowledge a former board member in the audience with us, Miss Charlotte. Um, I would have >> Yes, [applause] she's here for the presentation as well. >> Um, so if we can uh go to the next slide. Today, um, I have the pleasure I wear multiple hats, so I'm also on the walking public schools foundation. Um, and here are our members. So, Mr. Grimes is our president and he's usually here. >> Don't see him. Um, but we do have Mr. Luosa, uh, myself, Miss Ramirez, my god. >> Um, our former board member member Adriana Gonzalez could not be here and she's really the one who pushed this initiative forward. Um, Martha is also out
030of town. Uh, we do have Charlotte Kalahan Waznjak who also used to be a board member but decided to stay with us in the foundation. We appreciate that. Um Lisa Maggs and Jose Pacas are also members. If you would like to join us, we also um are always encouraging anyone who lives and works in Walk Keegan if they want to do more to help our schools to come on um come on board and the more hands on deck the more work we can get done. So next slide. Um so again this was an initiative be uh by Adriana Gonzalez and Jose Pas during COVID to really help support our students to um finance their way to college. We have since expanded college or university and we have since expanded to also trade schools. Um so
031these are our previous winners and some of them I have kept in touch with. Um I know Isam for example, Husseini is uh finishing up at Stanford with a really long degree I can't I can't remember the name of but is doing amazing things. So we do have a lot of students that are doing great things. Um so next slide please. Our scholarships obviously uh we give out two $3,000 scholarships each year now. um that has been consistent. And so that's $6,000 a year and we can't do that without the support of our community. Um and so this year though, we had the Lake County Regional Office of Education's Schools Foundation provide us a $5,000 scholarship. Thank you to Char for getting that for us. Um which helped maintain this grant this year as well
032as um Win Trust. So we want to thank those who also sponsor these scholarships. And again, we welcome our community. If you would like to help support moving forward our scholarships, please reach out to us. If you want to donate, participate in our events. Again, the money comes back to our students and um to our our staff. So, you want to go next page. So, um I want to present the award and I know we have some of our members in the crowd uh to Katherine Sauan. Um, and actually before I present the award, I will say they do go through a process where they fill out a um, they fill out a Google form and from there we have to read them all, get them on a scale. We pick the top four, we
033interview them, and then from there we pick the top two. And this year we had such a difficult time. Um, I feel like every year it gets harder and harder to pick students because just they're just amazing children that are are now young adults that are are ready to move forward in life. Um, our focus is really those who are going to go to school and come back and impact the community. Um, those students who have been in the community volunteering in different ways or being leaders in different ways. So, um, I invite Katherine Sahwan, who will be attending the College of Lake County this fall. [applause] I know Nick is going to take a picture. The board want to stand. And then the next one, if you want to move forward to the next
034slide. >> You want to stand? Leuga is our second winner who is will be attending Lake Forest College. And I don't know if I Oh, there she is. >> You want to come up so we can [applause] take a quick picture? [applause] Should I just two kiddos? Nikki Nick. >> Come on down, too. Okay. >> [applause] >> And then real quick on the next slide, um just a reminder to teachers, >> just a reminder to teachers, we did send out an email. If you are district staff returning to um the next school year, you are able to start working on the teacher grants. Again, we do projects up to $1,000 and they are to be student based projects. So, we don't do professional development, um you know, certifications, things like that. It should be strictly
035for student projects. So, I look forward to seeing your applications if you guys can spread the word as well. um those will not be due until next school year, but they are the there was an error and that was my error that um the link did not open. It has since been adjusted. So, you should be able to get in with your WPS60 email. This is only for um Walkagan staff. It does not have to be exclusive to teachers. So, if you're a social worker looking to do a student um project, you are able to apply, etc. So, um, hopefully we see more projects coming through this year. So, and then the last side, if you want to connect with us, again, we welcome new members. If you have any questions about the scholarships or
036the grants or donating, um, please reach out to us. We're always looking for more help. Thank you. [applause] >> Thank you, Miss Fabian. Thank you to all the members of the Walkagan Schools Foundation. Okay. Uh, next item, approval of minutes. Dean, were we pulling the ones from April 28th? [clears throat] >> Okay. I printed this earlier. I guess that's why. >> Yeah, we have April 21st, May 7th, and May 12th. >> Okay. Yeah, I I printed this before they were pulled. That's why. Okay. So, we're um going to be approving three sets of minutes and then the uh close session minutes. I'm going to take these separately because I'm not sure who was or wasn't at these uh meetings. So, um like to ask for a motion for the approval of the minutes for the
037special open session meeting of April 21st, 2026. >> Motion to approve by Mr. Riddle. >> Second by Miss Lensing. Any comments, corrections, changes? Roll call vote, please. >> Miss Fabian. >> Yes. >> Miss Hannah. Miss Lensing, yes. >> Mr. McBride, >> yes. >> Mr. Ramirez, Mr. Riddle, >> yes. [clears throat] >> President Rodriguez, >> yes. Motion carries, minutes are approved. Next one is item C, approval of minutes for the special open session meeting May 7th, 2026. >> Motion to approve. >> Motion approved by Miss Riddle, second by Miss Lensing. >> Okay. Uh, any comments, questions, changes the minutes. >> Roll call vote, please. >> Miss Fabian, >> yes. >> Miss Hannah, >> yes. >> Miss Lensing, >> yes. >> Mr. McBride, >> yes. >> Miss Ramirez, >> yes. >> Mr. Riddle. >> Yes. >> President
038Rodriguez. >> Yes. Motion carries. Minutes are approved. Next one is the approval of minutes for the regular open session micro meeting May 12th, 2026. >> Motion to approve. >> Motion approved by Mr. Riddle. >> Second by Miss Lensing. Any comments, corrections, changes? >> Roll call vote, please. >> Miss Fabian, >> yes. >> Miss Hannah. Miss Lensing. >> Yes. >> Mr. McBride. Yes. >> Mr. Ramirez, yes. >> Mr. Riddle, >> yes. >> President Rodriguez, >> yes. Motion carries. Minutes are approved. And then we have a close session minute approval. Who? Uh, can I explain this one? >> Sure, I can read it. It is recommended that the board of education approved the close session minutes dated February 28th, 2026, March 10, 2026, and March 17, 2026, which were previously reviewed in closed session. >> Motion to
039approve by Mr. Riddle. >> Second by Miss Fabian. Any comments, corrections? This is just for approval. It's not for release. >> When are we going? >> Uh we'll be working on that as a summer project and a set will come forward in the summer. >> Thank you. Can we have a roll call vote, please? >> Miss Fabian, yes. >> Miss Hannah. >> Miss Lensing? Yes. >> Mr. McBride? >> Yes. >> Miss Ramirez? Yes. >> Mr. Riddle? >> Yes. >> President Rodriguez? >> Yes. Motion carries. Minutes are approved. Okay. Next item, item nine, opportunity for public comment. Have a signup sheet here. Okay. When I call your name, please come up to the podium. You'll be given three minutes. State your full name. And uh first name on the list is Jeff Nesser from JOTC. That's
040all. [applause] >> We're all fans. >> Good to see you all. Good to see you all family. >> All right. My time starts now. Okay. Yes. So, yes. Jeff Nasser uh with JRTC also head coach of drill team. I really wanted to take a few moments. So, thank you all very much and everybody else out there. Um I've have Mr. Kelly here with me. He's one of the assistant coaches and then Mr. Ace also helps me out. Uh cuz we have roughly 50 kids on the team, right? So, a lot of different personalities, attitudes. I need some help trying to managing it all. Okay. Uh and then I have a few of the team members here. So, real quick, y'all blessed us with the opportunity to go to Texas back in October, right? I mean,
041we keep them busy, you know, and really I couldn't do it without you all. I really couldn't. Dr. Andrews, Mr. Motton, you know, uh Nick, you everybody that helps out, you know, really Brian, you know, from top down there, there's a lot of people that help us uh with being able to take them from state to state. Uh but yeah, you know, not only just to compete, but just really to grow, you know, and have the opportunities to learn and mature. Uh so yeah, it's really a great opportunity. So we start off there uh we place first overall in both categories and we end our season uh in Daytona, Florida in May. [applause] >> So yeah, in May, thank you. Uh no, they work hard. They really they really do. Uh but in May, we
042went to Florida. Thank you again. We took fourth in the unarmed division and sixth in armed out of 30 some odd schools. So uh by far this has been one of our best years ever. and all that has to do from everybody, even to the parents and the community support, you know, the team. So, really couldn't do it without you all. Uh, so as a token of our appreciation, all right, uh, I wanted to get you all a little something. Now, there are probably some people I'm going to email after this, [laughter] but now I see some faces uh, that I need to email and get shirt sizes also, but for Miss Placencia, I have a medium. Uh, Jessel, go ahead and uh, get up in front. Let the community let everybody see the shirt
043that we're going to be handing out. This is a drill chick t-shirt. Drill chick. All right. [applause] Uh, now, yes, I have one, too. I thought about wearing it, but I really wanted to surprise you all first. So, Miss Vencia, we we'll hand it. Dr. C, you want Okay. All right. So, go ahead. Yeah. Hand those out as I call the names. Uh, Miss Bencia gets a medium. U Mr. We're blasting sizes. >> Yes. [laughter] Mr. Rodriguez Rodriguez gets a large. give a large for Mr. Ro. Yeah, everybody gets one, right? >> Thank you. >> Uh Mr. Riddle gets a large. >> Mr. Riddle. >> Uh Miss Hannah gets a large. Now, these were the sizes given to me. All right. If it's the wrong size, then hit me up after and I I'll fix
044it. Uh let's see. Miss Ramirez gets a extra large. Um >> thank you. >> Miss Fabian gets a medium. >> Mr. McBride gets a 2XL. Do you have the one for >> and then Miss Lencing gets a medium? I believe >> you have one for the >> All right. So that's my time. >> All right. Thank you. >> Everybody should Miss Lindsay. Okay. So everybody everybody got one. >> You got one. >> Yes. Thank you. >> Okay. Wear it with pride. All right. You all you know your drill chick official t-shirt. Okay. >> Thank you all very much. All right. And take care. Have a good summer. Appreciate it. [applause] >> Thank you. Well, thank you for the gift and uh thank you for all the great work you're doing with our students. Mr. Nesser,
045>> I'm a real chick. >> You are. >> My aunt will be >> Ray Vauovich. >> Good evening. I'd like to address item 13B on your agenda tonight, personnel. uh particularly on the uh resignation of administrators. I noticed there are six people that are are resigning. Five of the six indicated they had no uh on comments or remarks. No concerns. I've got a concern because at least one for sure, maybe two of the people on that list have been on administrative leave and they're resigning. Now, one of them I can I know because uh my wife and I got five phone calls or texts shortly after that person was placed on leave. And the next week there was an article in the New Sun talking about the superintendent wants to have uh uh transparency in
046uh communication etc etc. Nice article and it got me thinking. So I reached out to the board president and just asked I said you know I saw the article about uh communication and was wondering uh is it true that there's a administrator on leave and he responded to me the principal of that's of a particular school was out as of January 30th and that the staff had been notified and parents had been notified but to my knowledge the press was never notified. Now almost every week there's somewhere on the Northshore or in Northwest Cook County there's a school person that's put on leave and it makes the newspaper. It is something the community should know about and if they know something that could help that person or help the case, they should be able to
047to get involved in that. But now you've got people that are just resigning. And and the one in particular here, and I wish she was here so I could look her in the face because it's a friend of the superintendent. They taught together at Farragate High School in Chicago. She was his uh assistant principal. She was the principal there. And then she brought him up here. Been here nine years. twice. There's been two uh circumstances that he's been on administrative leave. How much has it cost this district just to staff that position while the investigation takes place? And the board president did tell me there was an investigation going on. Uh, I assume a law firm was hired because since that time you guys have hired two or three special law firms, but you know,
048is it fair to the other district where these people are going to? If there were problems here, we shouldn't be kicking that can down the road, especially if they're going to stay in Illinois. Those are all our tax dollars as the taxpayer of Illinois. I'm very concerned about that kind of stuff. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Vukovich. Item 10, consent agenda for academics. The consent agenda is a list of items that were already presented to the board. They've been discussed. Board has had a chance to ask questions and uh uh discuss the different items involved. And these are all going to be handled as one vote unless any of the board members ask that something be separated out. And um are does anybody have any requests to separate anything out? >> Can we separate
049out E? >> Separate out E. [clears throat] >> Mhm. >> Anything else? >> Okay. Um and these are all considered non-controversial uh items. And just for the sake of time, we're just going to uh vote on them all together except for item E. Um so here is what we're going to ask for a motion for. I'm going to ask for a motion to approve consent agenda items 10 A, B, C, D, F, and G. Uh, and H and H. And I'm going to read what they are. Okay. Item 10 A is International Balorat IB Middleear's programming uh, coach at Abbott Middle School. B is Alan Larson scholarship. C is Lulu Ripen Ripburgger Scholarships. D is consolidated district plan. F is renewal of school mint. Uh G purchase of 95 rap reading phonics program for K12
050low incidence classrooms and H Lyola AP seminar for English instructors ELA. We have a motion to approve. >> Motion to approve. >> Motion by Miss Hannah to approve. Second by >> Mr. Riddle. Okay. Any discussion on that motion? Can we have a roll call vote, please? This on items A, B, C, D, F, G, and H. >> Miss Fabian. >> Yes. Miss Hannah. >> Miss Lensing. Yes. >> Mr. McBride. Yes. >> Mr. Ramirez. Yes. >> Mr. Riddle. >> Yes. >> President Rodriguez. >> Yes. Motion carries. Um item E, SY27. Would you would you like to read that one? >> It is the recommendation of the administration that the board of education authorizes superintendent design to approve the school improvement plans 2026 2017. >> We have a motion to approve. >> Motion to approve by Mr.
