December 16th, 2025 - Regular Meeting - Open Session 7:00 p.m. - Closed Session 6 p.m.

001Heat. Hey, Heat. You yourself. [music] Hey, hey, hey. I'll be happy. >> [music] >> You prove yourself. Ooh. Oh, [music] I might >> [music] >> Woo! Woo! Oh, [music] ooh. >> [music] [music] >> Hey, hey, hey. >> [music] >> Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Uh-oh. Baby. Hey. Hey. Hey. you. I love you. Hey, I'm again. Hey Heat. Heat. N. Oh my god. I'm alive. Heat. Hey, Heat. >> [music] >> You yourself. >> [music] >> Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. I'll be happy. yourself. I left early 7:03. I had I got it. >> Oh, I already know. Oh my god. [laughter] Okay, we're going to get started. >> I don't know who it was. This book looks fabulous. >> Board in close session this evening at 6 p.m. to discuss matters that fall into the following categories

002that are exceptions to the Illinois Open Meetings Act. Personal matters exception C1, specific personnel appointment, employment, compensation, performance, dismissals, and legal matters exception C1, actual or threatened litigation. At this time, I would like to ask for a motion to go into open session. >> So moved. >> Motion by Mr. Riddle, second by Miss Hannah. And 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. We are now in open session. Mr. Shinen, would you please do us the honor of leading us in the pledge of allegiance? >> All right. >> To the flag of the United States of America and to the republic

003for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Thank you. Please be seated. Okay. Next item on the agenda is president's report. And I don't have a lot to report, but um I just wanted to mention the intergovernmental committee lunchon that I attended um last Thursday, December 11th, representing district 60. And um this was a meeting with all the U leaders in Walkegan and Lake County. Um and um we had some very um important matters that were up for discussion. One of them uh was the just the progress that Lake County Lakeshore campus is making and how it is progressing. And they gave some statistics that are just really impressive as to their performance, their their u the the students that they have, the the uh uh uh

004graduation rates and all that. It's just really very impressive. And the interesting thing about it is that with all their their campuses, the um Lakeshore campus downtown right here in Walkegan seems to be the one that's taken the lead and is really outshining the other campuses. So I was really impressed. Um, we had an immigration update by Dulshshire Te and Carmen Patlan and um, they just helped to put into perspective some of the things that are going on uh, that were going on during the time that ICE was in Walkegan and how they are continuing to uh, work to um, provide um, assistance to families that are in that have been affected by some of the activities of ICE and uh, uh, they are still available and uh, uh, able to help for anybody that

005is looking for assistance. And the other major item on the agenda was Vista Hospital, which is a matter of concern to all of us because Vista Hospital is in in very serious uh trouble right now. And um it it's its future is uncertain and it's it's a for-profit hospital, which means it operates by different rules than uh not the not for-profit hospitals. And um it concerns it should concern all of us because uh those of us that live in Wing, which are all of us, we need a hospital. Mhm. >> And so that's that's an item that is going to be um um worked on, going to be up for discussion for for some time until it gets resolved. and and uh you know we we needed to to do our part to uh uh

006provide the input and the u and and the um the uh what whatever input and ideas we have as far as helping the the city and the county and uh everybody else involved to make some good decisions so that we have a hospital that we can count on that that we are proud of and and that uh is going to be here to serve our needs without having to worry about what services are going to be cutting Next, um, you know, we have so many good things going on in our school district and, um, just want to point out a couple of them. You know, um, Mr. uh, Nelson Compost has is being chosen as a Lake Region Principal of the Year. He's going to be receiving that award. Is he here [applause] tonight? I

007don't see him here. But you know that that is quite an honor for us here in in uh in Walkegan that one of our principles is actually receiving this honor and um as you know our superintendent was uh recently appointed to the board of Alice and you know that is a very big accomplishment. That's the um what is the association of Latino administrators and superintendent. We have we have so many of our young graduates and students uh doing amazing things that we should be so proud of. I'm looking at this article that was in the paper, but Victor Inohosa, some of you may know him, >> uh, right? >> And uh, he's um, well, Keagan High School student earns young envir environmental leadership award and he's a freshman at the University of Chicago. And this

008is a young man that's going to go places. So, keep your eyes on him because he's going to be a star. Um, and you know, we we have so much going on for us here in the WKEAN school district that we need to be proud of. We have so many accomplishments. You know, we have a school, Clark school, that's in the process of being qualified as an international balorate school. And we have uh Whittier School that was the first in Lake County, the first international balorate school in Lake County. the these are things that uh you know other schools wish that that they could claim and and uh the things that that our school district are doing. We have some of the best administrators, some of the best teachers that you will find anywhere. And

009and we need to stop letting ourselves be led to believe that we are inferior, which is something that uh you know, it's kind of an underlying uh current that people just think, well, it's wkegan, you know, it's not as good. Um, I saw a real estate ad recently talking about a house in Park City and uh, beautiful house in Park City and right after that gurnie schools exclamation point. Now, most of you know that Park City has an area that's walkeist 60, another area that's given. So what this ad is saying, you know, they're not coming right out and saying it, but they're telling you, hey, if you buy this house, you're going to be lucky. You're going to be in the Gurnie school district. That's why they put the exclamation points. And so they're

010not say coming right out and saying, well, you know, this walkgan's inferior and Gurnie's better, but that's kind of what they're implying. And that really really bothers me. And and the thing, it's just kind of an underlying thing. And and we all get to a point where we just kind of accept it. Well, we can't we've got to stop accepting it. >> We we've got to start realizing what we have going on here. You know, we are we are a school district that has so much to be proud of. We have so much going on, so many accomplishments amongst our teachers, our administrators, our students, and we just need to shout all of our accomplishments from the rooftop rooftops. And I'm going to say I see Mr. Satan in the back there as usual. Mr.