051Riddle. >> Second by Miss Favian. Any discussion on that motion? This one? >> Um, I'm going to be voting no on this because we haven't yet approved a budget and whenever there's a school improvement plan, there needs to be resources behind it to support that school in order to meet their goals. So, I think the order in which we're doing this is out of place. Therefore, I can't support approving something when there's so many budget tied items associated. >> Thank you, Miss Lindsay. Um I have asked several times also to see you know any family and community input. I know because of ESSA the every student succeeds act title one the district is required to have some community and parental input. Um I don't see anywhere in these plans where that is being done. I
052understand it's the district's obligation, but really these are school improvement plans. And so each school should have some kind of forum or add a parent onto the committee to make sure that we're having that other perspective and that other voice um align with these school improvement plans. Um so I'm still frustrated at that. However, I will say that the level of detail when it came to the budgeting was a lot clearer this time where people actually put out the math and it didn't look like a guesstimation of I may spend this much for it. Um, there were many schools that were very thoughtful and intentional of doing that math. Um, but again, to Mrs. Lensing's point, it's really difficult to approve this and then when the budget comes, not approve the budget because it's tied
053to the school improvement plan. So, I guess the question more is the the plan itself has the goals and I can approve those goals, but how do I separate that from then they're asking, hey, to to get there, I need this much money, right? So that's where and you're seeing it the same way that I am. I don't want to approve the SIP plan and then we're tied to we have to approve that part of the budget. >> Miss Hannah. Um, and so with the comments from um my board colleagues, I'm just wondering if we can um if we could postpone this vote for maybe until the next meeting and maybe we can they can get some clarity on um the budget uh aspect of what they're talking about. So uh so you don't officially
054adopt the budget for September correct and then these >> so um we don't officially do you all excuse me the board does not adopt until >> September >> and these have to be before the by June 30. So, thanks. >> Don't listen. Thank you. >> You're bud. It's the light. Just look for the light. >> By June 30th. >> We have another meeting. >> So, you do have another meeting and and then we can also go back to the area superintendent and talk to them about what the community input, family and community input looked like. Um, I think what uh Miss Lensing brought up is a a valid concern. the timeline is something that we'd have to discuss with how how that's how that functions uh separately. So I guess the other caveat to that
055is again I'm okay with approving the goals however is having that admin understand that they may not get everything that's requested in that budget right because I understand we have to we have to do that that sit plan >> and they they they do understand that they they understand that it's fluid and and uh we've had many discussions about this it wasn't just um the pro it's a process so it wasn't just you know completed as a task and I think that the area superintendents did a really good job of of really going over that and prioritizing and actually last August the conversation was started then uh by the superintendent in terms of how important it is to be more efficient with our dollars. Um so the the monitoring part of that is really critical
056as well. Our legal counsel has just handed me a U modification to the uh motion. The recommended action says it is a recommendation of the administration that the board of education authorizes superintendent or designate to approve the school improvement plans for the 202627 school year subject to the budget once approved. >> I'm good with that. I'm good with that. >> Yeah. >> Does that do it for you? >> Yes. But I would still in the back end I would still prefer in concurren concurrence of the board to have that information as far as the family and community input >> and yeah I think that's I think that's a wonderful idea that's with board president and >> yes so we still have another we have one more meeting before correct. >> So do we want to
057vote on this tonight Lindsay? >> Um I just would like some clarification Dr. Cesario. So I completely appreciate legal council's um addendum to subject to language. I completely hear Miss um Fabian with ensuring that family and community involvement was a component of the development. My question is is that if the goals are not met, who's held responsible >> and will we have still expend those dollars? Well, I mean like because my question is the reason I'm asking my question and I keep trying to do this and sometimes I fail, but the reason behind why I'm asking is if we approve these goals and then we don't approve the dollars, >> are the principles then being held to goals that they can't fulfill because they don't have the financial backing to fulfill said goal or is
058that adjusted for accounted for down the road? >> So, I think that's an excellent question and thank you for being so thoughtful about that. So if something were to occur like that, we would go back and adjust those goals. Okay. >> So um and and or look for other ways to fund it. It would be dependent on what it is. I know you're speaking in general terms, but obviously we couldn't hold somebody accountable for something. We would not want to rather let me rephrase that. We would not want to hold them accountable to something if we couldn't support them with that. So if there was something to that effect, then we would we would make adjustment to that goal. >> Okay. >> Miss Fabian. So to that effect too, I did see some of the
059school improvement plans were again very thoughtful where it says what support do we need from ASAP and they really delineated what they needed. Um so maybe you could have some of those of the schools that did not take advantage of that opportunity to fill that in because that would also help us as far as what is the most critical piece for them to get that goal um to be achieved. >> Sure. And I'll go back to the area superintendent and we can have a discussion about that. I I do want to also emphasize the fact that >> each school is different >> and um so so they're not all going to look identical. There should be some commonality with that. But if you're asking for more specificity >> in relation to some of them, if
060you want afterwards and and tell us specifically which schools that might be helpful, too. >> Okay. Yeah. Just there's some that left it all blank. So that's what I'm saying like that would help us >> then that would be helpful to fill >> all of the ones that are that are blank and are not saying what support they specifically need from you all. >> Okay. >> Which includes you know again us and the budget >> and yes and we can go back and if there is a a reason behind that too. >> Okay. >> So we have a motion on the floor. Do we want to move forward with a modified motion? Do you want to >> Are you wanting to hold? >> I would. >> So that the board president the request from um
061Vice President Fabian was to hold >> this >> hold this to the next meeting to while we understand the budget aspect. The focus of the hold is to ensure family and community engagement or involvement was a component in the development. >> Okay. Whose motion was it? >> Mr. Haven't officially. We haven't made a motion yet on this. >> We did. >> No, there was a comment. >> Who made the motion? >> Mr. Be, do you want to withdraw the motion? >> I'll withdraw my motion. >> Okay. Um, and who has a second? >> I did. We always have to have the motion in order to talk about it. [laughter] >> Okay. And we will hold this over till the next meeting and uh uh with the expectation that the concerns that you have will be
062addressed. >> Okay. >> Thank you. Thank you. >> Uh, moving on. Item 11, consent agenda for operations. We have two items on this and once again this a consent agenda of items or only two of them for operations that have already been presented and discussed uh by the board and the board has had a chance to ask questions and uh get information on these and there are just two items. Item A is approval of a bid for Lewis Middle School main lobby restrooms and locker room improvements and B is the approval of resolution of the board of education authorized inter fund loans from the working cash fund as outlined in 105 ILCS5/20-4. We want to car uh vote on these together or do we Okay, we have a motion to approve the consent agenda. >>
063So moved. >> Motion by Mr. Second. >> Second by Mian. Any discussion on the motion? I've got I've got just a question regarding uh item A because earlier today, I don't know if it was today or >> couple days ago, >> uh couple days ago, we got um um we got a um notice from um Mr. Ala Jackis regarding a a protest about this bid. Can someone speak to that please? >> Good evening members of the board, staff, community, Dr. Cesario. Um, so Miss Hannah, in response to your question, we did get a notice from an attorney um from a project from 2025 um acknowledging to the board that they may want to reconsider the apparent low bidder for this project, which based on the base bid and the documentation in the agenda item is
064construction inc. You'll note on the agenda item, we're actually recommending Stoie Construction for the base bid as well as the alternates for this project. So there should not be any conflict or concern moving forward with this recommendation. >> No, not with No, not at all. >> Okay. Can we just uh speak into the microphone, please? >> Oh, I'm sorry. >> Sorry. So, yeah, the So, the issue was not with who we're going with, >> right? We are not we're not choosing >> the Well, I guess the construction company that was in question is not who we're choosing, >> right? And I just wanted to know um what happened because they were um they were you all were really um you know advocating for construction inc. So, in this particular case, I want to make sure
065that um uh we're clear with this. Construction, Inc. was uh brought forward to us through this memo to each of the board members for a previous project with the Lake County Forest Preserve, I believe it was, or maybe Cook County Forest Preserve. So, we were um advised to reconsider if we were going to recommend them for this project based on challenges and concerns with a project separate and apart from the district. However, the district is not recommending the vendor. The apparent low bidder for this project is Stuki Construction based on the fact that the district is accepting the alternates as well as the base bid. >> Okay. >> So, we are not moving forward with construction, Inc., we're moving forward with Stoie. >> Okay. >> Thank you. >> Clarify everything. >> Okay. We have a
066motion and a second. Is that correct? >> Can we have a roll call vote, please? >> Miss Fabian, >> yes. >> Miss Hannah, >> yes. >> Miss Lensing, >> yes. Mr. McBride, yes. >> Mr. Ramirez, >> yes. >> Mr. Riddle, >> yes. >> President Rodriguez, >> yes. Motion carries. Okay. Um, item 12, purchasing contract. I see none. 13, personnel items. Dr. Cesario. >> Okay. It is the recommendation of the administration that the board of education approve the ratified contract with walkegan professional support staff and authorize the president and secretary of the board of education to sign the agreement on behalf of the walkegan community unit school district number 60 board of education. >> So move >> motion by Miss Hannah >> second by Mr. Riddle. Any discussion on this motion? Roll call vote please. Yes,
067>> Miss Hannah. >> Yes, >> Miss Lindsay. Yes, >> Mr. McBride. Yes, >> Mr. Ramirez. >> Yes, >> Mr. Riddle. >> Yes, >> President Rodriguez. >> Yes. Motion carries. 13B. >> That the board of education accepts the administration's recommendation to approve the appointments, retirement requests, retirement extensions, and accepts the resignations as found on schedules L949 and G660. I make a motion that we accept [clears throat] the personal items as presented. >> Motion by Miss Hannah, second. Second by Mr. R. Any discussion on the motion, Miss Lindsay? >> Um I always accountability is at the forefront. Safety first, students, and of course accountability. Um and I just I have concerns with um some of the the items on here. I'm not going to go into details because we're not allowed to and that's not appropriate. Um,
068but I will be voting no because of my accountability concerns. >> Thank you. Any other discussion? Roll call vote, please. >> Miss Fabian, yes. >> Miss Hannah, >> I passed. >> Miss Lensing, no. >> Mr. McBride, yes. >> Mr. Mirez, yes. >> Mr. Riddle, >> yes. >> President Rodriguez, >> yes. Motion carries. and 13 C. >> It is recommended that the board of education approve the administration's recommendation for dismissal of employee number 21324 for cause and as being in the best interest of the district and its students and the recommended suspension without pay pending completion of dismissal proceedings if any and adopt and sign the resolution setting forth the bill of particulars and assignment of legal counsel should be a hearing should a hearing be requested. Okay, we were taking C and D together as
069one vote. >> That correct? >> Yes. So, we need to read D as well. >> The same issues. >> But we need to read something else or Mr. >> Apologies. Board President, can we jump back to the administrative appointments tied to 13B? >> Yeah, they didn't come up. Oh, there we go. Thank you. >> Yay. >> I don't have it. Okay. So, >> roll the tape. >> Brian Fleshman, coordinator, master schedule and assessment. Brian Fleshman has been with the district for 5 years and is tremendously honored to have the opportunity to serve as an administrator in Walkagan. He previously served as a diverse learners teacher and is passionate about ensuring all students have the opportunity to be successful in high school and beyond. He is very excited to begin this new role. [applause] >> Congratulations
070and welcome. >> Yeah. Do you want our handshakes? You don't have to if you don't want to. Like I don't >> He is. >> Well, he's putting some. >> He would like. Yes. He's also wearing a boot. So, if he did not want to make the journey up here. >> Oh, I didn't see. >> And he's wearing this boot and we're making him walk all the way up here. >> I said if you would like. >> Yes, you did ask. [laughter] >> Congratulations. >> Definitely. >> I've been there, done that with a booth. >> Oh, no. I'll take my take it easy. All right. Walk up here. Congratulations. >> Oh, he's going to have to rest. >> Mr. Carlos Valadez, assistant principal, Brookside campus. Carlos, you here? >> We'll let we'll let him finish. >>
071Yes. Carlos Valdez. Carlos Valadez is honored to join uh Washington High School Brookside campus as an assistant principal. Originally from Chicago, he has spent the past nine years serving the Walkegan community in roles focused on student support, school cultural and outreach, including as a culture and climate specialist and manager of student outreach. Mr. Valadez earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Illinois or Champagne and master's degrees in secondary education and educational leadership from Gan Grand Canyon University. He is passionate about building positive relationships and creating a school culture where every student feels connected, valued, and empowered to succeed. [applause] [applause] >> Congratulations. That time beautiful smile. >> Andreas Santana, director, academic and sports administration. Andreas Santana has spent the past 10 years at Walkegan public schools serving as both the math teacher and instructional