011say Satan, I really appreciate everything that you do to cover all of the good things that are going on in Walkegan and and you've really been instrumental in getting the message out to the public. So, I want to thank you for that. And all of us need to be the the the the messengers. We need to be the fans, the fanatics, the cheerleaders of Walkegan School District and just let the world know all the good things that are going on here. And that's all I have to say. Student board member report. Are we doing this individual or are we tag teaming >> together? Okay. Okay. >> We ready? >> Okay. Hello everyone. So this is me and Frankie's board report. Okay. So this month me and Frankie collaborated with Mr. Alazakis, Mr. Molton and Miss

012Williams to create a follow-up uh survey for our last survey to try to like get more specific feedback from the students. Uh some type of questions that we asked were what kind of healthier foods or vegetables would you like to see offered more often in the cafeterias? What changes or additions would you like to see on the burgers or burger options in the cafeteria? Do you think having microwave available in the cafeteria will be helpful for the students? Why or why not? And what do you think the cafeteria already does well when it comes to food or services? And yes, so our goal is to collect more specific uh feedback and data from our students so we can better understand their preferences and needs. The information will help us make meaningful improvements to the school

013lunches and ensure meals are meals meet our students expectations and taste. Thank you. >> Uh uh so a little bit of what I've been working um while just like exploring all these opportunities. Um I was a student principal for a day and I learned how how principles usually work. >> Um this was an invitation from Mr. Hamilton um the MCEL program. Uh so I can see here I was just uh doing some of the grading and I had the chance to read aloud to some of our younger kids at elementary schools. Um I also went to the conference uh with Miss Favian. Uh we really had a good time. Uh, I met new people and how districts usually work, especially when it comes to electing a superintendent and really just a lot of background knowledge

014of what they really do. Um, a lot of I lot I saw great opport um companies that uh offered a bunch of things like we can see here one of the programs were like working with drones. Uh, it was just really overall a really fun experience and I really enjoyed this That's it. Okay. Thank you very much. Okay. Next item. Item seven, special recognition and presentations. Spotlight on 60. I was just waiting because there's some other conversations going on up here. >> Are we ready? [music] >> [music] [music] >> Most of us use assist of technology every day to help us stay organized and function in our environment. Things [music] like glasses, hearing aids, closed captioning, calendars, and smartphones are all types of assisted technology. In our schools, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, commonly

015known as IDA, defines assist of technology as any item, piece of equipment, or product system, whether acquired commercially off-the-shelf, modified, or [music] customized that is used to increase, maintain, or improve the functional capabilities of a child with a disability. Born from magma, ignous rock. [music] >> From speech generating devices that give students a voice to adaptive keyboards, screen readers, and even pencil grips, assisted technology opens the door to academic and social opportunities that reflect a learner's abilities, not their obstacles. [music] These tools don't give students an advantage, they give them access. [music] Access to AAC is life-changing for my students. For someone like Noah, speaking can be really hard, and it gives them a voice. It gives them a way to express their feelings, their [music] thoughts, and needs when speech isn't enough. I see

016how students are frustrated when they [music] can't communicate. And once they have consistent access to AAC, they actively [music] participate in class, interact with their peers, and show their personalities. You know, a lot of students, if they are initially [music] minimally speaking or non-speaking students coming in, we're really guessing, [music] right? they're using a lot of gestures or they're pulling and they're grabbing. And so with that can come a lot of frustration [music] and behavior. So having access to a dynamic display [music] system that has broad vocabulary access has really significantly changed [music] um life for them. Many times what we'll see is we'll see behaviors that normally we wouldn't see if they were able to [music] communicate because a behavior is always telling us telling us something but it's [music] our job to figure

017out what it is that they're trying to tell us. So with this type of technology and devices and strategies we're able to communicate with our students to figure [music] out what they need and want. The staff here is exceptionally [music] empowered to work with the students to find out which device works best for them. Um, they're able to talk and tell us what they want. Not only what they want, what they need, but what their interests are. [music] And if we can get them to tell us what they're interested in, [music] then we can really connect with them and build their language. >> Chicken. >> The chicken. [laughter] Duck. Duck. Quack. Quack. Chicken. Chicken. Cluck. Cluck. >> Chicken says cluck cluck. >> Chicken duck. Are they friends? >> So the student that you were [music]

018observing me with initially there was a lot of frustration. And his mom had shared with me that things [music] are so much different at home now that he has access to a system. Much less frustration. [music] and he's able to tell her what he needs, what he wants to do, and why he's frustrated when he's frustrated. So, it's just really helps kids not only communicate their basic needs, but to share and to socialize. Kids will call out each other's names, and they will say hello to one another and say hello to, you know, staff members that they're interested in and like. and it's really just opened [music] the world for them fulfilling some of the basic rights and needs that they have. A switch and adaptive mouse or eye gaze access [music] may open the

019curriculum for a student with limited mobility, but these innovations also pave the way for more intuitive inclusive digital tools for everyone. What begins as assist of technology often becomes universal technology. As schools embrace these tools, they're not just supporting individual students. They're reshaping the learning experience, making it more flexible, more responsive, and more accessible for everyone. [applause] Okay, moving on. Item eight, approval of minutes. We have four sets of minutes here and we are going to take them individually. Um, item 8A is close session minute approval. >> Motion to approve. You want to read the >> It is recommended that the board of education approve the closed session minutes dated August 12th, 2025, August 19th, 2025, September 4th, 2025, September 9th, 2025, October 14th, 2025, and October 28, 2025, which were previously reviewed in close

020session. >> Motion by Mr. Riddle to approve. >> Yes. >> And who had the second? >> Miss Hannah. Any comments, corrections, change or we're not going to change it in open session. They've already approved. >> 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. Item 8B, approval of minutes for the micro meeting open session, November 10th, 2025. >> Motion to approve. >> Want to read that? >> Oh, you want to read it again? >> Yes. It is a recommendation that the board of education approve the micro meeting open session November 10th 2025. >> All right. Motion to approve. >> Post members to

021approve. >> Second by Miss Han. Any comments, corrections, changes? I have some um page one, third paragraph, second paragraph of the roll call. Um close session portions of the meeting, a comma, then an S. That S needs to be removed. Um, second page 8 a personnel. The first line that the board of education accept must remove the S. Second line that the board of education accept. Remove the S on that. Uh, page three under student discipline matters. Second paragraph, Mr. Riddle shared that he and board president Rodriguez recently attended a Bravo concert. I make that Bravo Walkan concert. And that's all that I have. >> Motion to approve as amended. >> As amended, President and second to approve as amended. Okay. Roll call vote, please. >> Miss Fabian, >> yes. >> Miss Hannah, >> yes.