072coach at the Brookside campus. He also brings 26 years of coaching experience, including seven years as head wrestling coach, where he helped grow the girls wrestling program and mentor multiple state qualifiers. A graduate of Illinois State University and Grand Canyon University, Mr. Santana is passionate about serving the students, families, and community of Walkegan and is excited to continue that work in his new role. [applause] We hope to see you soon. Congratulations. >> Congratulations. [clears throat] >> I'm so congratulations. >> Thank you so much. >> Thank you for catching that. >> Well, to be fair, that um was Miss Kristen. >> To be fair, that was Mr. Motton. >> Oh, thanks, Mr. Motton. [laughter] >> All right. Now, we have a motion on the floor, I believe. Right. >> And the motion was supposed to been
073for both items C and D. >> Who made the motion, Mr. Riddle? >> We didn't make a motion. >> Didn't make them. I thought we had Okay, >> we made a motion. C. Miss Kristen does not have it. So, let's restart it. >> We had a motion for C, but we needed to take them together. >> What we need? Okay, let me just explain. I'll let you read it. We're looking for a motion to approve items personal items 13, C, and D. Uh C is dismissal of tenure teachers employee 21324 including adoption of charges and D is dismissal of tenure teachers employee 21289 including adoption of charges and you can read what you recommendation. >> Okay. >> You want me to take them together or separately? >> Am I reading this first or Okay, >>
074he's reading the recommendation. >> Okay, that works. >> There we go. Whereas the board of education has received in close session on May 26, 2026 reports and recommendation from the administration regarding employees 21324 and employee uh here and after employees tenure teachers of this district and the employees was afforded an opportunity to respond. Whereas following considerations of the party's positions, the board finds that employees dismissals from the district is required by law. And whereas in the opinion of the board of education, the best interests of the district and its students require dismissal of the employees. And whereas regulations implementing section 2412 of the school code and board policy 4112 authorize the board to suspend an employee without pay pending the results of a of a termination hearing by an ISBY appointed hearing officer. Now therefore
075be it resolved by the board of education of the Walkean Community Unit School District number 60 of Lake County, Illinois as follows. Number one, the board has considered and adopts the matters [music] set forth in the preamles of this to this resolution. Number two, the board has considered the respective CH charges reasons and as stated in the notice of changes, sorry, of charges bill of particulars being exhibit A and adopt such charges and particulars at is the basis of dismissal of each employee as a tenure as a teacher in the district effective May 22nd, 2022. Subject to employees, sorry, 2026. Oh my goodness, I'm going way back. subject to employees hearing rights and employees suspension without pay pending resolution of any and all hearing proceedings. The administration is directed to consider reemployment opportunities for the
076employees consistent with the district's hiring practices if in the future employees pre either employee presents proof of valid work authorization status. employee has 17 calendar days to request an independent hearing regarding the respective employees dismissal in accordance with the school code 105 um Illinois uh school code 510-2412D. The superintendent is authorized and directed to issue a notice of dismissal to the employees in the form of exhibit A attached here 2 and made a part of this resolution. The notice shall be delivered personally or by certified US mail. Return receipt requested. Six. In the event either employee timely requests an independent hearing, the superintendent is authorized and directed to prepare and cause to be served a notice of hearing on the Illinois State Board of Education substantially in the form of exhibit B attached here to
077and made a part of this resolution accompanied by the secretary's certificate certifying the board's motion and vote on the dismissal of the requested employees. [clears throat and cough] Uh, Fresnik PC is hereby appointed agent and attorneys for the school district in connection with the dismissal of employees and is authorized to proceed with the selection of hearing officers as provided by law should the matter proceed to a hearing. And lastly, the resolution shall be in full force and effect upon its adoption. >> Okay. It is recommended that the board of education approve the administration's recommendation for dismissal of employees number 21324 and number 21289 for cause and as being in the best interest of the district and its students and the recommended suspension without pay pending completion of dismissal proceedings if any and adopt and sign
078the resolution setting forth the bill of particulars and assignment of legal counsel should a hearing be requested. >> Motion to approve. Motion by Mr. Riddle. >> Second by Miss Fabian. Any discussion on this motion. Can we have a roll call vote, please? >> Miss Fabian, >> yes. >> Miss Hannah. >> Miss Lensing. >> Yes. >> Mr. McBride? Yes. >> Mr. Ramirez? >> Yes. >> Mr. Riddle? >> Yes. >> President Rodriguez? >> Yes. Motion carries. >> That was for item C and D. Item E. >> Yes. This uh this involved James U Brian Regar and Maf Dejaran. Thank you. >> Item eight, please. >> It is the recommendation of the administration that the board of education authorizes superintendent to give a 4% pay raise to employees classified as non-UN employees and the SEIU union members with
079the total value estimated to be 1,156,784.31. >> Motion to approve. >> Motion approved. Second by Miss Lensing. Any discussion on this motion? Roll call, please. >> Did you Did you want to say something? >> Yeah, I did. I didn't know that the SEIU was involved in this particular um >> Oh, because of the me too clause. >> That's why. Yeah, cuz it says >> they get what Adam >> non union personnel and SEIU is union. Mhm. >> So, how can it be two different things? >> Thank you, Glenn. >> Board President, board members, community members and colleague, um, board member Fabian is absolutely correct. It is a meto clause that's in a negotiated agreement with SEIU. >> So, whatever union gets, SEIU would also get. >> Thank you. They clarified. >> It's in their contract.
080>> Yeah, I understand it, but I don't like it. >> It's [laughter] what they agreed to. So, >> I know it. Okay. So, we have a motion in a second. >> Roll call vote. >> Yes. Miss Hannah, >> no. >> Miss Lensing? >> Yes. >> Mr. McBride? >> Yes. >> Mr. Ramirez? >> Yes. >> Mr. Riddle? >> No. >> President Rodriguez? >> Yes. Motion carries. Item [clears throat] 14, grants and donations. I see none, nothing under other. Number 16, financial reports. >> It is a recommendation of the administration that the board of education ratify the 2nd May 2026 of board bills, manual check request payments, and old national bank insurance payments for the period of May 6, [clears throat] pardon me, 2026 through May 19, 2026. The accounts payable board payments for the period of
081May 6, 2026 through May 19, 2026 totals, pardon [cough and clears throat] me, $1,428,68745. The manual check request payments for the period of May 6, 2026 through May 19, 2026 totals $274,343.70. The old national bank insurance payments for the period of May 6, 2026 through May 19, 2026 totals $4,427,33045. Motion [laughter] go ahead. Is that the end of motion to approve? >> That's the end. Okay. Motion to approve. >> Motion by Mangan to approve. Second by Mr. Riddle. >> Roll call vote, please. >> Miss Fabian, >> yes. >> Miss Anna. >> Miss Lensing. >> Yes. >> Mr. McBride. >> Yes. >> Miss Ramirez. >> Yes. >> Mr. Riddle. Pass. >> President Rodriguez. >> Yes. Motion carries. Item 17, reports and presentations. A is committee reports. Do we have any committee reports? >> No committee reports.
082Delegate report. >> Um, Miss Hannah did step away, but she said that overall there's no report at this time. There has been a change for the delegates assembly. The time changed from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Yes. >> But outside of that, no other reporting. [clears throat] Thank you, Miss Lensing. Superintendent's report. >> There is a report. Um, Dr. Bubbleitz, I believe. Um, >> yes, >> sure. Having a drink. Good evening board, community, deputy superintendent. Tonight, we're going to talk about uh update for diverse learners. And we want to always focus and run everything through our mission and vision that we wrote with our uh teachers related service staff paras and department focusing on independence and inclusion for our students and the vision statement to empower empower students to create their own path in an
083everchanging world. So we focus our goals, our budget and our actions through that lens. Tonight, um, we're just going to go through an overview of things that we've shown some progress on, outcomes, looking at goals, and, um, we'll have some data for you focusing on student achievement and inclusion data, looking at our, uh, department progress and some celebrations, compliance, as you know, the IDEA and the state have a lot of compliance, and then how we're writing smart goals. We're going to review our latest disproportionality data and how we're looking to continue to improve. And we're going to discuss some of our staffing and recruitment and how we're going to continue growth. So, first the important things celebrations. We continue to show growth on our AR reading scores, also math, um but reading because that's a
084department goal. Wkegan public schools are historically more inclusive than they have been in their history. One of our other goals is on writing IPS. So smart goals. We've shown significant improvement in compliance in our internal audits. Um we are looking at uh providing best practice that is in line with inclusion and research and our district outplacements continue to to decrease and dual enrollment increases. And what that means is when we transition students back to the district from say a therapeutic placement, we transition them slowly based on their individual strengths for success. So they may come back Friday afternoon or for 1:00 a.m. class and go back to therapeutic day school. And as they continue to be more successful, they transition back to hopefully being full-time included in our schools and no longer needing to be
085placed out. Uh quick overview on our department goals here. As I said, we have goals um and how we write IEP goals in reading and math. our goals uh to increase from 51 to 65% on those. We have a smart goal rubric that we use uh and we have some inclusion goals where the most restrictive environment will decrease by 2%. And the the least restrictive environment will increase and we look at that and judge that by our state expectations. And then we look we're looking at our like I said we have goals for reading. We we also monitor other academics but in line with our literacy framework for the district. So we want to see those red ones right the not meetats decrease by 4%. And the ones who are um uh proficient or significantly
086achieving up by 2%. Okay. Indicators five and six that's from the state. Five is for ages uh five through uh 12th grade and six is for preschool. Then just a quick overview. There's a lot text there'll give a quick overview. The state monitors um 1, three and four of those bullets. Uh and so we call those indicators 5, A, B, and C. So the least restrict environment is 80% or more of a student's day in general education. Indicator 5B. So that's our most restrictive environment. You might see that as special ed class, a low incidence class, behavior class and that's when they spend less than 40% of their day in a general education environment with their peers. And then we have outplace. They monitor that as well. Um and then preschool very similar some different
087metrics and the percentages aren't the same but it measures the percentage of preschool children um 3 to five who receive IDA services next to their peers. And then obviously that we also show the um different ones that reflect access to inclusive pre-K opportunities and early intervention. And so you can see on the right is the state target for indicators five. The top going from least restrictive to the bottom most restrictive and our 2025 state data that we know and estimates based on child count for 2026. So if you look across 5A over the years and I can tell you when I started we were at 39.5. We've shown consistent growth at in the least restrictive environment at 80% or more and we've finally the goal was always to exceed the state target. We've passed I
088consider exceed like the state beyond proficient. So we're going to continue to work on that. >> 5B our most restrictive environment continues to drop. I worry about my math on 2026, but that would be an awesome drop almost in line with the um the state target, but we've been making very intentional moves working with principles um working with the team, the area superintendent. So, I do think that 2026 will really drop. Um but the important thing is the trend has been down over the years. And as you can see, five CRL placements continue to drop. Um, since I've been here, we've not exceeded the state target, which is good. We we want to be below in that one, and we continue to see that fall. And some of those things are out of our control
089with moveins and outs, but if a student grew up in North Chicago and comes here, they're our student whether we place them there or not. So, we give them the same treatment and same ability to um come back and receive a walkin education. All right. Preschool inclusion. Dr. Caesar, do you want to give if if you have questions, Dr. Caesar can answer, but you can see the same trend. Um, 6A, the least restrictive environment, has been high for a while. Um, it's been very static and well exceeds the state goals. And 6B also, you can see um the progression uh as that one goes down and we're below this the state target for less inclusive environments. And this is one we worked on where the data was not good. It was not very inclusive at
090all when when uh I got here and Dr. Caesar worked very hard with that team and and those teachers and staff. >> Okay. So what how do we get there right? Um the main thing is increasing access to tier one instruction reducing reliance on segregated or what was particular to walk a non-cap program. This doesn't happen in a vacuum from special ed. Notice it's tier one instruction, not classrooms. Everything we've done has been about building the capacity for our teachers across the board, regardless of GenEd, ELDL, and improving um their core instruction in the classroom. And we wouldn't get those scores without that. Um, since we since before I got here and continuing, we've we've increased and worked on collaborative instruction and co-eing to um support our students and improve inclusive instructional practices districtwide. And
091we will continue as we have a um we have cohorts at at seven of our schools focusing on collaborative instruction. Uh we've done our own internal IEP audits, reviews, compliance monitoring. We look at that data. I look at it weekly. We look at as a team quite a bit. Um I send it out so the team can take a look and work with staff on improving IEP writing. Uh collaboration I think is the key piece especially when we work with teaching and learning and MTSS making sure those not in in addition to those tier one supports those tier 2 and tier three interventions especially for SEAL. If you're not there emotionally or behaviorally, it's hard to learn. Put in a framework for behavior, the best framework. Uh, and we have increased BCBA involvement. We did
092have some contract employees. We have hired one and we're looking to hire another. So, that's something that directly supports students in the classroom. And of course, various professional development focused on uh inclusive practice, best practice. And again, it's not just for special ed students. It's for everyone, right? uh universal design is universal. I mean those are your your I call it good teaching and inclusive practice. It's not there's no big secret or surprise into all of those. Bless you. All right. So here we go. Um you'll notice it's on I AR reading data because we're focused on our department goals. I will have some additional data for you on math at the end of this part. All right, it's a little dense because we have percentages, but we also have the number of students in
093each category. So again, going down from the year 2023 to 25, BP is below proficiency, and this is with the new cut scores. Um, Dr. Brown and his team was able to align previous scores with the new cut scores. So we had some baselines to look at. So you can see in below proficiency remember I wanted those to drop and so that has dropped from 65.6% 6% in I read rating to 57 over those years through 2025. And then if we want to look at the proficient and and above average right where there where they are passing you can see 3 to 8. So overall, there's been growth, especially in proficient above the numbers. It's hard to say it. It's relatively static and as eighth graders move up and out, but we want to see
094that grow and I think the more access we have to to core instruction will will do that. Um, this is about DL, but you can see the the growth in uh in Jed. I'll let teaching and learning and Dr. Brown do that at another time. Okay, so looking at elementary. So, here's our third to fifth graders. And you can you can see some really great growth here. Um, dropping from 52.6 to 46.3% in that below proficiency and proficiency from 6.4 up to 10.6. So, that one we want up and again relatively static at the above. Again, we we do see a drop from 24 to 25. Um, but we want to see the we want that to continue to be static and grow. middle school we uh not as significant but we are seeing some
095really good progress again each year getting better as a drops in below proficiency and increasing in proficiency. Okay, here's some good news. It's a little different format. This is like hot off the press data and so I only have this for three for um K through five I data or 3 through five. And so you can see um and it we have to remember this is preliminary, right? This hasn't been certified by the state. This is us looking at our preliminary data and making some um analyzing and and putting some some things together. So you can see the ELA proficiency has gone up uh over the years from 6 to 14 points. So and last year 9 to 14. My goal I think was pretty um stretch goal. I think it was 4%. So hopefully
096when this plays out we see good growth and math proficiency as well doing a really great job. Continuing to show growth in math 4% from last year to this year. And when we want to look at that red level right the below we see some really significant drops over the years. And that's critical because while we know diverse learners may have struggle to learn and grow at the same rates as everyone else, what is important is that they are showing growth. And one of the things that we really need to see is their ability to grow for continuous growth, the expectation for growth so that they can function in the world and be as independent as possible going back to that original vision and mission. And so when they can get out of that red,
097they can start to be able to um become more independent and access more education and access different skills to help them throughout life. So I think that was really exciting when I saw that. Okay. you just approved some uh literacy programs for our low incidents and there were some questions about what that meant last uh meeting and so I'll do it as quickly as possible. I won't read through it. A low incidence student is a student with a disability that happens in low incidence numbers. So a smaller percentage of these students would have say autism or uh cognitive um a cognitive disability versus a learning disability or other health impairment which are more common and you might see behavior as well. Um so that's what low incidence means. So obviously they may present with different
098learning strengths than than our other students and have different barriers that they need to to um overcome. And so that's why we have some alternate uh text. And also the key piece was if we were going to the key piece of this programming was that if we're going to align our tier 1 curriculum to the standards and build a literacy framework for our whole district, we need to align it for all of our students. And so many of our low incidence students are on the alternate uh assessment, the uh DM. And so one of the struggles is not having our curriculum aligned to the DLM. And if not, then it doesn't align to our literacy framework or other curriculum curricular frameworks throughout the district. And as those kids grow then and they get more opportunities
099to learn, they're not aligned with our general ed uh curriculum. So, say a a student was having more opportunities to learn math or English or social studies or science, but they haven't received the same standards in their education. It's harder for them to to go into those classes and have the same knowledge base. And it also makes it more difficult for staff to accommodate and modify and do the things they need to do to align if they haven't had the same opportunities for learning those concepts. So this is this is why we're doing that um with 95 wrap and aligning C CKLA and such. All right, forgot my water. So sorry if you can understand me. Um okay, so just quickly this is this is something that we've worked on for a long time. Um
100seemingly without a lot of progress. However, Smarkles is one of our um SMARKles is one of our department goals. And why is it so important is that the research is very clear that a well-written IEP and well-written smart goals in an IEP show greater growth than IEPs that don't have good specific goals and quality data showing baseline data and where to go for growth and strengths. And so that's why it's critically important that we continue to focus on this and be vigilant. Um this is something that won't go away as a as a department action or task. Maybe the goal will if we continue to um succeed. So we don't need to go through smart goal here and if you have questions let me know at the end. Um but so the goal was 51
101to 65%. And so through our internal audits after we work with our team and our specialists, they go out and work individually or with DL building teams. Uh we now are at 89% of all reading goals this year are written as quality smart goals. And 70% of all math IP goals are written as quality smart goals as per our rubric. So we've been really stagnant in that 50 to 60 for years. Significant disproportionality So, not as great a growth here, but you do see a pattern where we were really disproportionate for our African-American students with emotional disability uh eligibility for IEPs. So, in this case, just this case, disproportionality is four times is when students are four times more likely to have their subgroup identified under emotional disability for an IEP. So you can see
102back in 2021 the letter that really stopped my work for a week and made me research this and we were seven times more likely. Um there were some outside factors of moveins in residential but there were also some internal factors with understanding our eligibility criteria for evaluation working with and you can see that we did um have a lot of success over the next three years. We're up a little bit this year. I'm not happy with that. But again, we continue to look we're working on that report right now. I believe uh Mr. Niss and Dr. Jenkins are looking at some of that and and see what we can do uh what are the root cause factors and what we can do to address it. And so some of the in the next slide we'll
103see some of the things that we have done over the last 6 years since I've been here and continue to do right. We've seen a really strong improvement in our MTSS and we collaborate with them and uh Dr. Jenkins and Miss Price, social work and psychologist among other people in the department collaborate there uh through that prevention side. Um looking at different practices and systems, right? Tier one instruction is going to help with behavior. Kids don't kids don't want to look like they're not smart and they better to be funny than stupid, right? So you see things when they're frustrated acting out and that affects um social [clears throat] emotional status as well. So you can't divorce the academics and then um just continued data analysis or cause review psychologists do continuous reviews of their
104eligibility process and criteria for uh special ed and which um which eligibilities. All right. Uh I was asked to bring an update about the best campus. This is still something we we want to do. I know I've spoken to some of you on this and it's something I think we all hold as important. So go ahead. Just a quick review. Um we we we look to build a best campus which would mean a separate school therapeutic day school that that is public. So we wouldn't be sending them to say connections or Mena or one of the other therapeutic day schools. So some of the kids still have to be successful in this environment would be able to be taught in our district in a separate school. Okay? It doesn't get rid of behavior classrooms in
105in uh the public school setting in any of our schools. This is therapeutic within our district. Um benefits, right? They get to stay home. There's no 10, 20 hour, a 10, 20 minute or an hour drive to their school. That would probably elevate my social emotional feelings as well. Right. They get to use our district curriculum. [snorts] >> That's true. >> Right. So, we've I've talked a little bit about the importance of that in other settings. This setting would mean that they have our books, materials, standards, everything would be the same. So there's an alignment from when they get back and it's our expectations. Not that the therapeutic schools don't do that. Um they have access to extracurriculars. So if they are in line with their their program and they want to be on the
106wrestling team or soccer team or whatever or or any of the other non-athletic, they have an opportunity to do that. there's no they don't have to be bust back and mispractice. Um you can see what we're looking at 50 students or so. Um we would we would look at behavior as well as maybe some low incidence for students say with disregulation for sensory or other other needs. um but with dedicated therapy spaces and PE spaces for psych social workers and counselors and that would act as its own school. This requires space and funding, right? And there's a lot of priorities for space and funding in our district. We know that. Um but it's something that we want to keep in our minds that these are students that we may not see because they're not here,
107but they are wagan students and they are important. and one of the most um the ones who really critically need the help. Those are our most endangered students because they are at most risk for all the bad things that come with not being in school. So, uh quickly staffing update, we're doing really good. I I remember Miss Lensing asking at one point to to talk about we're doing these contracts. What are we doing for recruiting? We're we're going on recruiting trips. So, you can see there's pretty good improvement. Um, speech pathology, I believe we will be down to one teleaalth or or maybe not. So, we're hoping zero. So, those are contracts that we don't have to pay for and it means they don't have a a a parah that has to help that. So,
108it's a parah and a therapist that we would contract. So you can see that we have 42 FTE for speech language pathologists. There are none open. We have some interns lined up for next year which helps with recruiting. Um and we do have you see we do have contract people but uh we're able to provide services to all our students and it is lowering the number. school social workers. We still have some open FTE and we do have one part-time contract employee been with us a long time. So, um we keep her school psychologist. We still have one open FTE. We think we're going to cover that. So, that'd be great. We'll be fully staffed um and maybe pending as a contract uh employee. But I can tell you the principal I talked to this
109morning who's finally getting his psychologist in his own building is very happy. And so those are key things and you can look at the rest. Nursing, we're we're reducing those contracts which have been very expensive. We're we're we're getting six new building nurses uh or in district building nurses. So um but we will have some still with assured staffing or others. And one thing I just want to say practice across most districts for when we have onetoone for medically fragile students is contract because we don't want to hire a staff member who is there and as a a child has to leave for 3 weeks or has intermittent attendance due to their disability. Then we have a nurse there who's providing services but not necessarily to anyone. So, that's something we do build in for
110contract costs just because it makes practical sense. Um, and OTP, they've been working really hard at recruiting and I think we don't have contract and we should have a full staffing next year and one intern. All right, highlights. So, all that being said, here's the key piece. Academic growth. Our reading outcomes continue to improve, which is really exciting. inclusion, increased access to that general education. I don't think you get one without the other IP quality, right? Uh we need to know what we're teaching in that inclusive environment in the interventions to get that academic growth. Fewer outplacements is good for our kids and good for our community. And this continued focus on equity through disproportionality seal, our evaluation practices and inclusion. And so it's been a long uh road and the team has worked really
111hard and the teachers and everybody in the building is really hard, but we're really seeing a lot of positives start to show up in the data. So I believe that is it. Thank you. Questions? >> Mr. McBride can go first. >> Mr. McRight, >> well, you know, I've been after you quite a bit about the outsourcing our kids. >> Yes. And uh I don't know if you looked at it in terms of like you said uh it's trauma just to get up in the morning and have to ride 45 minutes there and 45 minutes back. This that's long to ride. You got to be up at almost 6:00 in the morning. And most of the kids that I know that take that ride, they go to sleep in the cab while they there and they
112sleep on the way back home. And then also to uh I know when they get to where they going in a total different environment. they're around uh uh kids with various different behaviors. I mean, much more worse than probably what theirs was for the reason they went to where they went to. >> So, I'm saying all that to say uh uh I would like for you to look at what it costs to put them in the cab back and forth. Also, uh what the cost is uh for paying the uh tuitions for them to be there, the staff and how many kids that we are sending outsourcing like that and uh and we could find the space here like you said to create the same uh possibilities that they receive here that they would receive
113somewhere else that they we can I'm saying the therapeutics that they're getting where they're going, they can get them here if you provide the right staff for them. But we can save overall because we'd have our own building. And I'm saying to say that I know it works. You familiar with Zap? >> Uh I don't know if I'm familiar with that particular >> Well, Zap Zap is what we're talking about. I work in Zion and they got a program called Zap and that Zap is for for kids that you we're talking about right now. They put them in that particular building. They got staff and they're dealing with them and they do well. But that the only thing difference between that the money is coming back into the district. They're not sending it to connections.