022>> Miss Lensing, >> yes. >> Mr. McBride, Miss Ramirez, >> yes. >> Mr. Riddle, >> yes. >> President Rodriguez. >> Motion carries. Minutes are approved. >> Item C, approval of minutes for the open session meeting, November 18th, 2025. [clears throat] It is recommended that the board of education approve the minutes for the open session meeting November 18, 2025. >> So moved. >> Motion to approve by Mr. Riddle. >> Second by Miss Hannah. Any comments, corrections, changes to the minutes? >> Um I will be passing. I was I was unable to attend for personal reasons. >> Okay. Thank you. I have some changes. Uh page four under consent academics vote reverse the words please make it academic consent vote. Um under on page five under item E attendance at national art education conference at the bottom

023of that it says vote for B and E but that's not correct. B was already voted on and that's um documented above. So, this would just be a vote for E, let's see, on page six, um, no, page seven, we have the same thing there. Vote for B and D. That should just be a vote for D because B was already voted on. There is a sentence here which I just don't understand what what it's saying and I think it needs to be somebody needs to translate it or u reward it. It is recommended that the board of education approve the administration's recommendation to turn for the termination of the last name is found on schedules 2317. Can you identify which item that is so they can go back and double check that Mr. Rodriguez

024>> this is under employee >> 13A under employment employee termination >> on page seven. Okay. And then let's see what else. I think that's all I have on that one. >> Okay. Motion to approve as amended. Second as amended. Okay. Roll call vote, please. >> Yes. >> Miss Hannah, >> yes. >> Miss Lensing, >> pass. >> Mr. McBride, >> yes. >> Mr. Ramirez, >> yes. >> Mr. Riddle, >> yes. >> President Rodriguez, >> yes. Motion carries. Minutes are approved. [clears throat] Uh, next one is the approval of minutes for the special open session December 8th, 2025. Do we have any comments, corrections, changes minutes? >> I'm sorry. Motion to approve. motion. Okay. Second. Uh any comments, questions, changes the minutes? I do have one change that is on page one under roll call. Karolina Fabian

025joined the meeting remotely at 6:02 p.m. The reason needs to be stated on that. What what was the reason on that? >> for illness. >> Illness. Okay. >> Okay. A motion to approve as amended. >> Second by Miss Hannah. 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. Minutes are approved. [clears throat] >> Item nine, opportunity for public comment. Do we have a signup sheet? >> Thank you. to call your name. Please come up to the uh podium, state your name, and um you will be uh given three minutes to make your comments. Mr. Mark Shinken. >> Good evening, Mark Shinken. Um,

026it's actually quite interesting that there was a presentation on the district 60 with technology because [clears throat] I saw something that um I'm not much of a social media person. I just have a small presence just at the start of this year just to follow some individuals. But I saw this item and I think it would be well suited for our employees and the children. Now, the item that I'm talking about and the reason that I'm bringing this up is because of personal experiences that have been in the past. But there's this uh interesting item. It's called the the new Apple AirPods and for those which I didn't know actually auto translate now. So if you had a pair a staff member, say for instance a paraprofessional who might be working in a bilingual class

027who isn't bilingual, they could put in one of the Apple iPods and give the other one to the student and they could communicate in their native language and it would translate for each person. so that they would be able to communicate and uh be more productive. In the past, uh staff members have been just using Google Translate with their phones. Just think of the time that's wasted there doing that. I think that um the district should look into whatever those costs are and you know let's test it out how let's try you know some schools if it's a benefit why not uh okay uh I'll finish there. >> Thank you Mr. Shinkin. Prian Nickerson. >> Good evening. Um, I was here last month speaking. I am here speaking again about the decision to deny our

028grievance on the courses that we took through Idaho State. Professional development as I understand it is um attending seminars, webinars, conferences, workshops and courses all to better ourselves. My primary concern stems from the unexpected change regarding the acceptance of these courses. the same exact professional development courses that were already approved in the spring that teachers turned in and have received their lane changes and their credits for I said we were blindsided. No reason given. These are professional development opportunities, not degree seeking, so they're not going to be as rigorous as the grad classes that I took to get my master's degree. I started in January to make the cutoff in September and I finished them all 60. You can do it. It's self-paced. It's online. I did it over spring break. I did it all

029summer. Had my laptop with me. I bartend in the summer at the golf course. They would come in. Oh, what are you doing? Going back to school? Yep. I'm trying to get these classes done while I have downtime. And that's exactly what I did. I've observed numerous professional development activities here that require consider considerable payments. Hotels, flights, food, Minnesota, Arizona, Georgia, and Florida all in the past two months. They get their credits. Those taking union courses, book studies, mentoring. No one said anything about rigor there. I took this because it offered flexibility. Each course has eight modules. Each module has a quiz. I have eight quizzes to take before I go to the next course. So, I spent a minimum of 15 hours. And I lowballed you on that one. 300 hours total. It cost

030me $3,300 to take the courses. $45 times $300 is $13,500 plus what I paid to take him. $16,800 is what I have spent in time and money. You'd be cheaper to give me my lane change. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mrs. Genia. Frisco, >> good evening. It's been a minute since I've been here. Um, but I've been watching you guys on uh YouTube every time, so I've never missed. Um, couple things I want to talk about. I looked at the data when it was presented and I print it off just so that I can get a better feel for it. I appreciate what you're saying about the positivity for the school district. I think that we always need to highlight the positivity, but we also need to be aware of where our students are. Let's

031not forget that. And that's what the data showing. Our kids are still struggling and it's it's in black and white. So, we need to figure out what do we need to do. When I turn to the first page when it talks about core beliefs and it says we believe that parents are empowered and informed partners who actively participate in our children's learning, that's not true. This needs to come out there. It's not true at all. I can tell you from uh starting the Black Parent Network and I think thanks Teresa for proving that we're going on like about four years. The last one was the most parents that we have had and I think we had about 15 to 17 parents. Thank God for what Faith is doing for that. But we need to get

032parents involved. Our data reflects where our kids are and I'm a data person. The the data is not good. We need to figure out when I come here to the meetings, the district is doing an awesome job. There a lot of tools out there. There's a lot of workshops for the uh administrators. There's uh teachers are going places [clears throat] and everything, but some reason it's not translating down to where the students are. And we need to figure out why. You guys need to figure out why. I still sub in the district. I don't sub as much, but when I'm there, I always take in that district that uh 60. I actually subbed in uh one of those classrooms. Of course, the teacher wasn't there because I was there. Shout out to those parents. Those

033parents do a awesome job with those kids and the tools that they have. That is awesome. So, shout out to those parents while I'm standing here. But we need to figure out why. Why is it that what is going being related and communicated to the administrators and the teachers? Why why why are students still failing? Why? If if you look at the grades, I mean the grades show that we're improve a little a little bit, but we're we're already low. So, we've improved from lower to low lower to higher, but we're still low if you know what I mean. So, we need to you guys, not me. You guys need to figure out what can we do to support our kids in this district. I've been coming up here for years. They are my number

034one priority and they will continue to be my number one priority. And as long as I keep looking at this data like this, I am going to continue to come to speak out for our kids in this district because something needs to happen. >> Thank you, Miss Frisco. Okay. Um, next item is a consent agenda in academics. The consent agenda is a list of items that have been presented to the board that we have already discussed in other meetings um committee meetings and we've had a chance to review the information and ask questions and they are being pres this agenda is being presented to us for a vote. Um they're considered to be non um non-controversial items and uh they're being presented as one total block that we can vote on them all at once.