114They're not sending to our insured. did not send it to none of those programs that you're talking about. So, I'm asking that you consider uh looking at a way to uh when we get done with uh our children and when we get ready to outsource them for putting them out for a year or because of behavior that they where they still have been being put out of the school going somewhere else so they can stay here. And like like you said, uh once again, uh a kid get put out, no basketball, no he he loses all his friends and everything. So I just I just think you need to just consider that. And uh in the near future, too, I like numbers, but some say don't bring kids, but you don't have to bring kids.
115you can just bring some uh some stories as opposed to uh uh what the MTS has done, what your IEP team done when they sat down and and had situations and to come back and say, "Well, this uh Bob, you don't have to mention it. Just so so and so what we can see and hear some stories." That's what I like to see. I I don't I don't know if I'm making sense, but I just love to hear that because I know we have we sent a lot of them out, but I never hear anything about nothing happened to them. what what any success that they made. I just know some, you know, uh uh I have a nephew that was in uh uh AOC. Uh he's an attorney now for Amazon, but he came
116back here and talked to the kids in AOC. So, I'm saying they can make it, but you know, but he did go to AEOC. But once again, uh he invited me to uh a program that they had down at the uh one of the hotels in Chicago this week. And the program was about dealing with um debating. I guess it's got all students which we don't do as walking. I think they got a program called debate. I don't know if anybody familiar with that where all the schools are involved >> but and then uh we should be involved because as we said, we got some smart children and I know they know how to bait. I just seen that earlier when they came here just a few minutes ago. >> So, uh I I rest
117my case. Thank you. >> Thank you. We willing consider all that. >> Um I I have a variety of questions and I first want to acknowledge it's it's a lot of hard work um in the diverse learn department. I worked with students with a variety of needs and a variety of intensities for those different diagnoses. Um, so I just I have a couple of concerns. So when we talk about the IEP SMART goals, um, and you're saying on the rubric it has to be 15 out of 20 and you're moving that closer to 65%. My understanding is that the team has, you know, the parents are involved, the teachers involved, you have someone from the diverse learner department, but isn't there a lead or someone higher up that essentially reviews the goals as well to
118make sure that they're appropriate? >> So, we do a lot of coaching. Um, there isn't always a DL department specialist or admin at these meetings. We encourage the schools and the administration to to take the lead as what we call LEA. Um but we are present at the at the higher profile cases. It's difficult to recraft a goal although we do and we encourage it during an IEP meeting and we do look at those. So on a larger level, so this one thing we're using the AI, the SBM me for is I can run those audits and identify the needs of a school or a grade. I can identify which students have goals that aren't as as strong and we can better. So then I turn it over to these guys. They go with their
119specialists and directly work with those staff or those teams, right? So it might I won't name any schools but school X might say they need help on A for achievability or uh R for relevance and they can go and work directly with that team and say hey you guys are doing good here but we need to work on that. So it's hard to do it in time at an IEP meeting but we're constantly trying to review and support staff um in the buildings with through our mostly through our specialists and they work very hard. they have three to four schools, but um you know that's that's the big level to the onetoone level of staff with a specialist. So we we do continuously try to coach which we've seen a 30% increase in compliance. So
120>> hopefully that continues. >> Yeah. And I think it might not be a bad idea to leverage that SMI because it is a closed system to directly put the goals in there and say how is this not a smart goal? how can we align it better to be a smart goal so that you can boost those numbers up because these goals are extremely important for these students not just for their education but also on a legal standpoint. Um so just something to consider. I do want to clarify just for the audience cuz when you said it I was like wait what you said 1:00 a.m. class. I interpreted that as like 1 a.m. and I'm like no child's going to class at 1:00 a.m. It's one morning class. Um my brain had to do a
121loop-de-loop for that. So just clarification. Um and then there was a goal for the 61 2026 for the under 40% um a day to decrease by 2%. I just have concerns with those types of goals because these are supposed to be individualized for the student. So when you're trying to get your numbers down to a certain percentage, my concern is that we are then sacrificing a student's true needs so that you're meeting an interart interdep departmental goal to get down to a certain percentage. IEPs are individualized education plans. I think we need to have maybe a different perspective on those goals instead of getting numbers to fit in a box because then we are possibly not giving the student what they need. I understand inclusion. When I took my SPED classes in college, it was
122very much on inclusion. But to have good inclusion, you need to make sure that the data supports the student growth in real time. I understand you provided the AR, which is great, but we also need to hear teacher feedback. I feel like that was missing from this presentation. How are general teachers doing with the inclusion? They've had trainings. Have you guys been going in and monitoring how their inclusive practices are going? We don't have any information on that. To Mr. McBride's point, those are the stories that I want to hear. Like, if this is a district goal, I understand it. We want to support it as a board as it's done appropriately, but how is it interplaying on the daytoday? Not just, okay, we have more kids in classrooms. That's that's not the goal. Everybody
123needs to be successful in those classrooms. Um, so I guess that's something [snorts] that I was a little lacking on for the presentation. Um, can you Oh, and this one's a fast one. For the best, you put um for implementation, we need to work on funding and space. Are you then saying that we do have the personnel currently to support a best program in the district or that would be an additional component once we secure funding and space? >> Yes. the numbers I put up there for what we have now. So, it wouldn't reflect what we would need for that space. We would need additional staff. Obviously, we've we've worked hard on recruiting and there are shortages in certain positions. So, we would have to build that. Um, and obviously it's it's a it's it's
124a short broad report. So, we would want to grow that sorry organically, right? We're not just going to throw 50 kids in, right? We're going to do that with the right amount of staff. We're going to target certain kids for success and bring them home. And so, you know, if if we can't staff for more than 30 kids, we're not going to do that. But I I don't see us saying, "Hey, Mr. Adams, pick your 50 kids and go." Right. We have to do that really organically and thought out. So, no, we don't have that staff yet, but we also haven't we haven't you you haven't approved that cuz we haven't asked, right? We're still working on what we have here. And so, that would be something we would have to work on obviously. >>
125Well, and to be fair, we haven't approved funding or space yet. So, it's just I think for transparency like potentially staff as well. I >> I just want to say you I know what you're talking about. He can do it because as I look at your staff, not mentioning no names, you have a staff that I sit in plenty of AP meetings with at one of the alternative schools. I for Keegan and I know she but I know he's good or she's good. >> So you can get the staff because you got one sitting out there now. I said I hear what you're saying. >> I mean, well, I had to draft a marquee all the way down the desk planes and set with that person. You got them sitting right there in your staff
126right now. So you can do it if you want to. >> I I I know what you're saying. Okay. >> Okay. And then one other component and I'll be quiet for a while. So when we go back to the emotional disorders, um, and can we bring up the chart for me, Steve? Thank you. >> Um, when you were discussing this slide. Oh, we skipped >> too far. >> Yeah. Oh, that's a beautiful one. >> That's this one or the other one? Yes, >> the other one. The other one. There you go. Okay, cool. No, you're fine. Um, so when you're talking about this, it I I want to make sure I understand clearly before I make my comment were so when you came in and you're seeing the seven that brought great concern, right? Did
127you say you looked into the root causes or that is something you're going to do? >> So we always look into root causes because it changes every year. But so historically there we had been found disproportionate a year or two before and we'd worked on it had success. We did a a larger cause at that point. We were showing success and then I got that letter and that number which was significantly higher and so we immediately stopped and focused on the the appropriate staff you Mr. Adams and I and some others. Why is that number like that? Why did it jump two points, right? That's a huge number and the highest in the state. So, we had to look at that. So, we continued to look at our eligibility process. We continue to work with
128MTSS and how we can help support. But the other thing we did was we looked at what students which students these were. And we in this case, it wouldn't get us down obviously to under four. In this case, we had 19 students move in that were African-American emotional disabilities. Most of them were at a residential facility that's no longer open, which created a spike. Now, what that did actually was kind of give us more data on understanding some of it is out of our control, which is why I made sure that we said that's when we really we always had a commitment, but we really made a commitment. these are our kids regardless of where they came from. And I believe um the other thing we found out is 50% or more of our students
129that are African-American with emotional disability were not originally wagan students. Right. So is that accurate? >> What we're getting is >> Well, you can come here or I'll say it. What we see is we get a large transient population coming in from other districts. >> In many of these districts um have higher rates already for students who are black with emotional disability. As they come in, we have to take their IEP and as if they're already labeled as emotional disability, we work through them that way. Um, so that's one of the things that we deal with all every year is we do get a lot of people coming into Walke, which I'm sure everyone knows, but we do feel like we are making headways and I think that's like Dr. Jenkins could definitely. >> Okay.
130Um, and then if we can go to the next slide, Steve, because one of the pieces that I'm not seeing, and I am going to assume Miss Fabian isn't seeing it as well, is I'm not seeing like what sort of collaboration we're doing with parents to provide them supports at home, >> right? Because >> I I want to I want to be careful with my words, right? Because we it's easy to jump into assumptions with diverse learner students, and I don't want to do that. But I I want to know like the level of the supports that parents are doing because even with my kids that aren't diverse learners. I'm constantly collaborating with the teachers when there's an issue. It's like all right, how can we get this to move? Because kids are going to
131kid, right? But then you add diverse learner into the mix and it's more complex than that. So, I'm just I'm not seeing what sort of umformational sessions or parenting coaching sessions are happening or available to families so that they can ensure that they're reinforcing some of the same practices that you're doing in school. So, is that happening, I guess, is the question behind that. >> It's happening and it's not just it I I can't speak for other departments. It's not just happening here. It's happening elsewhere. Um, one example, and it's not quite what you're asking, we do have the WISH program where we work with families directly to help support them, whether it's uh helping them with how to how to get their student to study or >> just managing the IEP process or the
132school process. So, that's one area we we get to help a few, not enough, a few people. Um, social work. Miss Miss Price is out so she can't speak to that. The social workers do work more individual cases with families and so that's something that DL does more directly. Uh I don't know if Mr. Adams wants to get up here and talk about therapeutic day schools. They do have outreach through those, right? Because they're dealing at a higher level of need. Yeah. Higher incidence of behavior. So they are a little bit more grounded in that on a case-bycase basis. Um but so that's some of it. We we do provide it's not but it is education. We we do provide opportunities for understanding the IEP process or >> what resources are out there. We refer
133uh to to um the welcome center. So there's a lot going on and and I don't know I don't want to speak for the social workers without Miss Price here but I know they do a lot of hard work. I know the psychologist and counselors do a lot. Um I don't have like a formal initiative, but there's just some of the areas that we we do try to uh address the needs of parents as well. >> Okay. Thank you, >> Miss. >> I have a whole lot. Um I've been the one that's really been on that best and questioning for over a year. When is this happening? Um because I don't know if the board remembers we had been presented with this uh before I was a board member and I was admin that we
134were going to empty out Lincoln Center and it was going to become the best center and then we didn't hear anything. So my understanding is that we already had that space designated for this specific program and that was um that has been my frustration personally. I can tell you in Lake County there are very very few um there are very few places out placements that students can go at the lower grade levels. Mhm. >> Um my child had to drive had to travel an hour and a half away and for a person who's already emotionally disregulated um and can't do mornings and now they're waking up not just an hour and a half more because you know transportation has their own schedules. They have other students to pick up. So sometimes they're picking up, they're
135waking up even 2 hours earlier than normal to get where they need to be and they're in a cab with a stranger, >> right? Um it you're already disregulated by the time you get there. >> So I've been on this because I know the impact that it has on students and the cost savings. So I I it's exactly what Mr. McBride said is having that T-chart of what are we spending on transportation? what are we ch spending on facility fees versus having them here. But apart from that is that family component. Many of our families cannot go the hour and a half away to go see and meet the teacher in person and see that facility and learn what the routines and what that classroom looks like and really be a full connected partner versus
136if we had it here in Waggan where a parent can easily I'm going to say >> easier you're right easier could get to um I'm going to say the the Lincoln Center building right um and so it just breaks down another barrier to help support our students. So, um for me, I guess that's been my frustration because this has been presented before um many times and years ago and we're still not seeing any movement. Um and so that's why I've been pushing the superintendent. I want an update because where where is it at? So, I would really like to see that plan mapped out. Um, because I've been waiting for it. Like, I'm excited about it. Um, the other thing, again, as I stated, a lot of facilities in Lake County don't have um placement
137for younger students, and I saw that you said sixth to 8th grade. Uh, I would like to see if if you've done those numbers and calculations of how many students are being outplaced and potentially even lowering the grade levels because again, you know, I even working in the district, I remember I had a second grader that had to be outplaced and had to go two hours away, right there. That's an itty bitty kid that you're putting out onto a a cab with a stranger. Um, which is also difficult for a parent to want to do. So, I'm assuming, but I don't want to assume that you have looked at the data to see where our highest numbers are to get to that point where you're confident that it should be 56 50 6th to 8th
138graders like are we seeing lower kids in in lower grades also being outpaced? >> It's it's something that we are seeing. It is a trend. Um, we're not seeing it as much. correct me if I'm wrong from the emotional disability is we are from the low incidence side >> autism and other I don't want to say autism but it could be anybody ADHD or or what have you so we are seeing it in a different population than when we originally >> four or five years ago started looking at this um so it's something we may need to adjust we would always have to adjust to the population and need right could swing by age or or learning style or disability Um, so I I don't know that I can answer a lot of the questions
139because my part is how would you run that school? Right. >> Right. >> And and I don't want to speak I'm not a contractor. I I don't work for the city. I can't speak to all that stuff. >> Yeah. >> And you hold the >> purses. So, you know, the the will is there. I know from probably most people in the room. Um, but I'm assuming that I'm up here speaking about that. That was your request, which is great. So, um >> I guess I just >> we can keep moving the ball, >> moving forward. Yes. And not waiting years down the line that we're just keep kicking this can down the road. Um the the and the other thing um I suspect that we will see more students with behavioral emotional disorders because clearly
140you know a lot of these students are coming to us now in the elementary school after being born and being put through the pandemic or they were taught don't share any of your supplies don't touch you know anyone don't be near anybody you know they were ingrained with the >> co right like keep six feet apart and isolate yourself. And so >> they didn't get the true how to collaborate and work together in in school. So I'm I'm suspecting that you're going to see more of a rise in some of those behavior disorders until they learn how to truly regulate and and collaborate now that they're into school age. And the other thing I I could also see the potential rise because one thing that co did well and I say it often it was
141it it did highlight social emotional um you know wellness and well-being and it took away a not all of the stigma but a lot of the stigma about talking about mental health disorders and disabilities. Um, and it brought about more resources and assessments and information. And as you know, if there's more assessments and more resources, more people are going to access them, therefore, you're going to have more people that are going to be diagnosed and need these services, right? So, I just also want to keep that in mind as a board. Um, it's not necessarily a bad thing. disproportionality is, but it's not necessarily a bad thing when we're diagnosing more students because our tools are getting better. For example, autism, right, ADHD, our tools are getting better to be able to diagnose. Um, I'm
142all for least restrictive environment. I understand the need for it. Um, and to Miss Lensing's point though, that means more students are coming into that general ed population. I think we do a really good job when it comes to learning disorders or you know um medical disorders or or medically federal children where we are really providing that professional development. However, when it comes to those invisible disorders such as behavioral emotional disorders, we need to do a better job um and not just after the fact of a child having an IEP or 504 plan beforehand, right? Um because a lot of behaviors can be attributed to also having an emotional disorder um where they cannot control that. They need to have special supports, right? and sometimes even medication to be able to function in a classroom.