035One vote if we choose to do that. Is there anyone here any board member who wants to separate out any item? >> Board President, I'd like to separate um item 10 J. >> 10J for a separate vote. >> Okay. Anybody else? [snorts] Okay. So, what I'd like to ask for then is a motion and I'm going to read all the items. Okay. A motion to approve the consent agenda which includes and we're everything except item J. A is renewal of CAMI for preK to 12. B renewal of Amplify Boost Boost Lectura digital licenses for K5. C renewal of everyday math EM4 for grades K5. D. Renewal of Dreambox learning for K5. E. Renewal of Carnegie math curriculum for grades 6 to 12. F is new WHS course AP Spanish literature. G is new WHS walking

036high school course diesel mechanics. H website and mass communication upgrade. I request to attend the Tableau data conference 2026. And K American Institute for Research AIR contract. Do we have a motion? >> Motion to approve. >> Motion by Mr. Riddle. Second. >> Second by Miss Ramirez. Any discussion on that motion? Miss Fabian, >> just real quick, I I want to encourage our admin to continuously spread the word on all of these applications that we have. Many are used more than others and students are often on them and understand how to use them, but others such as Cammy can be used utilized way more often. Um, but again, how are we really spreading, you know, how to use it to our staff and training our staff so then our students can actually actively use it? Um,

037so again, with with the other ones like Dreambox and Everyday Math, I know kids already know how to get in and out of there and and they're we see the data that they're actively using it. Just that when we're approving these contracts, we always like to see those metrics. Um, I wasn't here for the last board meeting to see if any of those metrics were presented for Cammy, but I just again want to make sure that we're really pushing these apps out if we're buying them for student use. >> Thank you, Miss Lindsay. >> Um, I was going to say something along the same lines as Miss Fabian. Um, I don't want to take away this resource, but looking at those numbers, we can definitely increase the usage, especially for our middle school students. I

038know my middle schooler is doing some annotation through their class. Um, but I think we could really maximize the funds being spent here and just teaching our kids some of these prerequisite skills as it is. >> Thank you, Miss Lindsay. Anybody else? >> Um, yeah, I would just mention that um I'm pleased to see that we have two new courses at the high school. One is an AP Spanish literature and and that course is going to be available to students as an AP course. they're going to learn um not only Spanish but a lot about Spanish literature and culture. And I think that's great for um our students who can uh you know want to stretch a little bit and and take that course. And then also um the next one down is the um

039high school course diesel mechanics. So there you have a continuum educa or um what do you call it? A um a course that that maybe for students who who don't want to takes an real high academic course but want to get into a career field. So, this is a um moving into again the students who are looking for uh skills that they can use in the community. Diesel mechanics are going to be around forever. So, um that's a great course I think that we're offering as well. So, I'm glad to see that. >> Great. Thank you, Miss Hannah. >> Uh yeah. Um, I'd like to say in reference to the diesel mechanics, I'm just glad that um the pendulum swings back and forth >> because um we have had this type of vocational um education

040in the district before. And as we were told, it's going right back over into the space where um the auto mechanics and so forth so forth were um were there previously. Mhm. >> And so I'm glad that we're getting back to our um our vocational >> hands on for our students cuz that's what many of them need and that's what they want. And so um thank you. >> Thank you, Miss Hannah. Any other comments? We have a roll call vote, please. This is Oh, we already had the motion. Yes. >> We are uh voting to approve the agenda the consent agenda >> except >> everything except item J. >> Okay. Roll call, please. >> Miss Fabian, yes. >> Miss Hannah, >> yes. >> Miss Lensing, yes. >> Mr. McBride, yes. >> Mr. Mirez, yes. >>

041Mr. Riddle, >> yes. >> President Rodriguez, >> yes. Motion carries. >> Now, I'd like to ask for a motion to approve item J, which is the AVID Summer Institute 2026 Benny Middle School. >> Motion to approve. >> Motion by Mr. Riddle to approve. >> Second by Mr. Ramire. Is any discussion on this motion? >> Roll call vote, please. >> Miss Fabian, >> yes. >> Miss Hannah, >> yes. >> Miss Lensing, >> no. >> Mr. McBride, >> yes. >> Mr. Ramirez, >> yes. >> Mr. Riddle, >> yes. >> President Rodriguez, >> yes. Motion carries. >> Item 11, the consent agenda for operations. This is a much smaller agenda, but there are two. >> Oh, did you have something? >> Okay. It's a much uh smaller agenda, but there are two items and we are going to

042ask for a motion to approve both these items unless somebody wanted to separate them >> for any reason. Okay. Then we're looking for a motion to approve a item a approval of proposed academic calendars for 2025 26 2027 28 and 2028 29 school years. And B the approval of Yman Creek anchor subscription agreement. Do we have a motion? >> Motion to approve. Most >> approved by Mr. Riddle >> Second by Mr. Ramir. Is any discussion on this motion? >> Only to say that um I think you know that the committee did a a really good job. It was very difficult to um get agreement on on all three years for the proposed academic calendar, but I think they came up with a good compromise. And then also the Yman Creek anchor subscription. We've been waiting

043for that for a long time. And I want to thank everybody that was involved, our legal department and um the uh solar um group as well. And I think this is going to benefit a lot of people in our district, including the schools because we're going to save a lot of money on our electricity. So, it's a wonderful thing and the sun is going to shine. We want that sun shining all the time and um putting dollars in the bank for us that we can use in other ways for our academic and for our for our students um benefit. So glad to see that's finally brought forward. >> Thank you, Mr. Riddle. Any other comments, questions? Roll call, please. >> Miss Fabian, >> yes. >> Miss Hannah, >> yes. >> Miss Lensing, yes. >> Mr.