143That being said, I'm hearing a lot from general education teachers. Um, Miss Lensing pointed out she had special education classes. Not all general education programs provide a special education class that really goes into um for GenEd teachers. So there's a lot of our gened teachers that do not feel equipped >> to work with students that have behavioral and emotional disorders. So I would like to see that when students are being placed into those classrooms into the gened classroom, more intentional training for those gened teachers to understand how to work that IEP and work with these students. But in general, there should also be an overall understanding of what behavioral and emotional disorders look like and what strategies there are to support that. Um, and that's something that I've been asking and advocating for that I
144would like to see more of. Um the I know I'm telling I have a lot of um the other part is um like I would also like to see more training for the interpreters. um as you noted, you have, you know, your your speech and language pathologist, your OT, PT, all of these um services, and you have very few that are bilingual. And I know that that's like finding a unicorn to find a a bilingual OT in this area. Um, so we use our interpreters. However, sometimes our interpreters don't always have the medical vocabulary to be able to explain to families or don't have the understanding of why they're they're trying to teach a a student how to do something. So, again, being more intentional with with our interpreters to really understand so that the
145message is actually clearly getting across to our students and to our families. I know that they are trained and certified to do IEPs, which is completely different, but that day-to-day working with the student, I would like to see um that we are more intentional with that as well. Um the the collaboration again between families and um the staff. There are some coordinators and some case workers that are phenomenal. I want to bring one back who recently retired, but I'm sure she doesn't want to come [laughter] back for retirement who I have said to her like, "You have to come back and train the rest of the case workers to do an IEP the way that you do." Um, I have been in situations where I myself had had to stop IEP meetings because of the
146way it was being ran. And so we need to also train our case workers and our coordinators to as they're conducting that IEP to really work with our families for them to understand their their rights to understand the data that's being presented to them to Miss Lensing's point to understand the strategies that are being done in the classroom so they can replicate where possible at home um or reinforce where possible at home. that's not always being done. And I know that sometimes we're on timelines and we're rushing things and we're like, well, here's your rights and re responsibilities handbook that is like, you know, pages this big. Um, and parents sign off that they received them, but are they reading and understanding? So, again, if we could really work to have more of of that
147collaboration piece um even during the IEP process. And lastly, because I know I've thrown a lot at you, um, and and I don't mean to be, you know, so negative and critical, but I think these are areas that we can totally improve on. And we are we do have staff that really is doing a wonderful job. Um, many of them, but we just want to make sure that it's consistent across the board. And so the last part is just making IEPs easily accessible to all the staff responsible for implementing that IEP because sometimes we forget that, you know, students are going to go to an encore class and we'll need a special accommodation in that class and we don't give access to that teacher for those accommodations. Um and I know that you know sometimes
148same thing you know not even just encore even the parah that they don't need to know the full IEP but their piece and where they have to provide the the support um it's not always easily accessible for them to be able to provide full support. So, I want to make sure that while we're doing um all of this planning in that IEP and making sure we're writing out these goals that we're also thoughtful about how are we sharing those goals with the people who are responsible for implementing them and all people not just the one teacher. Miss Santa, >> short uh questions because they've already been covered. >> Okay. But I do want to know um regarding um the um EL students that are in middle school and high school. I'm concerned about that. The
149um if you could um maybe not tonight, maybe um you can give some type of uh written report or something regarding the EL students >> in middle school and high school. Um also um uh are these students doing grade level work? >> So yes, but it may be accommodated or modified based on their um instructional well their instructional level but their frustration level. So where they're reading at or where they're doing math at. So we base it on the grade level standards, but we may have to accommodate or differentiate or modify that. So they they should be doing grade level work. >> However, it may not look the same from kid to kid >> and that might not just be a DL kid, right? So um that's one of the things I know not us
150just us but teaching and learning and others work on is is how are we using uh our assessments to provide interventions to provide differentiation to drive uh small group as well as how are we then doing intervention through MTSS or or DL. Um, so it's not a simple answer, but yes, they should be working at that curricular level of their peers, but it it may drill down to where they are at in that standard. >> Okay. Um my um next question is regarding the discipline um numbers of the students that have been um what's inclusion >> in there. Yeah. In inclusion. What I I'd like to see the uh discipline the discipline report because um um we get the weekly reports, right? But there I would like to see an indic an an indicator or
151something that whether the student was is a DL student or regular ed student >> just on our report >> we we should be able I think we should be able to isolate that out. >> It already is not real. We don't get that though. >> Student outreach puts out a weekly um report that lists if a student has an IEP or is in the general education. What I'm hoping to see is to break it down the student who have 504s because I think those are slipping through. But we already have a report through student outreach that every exclusionary discipline like an OSS or inclusionary discipline like ISS are labeled. are are they um >> do I student or not? >> We we don't we we are are not privy of that. So if well Nick
152knows the reports that we get >> regarding discipline suspensions all of that >> if we could see that >> that that comes from student outreach. They they they send it to me every week. >> Okay. >> So if you reach out to Mr. We should be able to help you on that. >> Next next uh thing. >> What? >> I just have an additional question on that so I can hold it or if you'll let me interject. >> Go interject. >> Okay. I apologize Mr. Adams. Um so with with those students um for those that have part of their day included, are we looking at trends to see when those behaviors or disciplines are happening? Are they happening in more so in the gened classroom or are they happening more so in the diverse learner
153setting? >> That is a wonderful question. The report that comes out doesn't say that. >> Okay. >> So that that is that I mean because that is exactly what it is. Finding out where are those anticedants of where you're seeing that >> like are they being triggered into >> That's a great idea. I mean, I would love to see something like that, but currently that would be a billion time. >> You can answer that question. You know, >> I thought that wasn't >> Are you able to say that? >> It doesn't come to me. >> That's fine. They I just cuz they were nodding their heads. I was like, "Wait, [laughter] >> okay. My my last >> Can I go ahead? >> I just want to respond to Miss Lencing. I think just the way
154I heard the question, so I want to make sure we're getting all of that is when we're placing a a student with behavior back in or we're pushing a kid from a restrictive environment into a gened environment, these are kids who have already successfully worked on behaviors or regulation or whatever it is. The kids we see that ex that have more that start with dysregulation or explode or have a high incidence of behaviors, those are kids that are often not always placed in gened already and we may not know for whatever reason. We don't know that there's trauma or they move in or they're young. So, I think I I thought I was hearing you ask about kids who were returning back. We wouldn't bring a kid back from a therapeutic or a special ed
155setting who's still showing aggressive or severe disregulated behavior. The kids, the cases that you're describing are kids that are already in Gen Ed, >> right? >> IEP 504 or none. And those are the kids that we're responding to. Those are the kids we are trying to be um proactive and work with principles and teaching and learning and MTSS. So, I I think we just have to remember that that we don't we would never bring back a kid showing any behaviors because they're just setting them up for failure, which would just be 10 times worse than leaving them there. And so, I I think we need to remember these incidents are single cases that originate in that environment and we're trying to react to that and help them and get them what they need, where they
156need. Um, but we're we're certainly not trying to put kids in genet who are disregulated. >> Okay. Yes. >> I got one. >> Yes. >> One last thing. [clears throat] >> The PowerPoint. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Um, Dr. Sario, acting superintendent. Um, can [clears throat] we get the PowerPoint, please? >> Yes. >> Mr. Aljacus has it. >> Nick can send it to you. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Yep. That's all the questions I have right now. >> No more questions. I just want to say thank you because this was a super comprehensive report that touched upon a lot of data points. So, thank you for putting it together and coming out and presenting it and bringing all your team to ensure that any of our questions would be answered. Um, it's not lost on me
157that we are past 9:00 and you still have to wake up in the morning. So, thank you for hanging out and being ready to answer our questions and presenting. >> No problem. Thank you. Thank you. >> All right. >> Thank you, Dr. Bubbleitz. >> Uh Dr. Bubbleitz, I just want to say thank you too. I know I uh >> stay on stay on you a lot, >> but uh that's all right. >> And the team I do understand with the IEPs, you never know what you going to got coming, going incoming, and I know the question was asked about behaviors. uh sometime you know the behavior could be ready in the afternoon every day and you you you have to do everything you can to come up with uh some kind of solution to deal
158with that. So uh like I didn't know Carolina was dealing with same thing I was dealing with but yeah I do understand that cab situation and you know that's that's trauma by its own self. >> Yes it is. So if uh again we got the big Lincoln Center over there and if you can uh uh justify the ear is the mean to to make the cause right in terms of the dollars that we're spending outsourcing uh come on with it man because I think we uh giving more to uh those that's on the outside that we can keep oursel and probably save when it's all said and done and at the same time uh uh I think the outcome will be better and uh somebody was asking why we getting more kids. Everybody in Chicago
159was stacked up and when they tear them down, they got some place they got to go somewhere. They either go here, Round Lake, Round Lake or Lake Villa. One of the two. >> Okay. Thank you very much, Dr. >> Okay. >> All right. Moving on. Item 18, information items. I see none. Number 19, old business. Dr. Are you >> It is recommended that the board of education approve the modifications to board policy 6050. Confidentiality of student information is set forth for second reading. >> Motion to approve. >> Motion approved by Mr. Riddle. >> Second by Miss Favian. Any discussion on that motion? >> Roll call vote, please. >> M. Sorry. I just wanted to add because of all of the new um amendments to it, again, it goes back to informing our staff and training
160them to those changes so that they are aware um that they cannot, you know, discuss with parents um in instances that it's not safe to do so. So just not just pushing out a memo, but really being explicit that this policy has changed to that great of a detail. >> That is something we do at the beginning of the year legal conference with the principles and then it rolls down. >> So we hope. >> Okay. Roll call, please. >> Miss Fabian, yes. >> Miss Hannah, >> yes. >> Miss Lensing, yes. Mr. McBride, >> yes. >> Miss Ramirez, yes. >> Mr. Riddle, >> yes. President Rodriguez. >> Yes. Motion carries. Item B. >> It is recommended that the board of education approve modifications to board policy 6051, school student records maintenance and destruction as presented for
161second reading. >> Motion to approve by second by Miss Aen. >> Uh, any discussion on the motion? Roll call vote, please. >> Miss Fabian, >> yes. >> Miss Hannah. >> Miss Lensing? >> Yes. >> Mr. McBride? >> Yes. >> Miss Ramirez? >> Yes. >> Mr. Riddle? Yes. >> President Rodriguez. >> Yes. Motion carries. Item C. >> It is recommended that the board of education approve the student support handbook as presented for second reading. >> Motion to approve. >> Motion approved by Mr. Riddle. Second by Men. Any discussion on that motion? >> Yeah. understand our miss. Can you use the mic? >> Yeah. Okay. Um, did you all um [clears throat] sh up or look at the um the appearance policy? It is not a dress code policy. It is framed as the appearance policy because
162that policy is being violated and it is not being enforced under under the uh opice of um body shaming people. And that that needs to be looked at and it needs to be discussed in with administrators because the policy is being misinterpreted and it needs to be talked about. So the language in the student handbook handbook has not been modified from what it was last year because there was no policy change. So um what I'm hearing is an ask to kind of have the administration look at that maybe present proposals for updates or bring information back about how it's being implemented. >> Yeah. how it's being implemented, but how they are interpreting the policy because I mean everything it's right there in the policy and I've read it on numerous occasions [clears throat] and the
163staff is confused. Well, when I say staff, I'm going to say the uh frontline staff that has to deal with um the um the attire that students are wearing to school. And I see my I see the student board member is shaking his head. >> Wait a little. No. >> Do you feel No. Nope. the I said this. Do you feel comfortable talking about it, Frankie? Cuz if he doesn't, we're not pulling him in on it. >> What? He's >> No. Nope. We're not fighting me on that part. >> Excuse me. >> Said he's comfortable. >> I'm just wondering like what is policy that it's not enforced? That That's really my question. >> I mean, I already have my notes. I'm like, did this uh like being addressed? Like what what type of policy is
164this not being enforced? where where they the um the clothing attire the um the >> how students dress. >> Yeah. The how the students are dressing some students. >> It's it's a board policy. >> Please speak into the microphone. >> Uh I I think there's more to look into that. I mean there there isn't like a a really general way to like uh properly dress. I I know that nowadays people view things people view or students view uh different dressing accords. So I I feel like it'd be a better idea if we get a collective um information like involving the students um what they feel about uh the the dressing the dress code basically. >> I agree. I love it. I love the idea. >> Absolutely. >> Thank you. >> Okay, >> we have a