044McBride, yes. >> Mr. Ramirez, yes. >> Mr. Riddle, >> yes. >> President Rodriguez, >> yes. Motion carries. >> Item 12, purchases and contracts. I see none. 13 personal items. Superintendent. It is the recommendation that the board of education approve the superintendent placencia's attendance to super courageous university conference in Dallas from February 26 to March 1st at an estimate 2026 at an estimated cost of $1,259. This cost includes registration, hotel accommodations, airfare and PDM. >> Motion to approve by Mr. Riddle. >> Second by Mr. Mayor. Is there any discussion on this motion? >> Yeah, I just have a question. Um, superintendent, is it um accurate that there is a limit on the administrative staff in terms of the number of conferences that they can attend? >> So, we actually so there's not an official limit. What

045we did ask is that there's not more than two a year um unless you're presenting at a conference or you sit on a board. We understand that a lot of our staff do present um at conferences etc. So yes, we are looking at two um out ofstate conferences. >> So that includes you as well, right? >> It does. And I will say that I do have to attend conferences with the board. This is my conference for my own professional development along with AASA. >> Anything else? Roll call. >> Miss Fabian, >> yes. >> Miss Hannah, >> I'll pass. >> Miss Lensing, >> no. >> Mr. McBride. >> Miss Ramirez, >> yes. >> Mr. Riddle, yes. >> President Rodriguez, >> yes. Motion carries. Item B, attendance at leading new now cohort 17 conference. >> This Oh,

046I'm sorry. It is recommended that the board of education approved the superintendent placencia's attendance at leading now cohort 17 kickoff conference in Dallas from January 12th through January 14th, 2026 at an estimated cost of $200. The cost for conference is largely covered by the organ organizer including airfare hotel conference registration. The $200 accounts were per DM. I could speak on this. I was accepted to be part of leading now cohort for number 17. They are covering all my costs and it is a national organization. I thank you Ben. I did send the um I guess the um acknowledgement and the offer to the board previously. >> Motion to approve. >> Motion by Mr. Riddle to approve. >> Second by Mr. Mayor. Is any discussion on the motion? >> Roll call vote, please. >> Miss Fabian,

047>> you have a comment. >> I It's fine. >> It's fine. We're in it. >> Miss Fabian, >> congratulations and yes. >> Miss Hannah, >> I passed. Miss Lensing, >> great opportunity. However, to be consistent, >> Mr. McBride, >> Mr. Ramirez, >> yes. >> Mr. Riddle, >> yes. >> President Rodriguez, >> yes. Motion carries. >> Personnel items. Um, item C, person 12625. >> It is recommended. It is the recommendation that the board of education accept the administration's recommendations to approve the appointments retirement and accept the resignations and terminations as found on schedules F10002, L949, T317, and G660. >> Motion to approve by Mr. Riddle. >> Second by Miss Hannah. Any discussion on the motion, Miss Lensing? Um, I know we may have previously held a moment of silence, but now it's public record that we

048um have lost one of our staff members. So, if we can observe another moment of silence in uh Mr. Lemus' name, I think that would a good >> Thank you. Okay. Where do we stand? >> Any other comments? >> We have the motion. >> Motion in a second. >> Roll call vote, please. >> Miss Fabian, >> yes. >> Miss Hannah, >> yes. >> Miss Lensing, >> yes. >> Mr. McBride, >> yes. >> Mr. Ramirez, >> yes. >> Mr. Rto, >> yes. >> President Rodriguez, >> yes. Motion carries. Um, item 13D, vacation rollover requests. It is recommended that the board of education approve the vacation carryover requests for employees number 8845 and 4998 as presented. >> Motion to approve. >> Second. >> Motion by Mr. Riddle, second by Miss Hannah. Discussion on the motion. Roll call

049vote, please. >> Miss Fabian, >> yes. >> Miss Hannah, >> yes. >> Miss Lensing, pass. >> Mr. McBride, >> yes. >> Mr. Mirz, >> yes. >> Mr. Riddle, >> yes. >> President Rodriguez, >> yes. Motion carries. Item 15, other I see nothing under that. 16 financial reports. >> I'm not gonna read that. Go ahead. >> Here we go. >> No, I'm not gonna go ahead. >> Okay. It is a recommendation of the administration that the board of education ratify the 2nd December of 2025 board bills, manage check request payments, and no national bank insurance payments for the period of December 3rd, 2025 through December 9th, 2025. The accounts payable board payments for the period of December 3rd, 2025 through December 9th, 2025 total 1,268,68757. The manual check request payments for the period of December 3rd,

0502025 through December 9th, 2025 total $490,518.75. Though national bank insurance payments for the period of December 3rd, 2025 through December 9th, 2025 total 99719. >> Motion to approve by Mr. Riddle. >> Second by Mr. Ramirez. Any discussion on that motion? >> Roll call vote, please. >> Miss Fabian, >> yes. >> Miss Hannah, >> pass. >> Miss Lensing, >> pass. >> Mr. McBride, >> yes. Mr. Ramirez, >> yes. >> Mr. Riddle, >> yes. >> President Rodriguez, >> yes. Motion carries. >> Okay. Item 17, reports and presentations. Do we have any committee reports? Miss Fabian? >> Um, just a reminder that the PTAC will be meeting on December 18th at 4:30 at Huarez or online. If you need the link to online, pre please reach out to uh student outreach. any other >> Yeah, we had our

051um capital improvement meeting and we're uh at this time just basically um going over the um the um all the processes and the procedures and um Learon is bringing us up to date um on um the different projects where we are with them and there'll be more um information coming. >> Thank you. Delegates reports. Miss Hannah, >> I I I dropped the ball, you guys. [laughter] >> That's okay. >> I was [clears throat] supposed to bring the report and I walked off without it. >> Next time we won't let you get away with it. >> Yeah. Yeah. Okay. >> But everything that you all Well, particularly Mr. rattle because um he submitted something to me. Um all of those things were um were uh approved and >> good is moving forward at state level. So

052>> good. >> Thank you, Miss Hannah. Superintendent report. >> Yes. Thank you. At this time, um I believe Dr. Brown and Miss Malooki are I see Dr. Brown back there. Hi, Dr. Brown. Thank you for presenting. Can we get the presentation up? So, we are going to be looking at um 2025 2026 beginning of the year data review. Um and it has been presented by Dr. Brown. It is previously recorded. I'm going to ask if you want to write down any of your questions and our team will be answering them once the video is completed. Thank you. Good evening, Superintendent Placencia, President Ewing, members of the board, and Walkegan community. I am Dr. Jonathan Brown, director of assessment and data. Tonight, I will provide a review of our beginning of the year achievement data. Over

053the past few presentations, we mentioned how we plan to report on student progress using course-based tier one assessment results. As instruction happens, students are assessed throughout the semester. These tier one assessments are meant to measure smaller bites of student understanding as a direct result of instruction. We will attempt to refresh your memory about this later in the presentation. Our focus for this presentation will be on math and reading performance in various grades across the district. We will review tier one assessment results as well as intram assessment results. Let's turn to our tier one curricular measures. Starting with some background information. The district's vision statement states, "Walkagan Community School District 60 is a diverse world-class educational institution that engages, equips, and empowers all children to be successful change agents in an everchanging global society. The district

054started our tier 1 initiative as a direct result of our vision statement. In order to empower our children to be successful change agents in an everchanging global society, they must graduate from our schools ready. Instruction that gets them ready depends on tier one being effective. Tier one is our focus and priority. In tier 1, all students receive instruction within an evidence-based scientifically researched core program. Tier 1 is synonymous with WKEAN's core reading or math curricula that are aligned to state standards. Walkan's tier 1 initiative is researchbased focused on the following. Tier one is considered effective when 80% of students reach mastery. The most effective intervention is a highly effective first teach. An effective and efficient tier one enables tiers two and three to provide appropriate levels of intervention. And in turn, tiers two and three

055supports are intended to support tier 1 proficiency. Tier one goals focus on students, educators, and leaders in the district. Goal one involves every student receiving highquality evidence-based instruction. Goal two involves every educator being prepared and supported so that they can deliver highquality evidence-based instruction. Goal three involves every leader being equipped to create and sustain equitable conditions for highquality evidence-based instruction to occur. While Keegan's implementation plan to achieve these goals includes many action plans with a few listed on the right. Today we are reviewing data from the beginning of the year with a focus on tier one data that is part of our balanced assessment system. While Keegan chooses to collect data according to the decisions that need to be made, decision decision-driven data collection. We seek to collect reliable and valid data in order to

056help determine how students are performing. You are familiar with us reporting in NWA and state of Illinois as performance figures, which we will continue to do. However, tier one curriculum embedded assessments are the closest data points to the classroom. These can be a powerful tool for teachers and grade level teams as they plan for instruction. Here we have a view of many of the tier one curricula from which we collect student performance data. In the elementary grades, we have our CKLA Caminos knowledge building curriculum where we teach and assess reading comprehension. [snorts] CKLA skills, lectto, and 95% focus on teaching foundational literacy skills. In the middle grades, expeditionary learning teaches and assesses English language arts, while Lyft does does the same for our ESL students. And for all high school courses, common assessments are in

057the process of being created or refined. During this presentation, we will display local tier 1 assessments as well as the nationally normed NWA, I Ready, Dibbles, Lectura, and PEACT interim assessments. is it is important to understand that while all of our assessments have performance levels listed that help to describe student performance, these performance levels across similar across assessments though similar in color do not line up to equal each other. This is because of the particular purpose for which each assessment was created and what the results are intended to communicate. Our tier one assessment scale was set to distinguish between those students that show a high likelihood of understanding the content taught, those are named proficient and above and those that do not. It also distinguishes between those that have very little to no understanding, those

058are named insufficient and in those and those that have some understanding. Nationally normed assessments such as NWA MAP use performance bands that describe student performance compared to other students across the nation using percentiles. This is without proficiency in mind. Dibbles and Lectura have proficiency levels that point to a benchmark that means a student is likely to be on track to meet grade level expectations. The performance levels for the PACT function similarly. because their purposes are different. The performance bands will will not line up, but they should inform us. When students learn from excellent tier one instruction, this should be reflected in the tier one assessment results. When students do well in tier one instruction aligned to state standards, they should do well on interim assessments such as I Ready and Dibbles. And these interim assessments

059should point to performance on our yearending state assessments. Now, let's start by looking at our tier 1 math measures. Everyday Mathematics version 4 is the math curriculum we use for elementary school. When appropriate, we will see comparisons between now and last year. Here we have student performance on the first two unit assessments. Last year, 36% of scores were at the proficient or above levels. This year that has increased to 43%. Every grade level has shown improvement this year. In middle school, assessments have been revamped, so no comparisons are shown. Accelerated math classes are offered across the district. Overall, performance on in regular math classes have lagged behind all accelerated classes. Across the first three units of instruction this year, scores for 29% of assessments administered were at the proficient or above levels. This is the

060second year of administering common assessments in middle school science. Here we see similar or increased student performance across grades 6 through 8. Overall, an increase from 31% to 37% of administered assessments were proficient or above. Moving on to our interim assessments, NWA and I Ready. Beginning of the year testing results about show about a quarter of our students scoring in the high average or above percentile bands for grades 2 through 5. Those are the green and blue sections on the right. About half of students tested score below the 39th percentile nationally. Students scoring at the 70th percentile or above have a high likelihood of testing proficient on the spring state test. Middle school students now utilize the I Ready adaptive assessment in math and reading. At the beginning of the year, approximately 70% of our

061middle school students tested as two or more grade levels below. This year, our eighth grade students participated in the fall preac alongside students in grades 9 through 11. Taking this test in the fall helps students understand what to expect on the spring high school tests. When using the spring cut scores for grades 9 through 11, we can anticipate a quarter of students in grade nine to score proficient or higher in the spring. Students in grades four and five took the NWA science assessment in preparation for the spring state assessment. Results showed that upwards of 15% of fifth graders may be on track to score proficient or above on the spring Illinois science assessment. Using the state spring cut scores for high school on the science section of the fall preac, we can anticipate between 16%

062and 40% of students to score proficient or higher in the spring. Now, our tier one reading performance. Here we have our newest program focusing on early literacy skills in Spanish. This includes letter sounds, spelling, early writing, and reading comprehension. Across the first two units of instruction, kindergarteners are scoring at 66% proficient or above, while grades 1 and two are at 31% and 44% proficient or above. This year, all students participate in early literacy instruction in English. This year, across the first two assessments, 57% of assessment scores were proficient in kindergarten, while 31% and 38% were proficient in grades 1 and two. This is our second year using the CQLA program which focuses on building background knowledge through stories, science, and social studies topics. It is grounded in readalouds and discussion for students in grades kindergarten