165motion on the floor. >> Do we? >> Yes. That's it. Open up to questions. >> Can we have a roll call vote, please? >> Miss Fabian, [clears throat] yes. >> Miss Hannah, >> yes. >> Miss Lindsay, yes. >> Mr. McBride, >> Mr. Ramirez, yes. >> Mr. Riddle, yes. >> President Rodriguez, >> yes. Motion carries. >> Item 20, new business. Mr. Riddle, >> yes. Um, I had discussed this with the board president. um and and would like to um read just a couple paragraphs of a of a memo that I sent to bar our board members. >> Read the whole thing. Right. >> The the what it is is is really I have some urgent fiscal concerns and and a directive that I'm propo going to propose. So this was my letter to the board members
166um dated um May 20th. As democratically elected stewards of the walkgan community unit school district 60, our primary responsibility is to balance robust educational port support for our students with rigorous fiscal accountability to our taxpayers. Following our first FY27 budget meeting on May 13th, I became deeply concerned about the financial trajectory presented to us. We are facing an unsustainable structural deficit that requires immediate collective leadership from both this administration and this board. The reality of our reserves. At our May 13th meeting, administration confirmed what most of what many of us knew. In fact, it was worse than than I had thought that during the current school year, District 60 spent down our cash reserves by $39.7 million, bringing our healthy $16 million cushion down very significantly. Shockingly, the preliminary FY27 budget proposal projects an identical
167scenario. 326.4 4 million in expenditures against only 286.7 million in revenue. Planning to draw down another 30 $39.7 million in consecutive years is structurally unsound practice that threatens the long-term solveny of our district. Our directive for a balanced FY7 FY27 budget. As guardians of this district and our district finances, our board member, I request as a board member that the rest of the board consider explicitly signal that we cannot and will not approve a budget that fails to address this structural deficit. We must direct the superintendent and finance team to present a revised realistic FY27 budget proposal that balances revenue and expenditures with little reliance on cash reserves. To guide the administration ahead of this our June our next June 2nd workshop, I propose that we uh request a line by line evaluation of non-instructional
168cost. I propose we instruct the administration to analyze what I listed below as the specific operational areas to identify significant structural savings while minimizing the impact of student learning. And in my letter here, I I address three different areas. one. The first one would be administrative overhead and staffing efficiency. Administrative overhead must be our first point of review. Currently, our district operates with an administrative to staff ratio of 8.5%. In contrast, comparable peer districts in our immediate area maintain a ratio of 4 to 6%. We could request that the superintendent implement an immediate central office hiring freeze and explore organizational consolidation to bring our overhead into alignment with regional standards. Number two, staffing and class size benchmarks. Our current teacher to student ratio stands at 10.4 to1. While low class sizes are an asset, neighboring
169comparable districts maintain a ratio of 13 to 15.1. And the Illinois state average sits at just 15 at sits at 15 to1. We're at at 10.4 to one >> of of students to staff without compromising our core educational services. The administration needs to evaluate structural staffing formulas and natural attrition to find sustainable efficiencies. Um and then finally number three, outside vendor procurement and contracts. Our outside vendor expenditures including high dollar contracts for health insurance, transportation, food services, curriculum packages, student support, software, and utilities total approximately $88.6 million. We must require a thorough audit of these vendor agreements to find cost reductions without compromising student safety, legal compliance, or instructional integrity. And a final area that we could look at would be energy and capital plan smoothing. We should continue to seek operational efficiencies by accelerating
170sustainable energy integration such as solar options to permanently reduce utility baselines. Additionally, as much as possible, we must evaluate the timing of our 10-year capital improvement plan. And I know we've we've taken out a bond for that, but maybe we can defer some non-critical physical projects to preserve general fund cash while simultaneously prioritizing the campaign for the 1% countywide school facilities sales tax to fund future infrastructures. And we talked about this at the last budget meeting. That's probably not going to be an issue in this next budget cycle because by the time that gets approved, if it gets approved, it money won't be coming to us till uh two years down the road. our next steps to execute our responsibility. Um I believe that the board needs to uh ask the administration to present detailed
171saving proposals along with alongside a newly revised FY27 budget model to the board on or before the June 2nd [clears throat] budget meeting. The superintendent said that she wanted to do this at the last meeting. This turnaround plan must spell out exactly where our expenditures can be paired back realistically. Crucially, this plan must also include a transparent communication strategy tailored for our staff and the public. As the superintendent has stated, we must handle these tough questions with clarity and precision to avoid triggering unnecessary panic or anxiety in our community while clearly demonstrating our commitment to keeping District 60 fiscally solvent and stable for the years to come. I think um I would ask that the board you know support this and and propose that uh you know before our next or at our next board
172meeting or a special meeting thereafter which June 2nd is our next meeting that we ask our finance team to come up with uh some options as stated here. >> Miss Yes. Um thank you Mr. Riddle for bringing this forward as eloquently and articulately as you've done because this is this is what I have been talking about for maybe the last couple years and it's been falling on deaf ears. Now that you have said it, however, maybe we'll get some um we'll get some traction to it because if not, we are going to be in trouble and I have been saying that for a while and we're not the only district, Miss Hannah, you're correct. We're not the only district that could be that is facing a difficult challenge in fiscally, but we have to be
173realistic about what we're doing. We cannot continue to spend down our savings or there won't be any savings left. >> Absolutely. >> And um like I said, we we've already spent almost 40 million this past year and the proposed budget was to spend again almost 40 million of savings. >> Can't keep >> we have to be realistic in what we look at and I think it's behooves us to um to see where we could par some of that down. We can't continue to spend down savings that we or we won't have any. And that's that that is one of our responsibilities. We certainly care a lot about educating students and that is our primary responsibility. >> That's the primary responsibation to the taxpayers. >> And the second that's the second and >> yes, it I've
174been harping on it and harping on it. Now we're at a c a crucial point here >> where now we got to do something. >> Right. So, we're not going to do anything tonight, I'm sure, but I'd like to hear if the rest of you would support something like this that finance team to come up with uh some options for us at the next meeting on June. I'm sure they've got some ideas. The superintendent said they've been working on this. So, I would just make sure that we have something available on June 2nd that we can look at and it would be a revised budget with some options as to where we can um car some savings and still continue to provide good services >> and not eat into um our reserve so heavily. >>
175And maybe we can bring forth some suggestions >> uh that we could pass on to the superintendent and have her I mean, just look at everything. It it we're supposed to be a it's a team effort. We should bring things forth, too, [clears throat] that um that that we believe would be um a help in this process. >> Um Mr. Riddle, I do appreciate the effort and eloquence that you put into this letter. I echo Miss uh Hannah's and Miss Fabian sentiment set that this was really well done and I I do support this because we need to continue to provide the best education we can for our students and in order to do that you have to be solvent to do so. A hard conversation. >> Not fun. >> Hard conversation, but it's got
176to be had. >> Any further discussion on this? >> Yeah. Well, I was I'm I was just sitting here listening to everybody. I think we've been talking about this for a while. I think the only thing that I I do remember being heard, whatever we do, long as we don't do nothing that's going to interrupt the uh children's uh support. And that's that's what I've been hearing. So, uh and I guess at some point uh I am waiting on the uh idea of some of the things that's supposed to take place in as far as the cuts goes that's supposed to come to us and some of some of the things you had uh listed Mr. riddles. Uh uh you you you kind of outlined some areas that you you you thought already in your
177mind that uh that we need to take care of that's already you think that's uh should be uh uh uh some duplications going on as you say in there. But I'm but I'm saying that we've been talking about it for a while. So, I'm just kind of waiting to see what you guys uh uh your team is going to come up with to bring to us to where we can take a look at it. And then as as you said, Miss Hannah, uh most boards do look cuz we have been around and we see what's going on. Most boards do make recommendations. So, absolutely. I would say >> uh going forward if we got some recommendations, I write them down. So, when we do get ready to come, just like Mr. Riddle did his just
178now and bring them forward and let's go see and see what's in it. >> Absolutely. >> We we we ain't bumr rush these years. We [laughter] >> No, >> she understand [laughter] wishes she'd have left the room a little. >> I actually asked her to stay. I um >> All right. I knew this letter was going to be read and um you know this letter just solidifies everything that we all know. >> Yes, >> we all know as board members, administration knows and um you know looking back I remember being back on the board um this Hannah. >> Yes sir. years ago when we were when we were uh having to go I was the one that had to go to the bank every time and sign sign all those uh taws the tax anticipation
179warrants because >> we didn't have enough cash to cover payroll. >> Absolutely. And we were doing that every payday. And um there was an effort that was made, a very serious effort with Miss Pulk uh at at the head of the financial team and she and her team actually with with the board's with the board's uh support and with the administration support actually got us out of that situation so that we were able to breathe a lot more easily because we didn't have to worry about uh how we were going to pay the bills. the money the money was there. We had the reserves and um what Mr. Riddle has said is nothing that Miss Pulk doesn't know and that the superintendent doesn't know >> and they are very much in line with our thinking
180and our our sentiment on this. And so it's not and you know we're the board. We don't just make the recommendations. We're the ones that vote. We're the ones that vote on the budget. Um and so um it's really in our hands and I think that everybody here knows you know the administration knows Miss Pulk and her team know that we need to do some serious uh maneuvering and and I I guess I I know that you know if you ask Miss Pulk she'll she'll probably tell you some strategies that they're already working on and that uh right you know um that they've been they've been aware of the situation for a long time. What I would like to hear just to comfort me a little bit is to hear some presentation of the turnaround
181strategy. >> Okay? You know, because I know I know it's happening and I know it h it has to happen and I I know that that everybody involved is already working on the turnaround strategy. I guess I'd just like to hear maybe Miss Pope maybe you can just give us a few words on, you know, uh tell us a little bit about what that strategy is. I know I kept you here for a reason. [laughter] Is she ready? Uh >> board president, board members, uh colleagues and community. Um, I think that it would be pre premature for me to really uh answer this question in the superintendent's absence, but I can say that we've had discussions about working uh diligently as we have recently to look at some areas that we can address. But, uh,
182to give specifics, um, I I would not like to do that in her absence. And I'm not asking for specifics. I mean, I'm just looking for some kind of assurance that and and assurance to the board. Yes. >> That that is taking place. >> We are looking at uh some things. We heard uh the board uh at the budget workshop >> and uh we are looking at some areas uh that we can address. uh the superintendent uh did meet with myself and uh the deputies and uh said that we were not going to delay uh in making efforts to uh make reductions. Okay. >> But that's the farthest I would like to go with it because I think that she can make her own statement. But we are uh looking at um the budget and
183I am not shocked nor you know at all I'm not offended by the comments that were made uh today uh because at the budget workshop we did uh express openly our concerns and we were transparent in uh presenting the financial status of the district. Mhm. >> So, um, we're here, uh, to work as a treasurer. I work for the board, as the, um, uh, business official. I work for the superintendent. And it is always my goal to be transparent and to keep you informed about where the district is. And no, we do not want to go back >> where we were. >> We will not go back. >> No, >> that was a very difficult time. very bad. >> So, yes. >> Yes. >> I hope that I've answered >> you. You definitely have. And
184I just as I tell the the board members individually as they uh bring these concerns to me, I have a lot of faith in you. >> We've we've worked together a lot of years. >> Yes, sir. >> I have a lot of faith in you and your team. >> Yes, sir. >> And the administration and also in this board. A lot of faith in this board. Knowing that together as a team, we're going to make this happen. we're going to work through it and we're going to turn things around and afterwards say, "Wow, we did it. We you know, we survived and we came out stronger than ever." So, the main the main reason I I wanted to have you here and bring it just to to uh give everybody the the assurance that this
185is not something that you're just hearing for the first time, >> right? >> It is is it isn't and it's not something that uh we've not said uh for years with the ESSER money going away. we knew that uh we were going to be here as with other districts across the state and across the country, >> right? >> So, um I I think I heard uh board member uh Carolina and other board members say that we have to make the tough decisions. We have to prioritize and we can't do everything. I think uh the last board president said that uh when uh we did the teachers uh contract uh we said if we do this then something else we're not going to be able to do and and the board understood that and made that
186decision. And so here we are today. We have to make that decision. And so yes, we do have uh money in the bank. We're not broke, >> right? >> But what Mr. Riddle said is true. We can't overspend what's in the bank because eventually it's going to deplete the bank account. And so the the state of Illinois will not allow us to go too low. They won't allow us to go too low. >> Even if we choose to go low, they will force us to do a deficit reduction plan. Right. and uh our district has not had to do that in 10 12 years. Right. >> Thank you, ma'am. >> So, I I applaud the board of education. I applaud the superintendent and administration for all the work that has happened uh in the years.
187And so, I'm optimistic that we'll be able to uh make those tough decisions. >> And I'm optimistic too. Thank you, Miss Poke. >> Thank you. Thank you, Miss P. >> I would also like to applaud Miss Poke. She constantly leaves herself out in the hard work that has been done. So, thank you, ma'am. [applause] >> Okay. Any other new business? >> Um, [snorts] girl, stop it. No. Mm- [clears throat] We don't have to talk about it tonight, but on the next agenda, can we please add under new business talking about these special meetings? This is like the third maybe fourth time I'm bringing it up. We reduce down to two meetings for Tuesday nights and we have other special meetings that are poor Mr. Aljacus is like can you guys do it this day? Can
188you guys do it that day? We have important things to talk about. Yes, we have student board member interviews that need to happen. My brain is having a hard time understanding why we didn't do that on a Tuesday night. We already had three. We're used to Tuesday nights. Unless there is a special guest coming in like Dr. Hill um and others that their schedule is dictating the meeting, I don't understand why we just can't have it on another Tuesday in the month. So, we don't have to talk about it tonight, but it can it please be added to the next agenda so we can talk about it. >> Okay. Student discipline matters. >> Okay. I have that one. Um, whereas following a building level investigation, student number 214 [snorts] was determined to have possessed a
189weapon at school, which under the school code requires a mandatory referral for expulsion for a period of at least one year unless modified by the superintendent whose decision may be modified by the board. Whereas the board of education of of walking community unit school district 60 did receive and consider the principal's recommendation and the superintendent's agreement to modify the mandatory expulsion period for student 214 and the reasons therefore and whereas the modification proposed is in the best interest of the district and the student and based on a totality of the circumstances supports the maintenance of a safe school environment free of disruptive influences. which can be a distraction to learning while continuing to hold the student accountable for the student's conduct. Now, therefore, it is hereby resolved that one, the whereas clauses are adopted here
190and by reference as findings of the board. Two, the board concurs with the superintendent's modification of the mandatory minimum expulsion period to five day out of school suspension, the days already having been served in the individualized safety plan. And three, the superintendent or the superintendent's designate is to notify the parent of student 214 in writing of the board's determination within the next five school business days. And four, this resolution is effective upon approval by the board. And I so move that we approve it. >> Motion by Mr. Riddle. >> Second by Miss Fianne. Any discussion on the motion? Roll call vote, please. >> Miss Fabian, yes. >> Miss Hannah, >> yes. >> Miss Lensing, yes. Mr. Mr. McBride. >> Yes. >> Mr. Ramirez, >> yes. >> Mr. Riddle, >> yes. >> President Rodriguez, >> yes.
191Motion carries. >> Okay, next item. I I have been asked we could skip board member time tonight, and my answer is it's not up to me. >> I think if you don't want to speak, you can pass. >> Okay, here we go. Everybody like I have one comment, so yes. Like I mean Yeah. Yeah. I appreciate all you do, Miss >> You are excused, Miss Fabian. >> Um, I'm glad you guys brought up on how to reduce costs. Um, one suggestion I I Well, I'll start off with congratulations to all the high schoolers that graduated. It was phenomenal. And I just want to make a plea to all of those recent graduates that they are now considered alumni, that they can come back and volunteer and support. though to keep in touch with our school
192district um so that they can come back, mentor our kids and support where they can. Um but number two, for the middle school promotion, I also had a middle schooler um being promoted. It's during the day at the Jese Theater. Many times the parents are not there because they have to take the day off of work. We're pulling admin out of the building for that day during the end of the school year, which you work in a school district, you know, it's like that's when all the dumpster fires happen is when the admins are out at the end of the year. Um, and I understand contractually we can't obligate staff, but a suggestion that came up is having it nighttime at the trap and then instead of paying or in lie of paying the Genese
193theaters fees, we give stipens for staff who are available to work. This allows for parents to take off of work, but also for um teachers like the elementary teachers and the elementary school principles that would like to see their students being promoted to high school to also attend. And it keeps admin in the building during the daytime um during those crucial last days of school. So, if we can look at and um I'm guesstimating that the potential cost for the um stipens for those few hours would be less than what we pay in Genese Theater cost along with all probably um all the other things that are happening in the building that could be solved with admin being there. >> Thank you. That's just one thing. >> Um quick touch on that. So, one of
194the students that I was talking to before they started walking across the stage and shaking some hands, um there was an eighth grader who didn't have their parent present because they were at a fifth graders promotion. So, their their little sibling was getting their promotion. So, the parent had to choose between the two. Um and I my goal is to always have our parents support our kids. Um, and she put on a front and she seemed like she was okay, but like she got to shaking some hands and it it wasn't the same. So, that kind of broke my heart. So, I definitely hear where you're coming from. We could look to do that a little better. But, I will say that these middle school promotions and the high school graduation and this time of
195year is one of my favorite because of the parents that are able to to make it out. Oh, they embarrass their kids so much. They cheer so loud when their kid's name is read and I'm like, "Yes, this is the way." Um, so I just I really appreciated. I've not missed one middle school promotion. It's been one of the highlights. Um, so it was just it's great. It's great to celebrate our students and I love it every time. Um, and I just want to say that I hope everyone had a good Memorial Day celebration. Um, I come from a a family of people who served in the armed forces. I came very close to serving, but did not because of one comment. Um, but thankfully everybody came home for my family. I know not everybody
196is as fortunate. So, I just want to extend condolences and gratitude to those families who have lost someone who uh passed during service. So, hopefully you spent the day um celebrating their memory. Thank you, Miss Lensing. Mr. Hakobo. Um, greetings. Um, again, congrats to the high school graduates. I was up there shaking a bunch of hands. Um, congrats to them. Um, I also like to comment on I'm thankful for being here. Um, I know this is like probably my last meeting and it's been great working with all you guys uh making these great changes to the school and it's really be really been good to be looked up to. Um, Aside from that, I really like to share uh have a good summer for for all of those who are taking vacations over the summer.
197And then for those who are having summer school, you guys got that. It's just one month. You guys push through. Um [laughter] >> one month. >> Um aside from that, yeah, thank you. Good night. >> Thank you, Ramirez. >> Uh guess what everybody else has said. Um have a great summer. It's been an awesome year. I'm sorry I haven't been able to make any of the promotions, but I am very much there with you in spirit and looking at all the beautiful photos. Uh yeah, it's only one month of summer. Hang in there. And um that's it. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Riddle. Um yes, I wasn't able to attend the uh May 14th um retirement dinner, which I I normally love to to hear the stories about our wonderful staff and all the
198terrific things they have done and some of the humor as well that transpires on on that night. But instead, I went to the Whittier Elementary um exhibition of fifth graders projects. Um that's our IB school, you remember our first IB elementary school. Um, and I was just blown away again by the wonderful projects that fifth graders present. You know, we as as has been said many times, we have just some wonderful kids in our district. Um, even in elementary, these kids put in wonderful projects. I was able to attend four of the presentations. Um, art and social emotional learning, the kids, fifth graders talking about that, murals in the Waggan area. I learned all kinds of things. I didn't know we had such wonderful murals and who the they had talked to the artists. They
199do research these fifth graders and you know I mean I was I was blown away by that appreciating the outdoors. I love the outdoors. These kids did a fabulous job and how music so helps in social connections. And so these kids by the time they get to the mikvah challenge I'm going to expect fabulous projects. These kids are doing just wonderful things. Uh just all kinds of projects. I mean, baking in the community, um, people and animals without homes, these kids were, they picked their topics and research them, um, fifth graders, no less. So, the parents were able to go around and and you were able to, uh, to to spend about 15 or 20 minutes with each group, um, presenting their projects and then the bell would ring. Anyway, and wonderful thing. Um, and
200then now we have two IB schools. So, um, you know, Clark will be doing that as well once those kids get up to the fifth grade. Uh and then I want to just con, you know, echo what the rest of the board members have and also congratulate um both of our student board members. One of them's not here tonight, um treasure, but um Frankie, congratulations. It's been a pleasure working with you. And I would also mention congratulations to you for being selected as one of four candidates for the world affairs seminar. So he's going to be a delegate at Carol University. He's going to spend a whole week >> um at at the university. So he was [applause and cheering] >> get it. Get it. >> Um so when Frankie, when is it that you
201go? >> Um another couple weeks here, right? >> Yeah, it's a couple weeks. I think somewhere on the 20 21st, >> right? Okay. Well, have a wonderful time. He gets to go with um he'll meet 300 other students from around the United States and around the world. It's a wonderful project. Um and we the Lions Club, which I'm also a member of, sponsor four students every year from Walking High School. So I'm really pleased that one of the students they picked, I wasn't on the committee. Um, but I did recommend him as a good student. Um, was Frankie uh, Jacobo. So, have fun there and enjoy it. And, um, they get to meet kids from around the world. So, enjoy it. Um, yes. And have a good night everybody and a great summer. >> Okay.
202And I just want to say Frankie, thank you. Thank you for your dedication and hard work in working with us representing the student body. And we're going to miss you. Have some big shoes to fill. >> Wish you the best in everything. Yes. >> With that, we'd like to I'd like to ask for a motion tojourn. >> Moved by second by Hey, Miss Favian. >> I was quick with that. >> All in favor? I >> opposed. Motion carries. Meeting is at 10:07. >> Oh, good night everybody. Hey. Hey, man. If I'm going to