063through 2, but moves to advanced grammar, comprehension, and writing for older students. Through the first three assessments given, every grade level has shown an increase in performance with second grade showing the largest increase. In middle school ELA, we see higher percentages of students in grades six and seven scoring proficient or above on module one at the beginning of the year. Overall 45% were proficient. Our first year with social science assessments for all three grade levels shows about 21% of students scoring proficient or above on the quarter 1 post test. Now our reading interim assessments performance. Our early literacy interim assessment dibbles is given in English. Student performance has increased from 27% scoring at or above the benchmark last year to 29% scoring at or above the benchmark. On the Spanish lecturera, student performance has increased

064over the last year with 54% scoring at or above the benchmark. [snorts] At BOI testing, 18% of students tested scored in the high average or above percentile bands in grades three through five. Half of tested students scored below the 26th percentile in reading in English. Most students scoring at the 70th percentile or higher are on track to score proficient on the state test. In the middle grades, 72% of students tested two or more grade levels below on the I rating diagnostic in reading. The results of this test are utilized to help plan instructional interventions. Lastly, on the fall prets using spring state spring cut scores, we can anticipate between 23 and 44% of students to score proficient or higher this spring on the state test. Next impactful actions for enhanced learning results. What are we

065will continue to provide all teachers with highquality instructional materials. This includes the materials referred to earlier as well as our K through2 year 1 C chaminos le leto escripura K5 year 2 CKLA knowledge our K12 612 lift for ESL 612 SLA which is going to be vertically aligned and we will review and refine common pacing guides for a guaranteed and viable curriculum. We will also use knowledge building curriculum in K through 8 to improve all K through2 scores. We will support and enhance and monitor the implementation of tier 1 through our classroom visits. Provide curriculum implementation coaching. As far as instructional practice actions go, we will continue to provide coaching of instructional practice for staff. Continue to provide monthly professional development on focused topics such as middle school teacher professional learning communities and middle school

066and high school instructional leadership team training. We will provide letters and Gillingham training to enhance student literacy. Schools will continue to focus on student groups for targeted instruction. We will utilize embedded coaching from Carnegie. That's for math and amplify for literacy. We will also continue to utilize I Ready and Amplify created lessons for structured intervention courses for assessment practice actions. We will continue to provide support for the creation and administration of tier 1 common assessments. The expansion of tier one assessment data dashboards in Tableau for school and district leaders to monitor performance data is a priority. We will also review components of our balanced assessment system for efficiency and effectiveness. Thank you for your time. >> [snorts] >> I think at the beginning of this I addressed President Euing instead of President Rodriguez. I apologize

067for that. >> I did. >> Can't believe I did though. >> Old habits. >> That's it. >> Do you all have any questions? >> I believe by Jonathan and you have this termed as BOI data. So are you looking at this as the testing that first came in or are you looking at BOI to MOI? I just want to know for clarity purposing that first came in. >> So we limited it to >> I thought so but can you give that time frame of when? So is this August >> testing from the beginning of the year through about October? >> Okay. Good question. Um, >> yeah. >> What I like, okay, there's my mic. What I like about this slide, and correct me if I'm wrong, Dr. Brown. So, for our kindergarteners, 24 25, they're

068now in first grade. So, really, we're looking at that 39% jumping to 63% with their progress. >> The cohort. I'm look I'm looking at cohorts. Yes, but the intent was this to look at the exact same assessments that they were taking. So, while yes, you can look at it as [clears throat] a cohort, I would prefer that you look at it as on the kindergarten assessment the first year, our kids were doing this and now that we've taught it again with this new group, this is how they're doing uh with this second group. But I do understand your perspective and where you're coming from. Yeah, cuz and again, correct [clears throat] me if I'm wrong, the way you want us to look at it is looking at how well we're teaching in the classroom versus

069how well our students are progressing within the curriculum. >> Yes. This is not how they're progressing in the curriculum. This is how well they're doing for that particular year at that grade level. >> It's how impactful our teachers are getting. So looking at it that way, it's still good because we are making those gains and with this reading curriculum, this is the second year that we're in this, right? So our teachers are getting um their feet underneath them as they continue to practice this approach, >> right? Um I like looking at it by following the kids because looking at the 39 to 63, that looks like a great jump. Yes. Oh. Oh, okay. With grade one, we start to see it kind of pull [snorts] back looking at it with that lens and grade two

070it kind of middles out. Um, go ahead, Superintendent. Before I continue, >> I was just going to say that we do look at the data as cohorts and I know that that's something that Dr. Cesario has um been really pushing. And so though you're not in the sense you're seeing like you can deduct kindergarten going to first grade >> one we don't know if those are the same sample of students right >> um that's just a caveat however what my main point is though when we look at MOI we can bring those cohorts back so you can see how they're doing um and just wanted to put that out there. >> Yeah. Okay. Thank you. Um, I will say that overall the data is concerning. It's been concerning for a while. I acknowledge that. Um,

071my biggest concern is that in the approach to address this continue comes up a lot. And so my question is maybe not for you, perhaps it's for Dr. Cesario is that when we're getting this data, how detailed are we triangulating the trends in what we're seeing where our students are not proficient? >> Yeah, that's a great question. So, I'm also going to have Jennifer come up and speak to this as well, but um I think what you're saying is is is we we don't want to just look at one data set. We also want to look at so it's not just quantitative data, we're also looking at qualitative. So when I'm saying qualitative data, we're going in, we have these tier one site visits where we're actually going in to the classrooms to observe practice

072to see what's being implemented. Last year was the first year of implementation for our literacy plan. And the the primary focus on that was implementation with fidelity. And so what that means is we were just looking to make sure that our teachers had the materials, they had the room set up in a certain way, uh they were they were following along with what the the pacing was and so on and so forth. And so there were some great success with that. We also then this year moved into more of looking at the practice, the behaviors, what teachers were doing with with the the program uh and how we could support And so the area superintendent are going in, they're they're observing our principles, observing the classrooms, ensuring that there is a a feedback loop. How

073well is the practice going? What's happening? How well is it happening? So we're looking at at the practice. We're also looking at pacing. Um so the pacing piece, just to to be very clear with is a typical unit of study usually takes between six and eight weeks. So we ideally want to stay on pace with that so that we're regularly assessing where students are. So these are the big pieces of assessment or bigger pieces of assessment. We're also using formative assessment. So checks for understanding. So on a daily basis, those are the micro doses. We we would look at what's happening in a particular lesson on that particular day with that particular learning point. So these are all things that we're looking at. And so I know in terms of and it's been expressed a

074few times this evening about the performance. What we want to see is incremental growth over time. Would we like it to happen overnight? That would be astonishing and wonderful. But in reality, when we're working at developing practice, especially something that's new, we want to see this incremental piece. And we want to look at multiple pieces of data, not just the quantitative and not just the bigger pieces of data, but what's happening daytoday. And so we're we're constantly in in buildings and classrooms. I was at Glenwood today in classes and I'm going to tell you that wonderful things going on in terms of teacher practice. And so is it translating across the board in terms of performance? not necessarily uh to the extent that everyone would like but we are seeing consistent gains and we have

075been seeing them over the last few years uh even prior to the launch of the literacy plan because there were other things that we were doing um so I I think that that is important to note that that we're looking at multiple pieces of data we're doing it over time we're making adjustments to what our plan is so that we can better um support our our teachers and our principles. One of the things that our teachers came back to us with was there was too many there were too many assessments. >> Yeah. >> And and so we were responsive to that. Um that's built into the plan that it's not a static plan that we're we're looking at what we're doing and how we're doing it and we're making adjustments. We made adjustments to that

076>> to our tier one site visits. We're also making adjustments come January just because what we were looking at it and how we were looking at it needed to be more aligned to to to the new rubrics that we're using to evaluate what we're seeing because remember I had said we went from implementation looking at simply the the fidelity piece are they doing this step by step the way that that it's meant the program is meant to be to how well are they doing right and so those are some pieces that we're looking at Now, um, did you want to add anything to that? You want to come up? >> Mike, we're just going to need you at the mic. >> Yeah, that's why >> I in addition Thank you, Dr. Cesario. Good evening, board.

077One thing I think about just to maybe put it into perspective to that exact um, it's concern, right? And that's really why we're here. >> I could think about this 10 years ago when I started my principal ship at Whittier. If we just were thinking about our math program, which we still have here at EM4, that we've seen we've seen the biggest gains yet on paper. Uh, an average third grade class would have, I want to say there's about 12 units, not perfectly, but let's say for example, there are 12 units in a year. >> What I know to be true as a principal of that school is that we were struggling to get through seven. >> Yeah. So just matter of fact, when you don't get through a full year of learning and then

078you continue on year after year and every year manages three4s of that learning of all the other students that are in Illinois that have access to that, >> it does widen that gap. And so when we thought about this plan on how we wanted to visualize it, but how we wanted to know on paper factually where that really was happening and how big was that gap when it was happening and how can we coach around that? How could we make it how if it's not viable, can we fit it in the year? Let's look at it deeper. We've made those shifts. And so now when we're noticing about where we should be, give or take, across a year of learning for an average third grader, we're seeing that they are for the most part probably

07930% more on track to to gain to have that access of their learning because it affects that ACT at the end of at the end of the line. And so when we're at the schools, what we what we do is we look at uh specifically for that school, we're going to look at the class. We're going to look at is are the students that are performing the lowest within this classroom, is it just 10% of them? Well, if that's the case, they're definitely going to have an intervention, right? Because there's a smaller group of kids. And then we look at if 80% or more, if 20 out of 25 of your kids are all scoring at about this grade level, what we want to do is look at how could we shift our instruction for

080additional skills in this this 30 minutes of 90 that help all the kids in a whole group is we just don't have enough people on deck or hands on deck for small intervention groups across every single school, every single grade. So we start to shift that practice around that coaching when it comes to that and being able to look at it um matter of fact on paper has helped us to be able to track this to show exactly this of the in the data that is happening of how well kids are doing in response to instruction is really the data that we're looking for um aside from those three times of year benchmark. And so it does widen and and having more attention and focus around it has helped that and it's it's really opened

081our eyes because we I say we as in all of us we weren't noticing that across the board. And when you start to count that up, >> It matters for 14,000 kids. >> And so that's been very helpful to visualize that and to be able to lean into it so that it gets better just as Dr. Sar was saying that it is. and incrementally will um our belief at that with that instruction. >> Okay. Thank you. I have thank you three quick points um with the middleofyear data based on prior um presentations when we come to that point. My takeaway in my head has always been this data is not good data. So when we get to that point, I think as a board member for me, I would rather understand like what are the

082areas that our students are struggling with within mathematics? Is it word problems? Is it multiplestep addition? Like where is it? What are the big trends within those? Because like these data points, they're not good, you know, and we know that looking at it, but when we dive deeper, we can start to dissect to see what's really going on. And if we know middle of the year is just kind of like well it's testing things that they haven't learned yet. It's to me that's pointless. I'd rather hear about that. So I don't know if that was in the plans but that's just kind of what I'm secretly hoping for. >> So So before I get to your question, can I just address >> I have two more things but yeah for sure >> just because we're

083on the point here. So just to what Jennifer was talking about it's the same thing about the pacing piece. If and that's why we're looking at the pacing. If it's off, if we're off pace, then we're we're not able to even cover that material, expose students to that material that they're going to see on there, right? And that that's where we're seeing this discrepancy that starts out stronger and then we have middle of year and and and so that's >> we're trying to do multiple things at one time here. And so it's it's not just one thing. There's not one fix. It's multiple things. Um, and it's really about making sure that and and I think we're we're really off to a really great start over the last few years here with what we've done.

084Um, but it's ongoing professional development and as Jennifer said working with MTSS and then also having a structural piece like at the middle school with with the wind classes available to en ensure that we're providing that extra support when you have 80% of the class who's not getting that learning point. These are things that we're we're we're building in. Um but I I do think it's important to acknowledge the hard work of the teachers >> um and the principles. It's really important that we do that. Um because this is that their work is helping to develop our students and um these are certain data points but not all. So I I just think it's also important to say that as well. It's not a justification. Can we do better? Yes. Will we do better? Yes.

085But we also have to acknowledge the hard work that they're doing. So I think that's important, too. I know you have two other questions. >> I do. Um I was going to save this one for a second, but because you brought up the teachers, I'll say it uh first. Um my kids come home and they are talking to us about their scores. My kids come home and are comparing to each other and they're, you know, high-fiving each other and congratulating each other and saying, "Good job." And that communication is coming from the teachers to the students on what that means. So, I really appreciate that one, they're getting such a quick turnaround on what that information is and that the teachers are communicating to the students what that means for them because I think I

086think it's so important that they're aware of where they're at so that they can be more in control of their learning process and just to understand. So, I really appreciate that component of it. Um, I will say to Miss Brisco's point, um, pulling in our parents and I want to know how much collaboration is going on with the face department as you're identifying these trends to educate our parents on how they can support at home because in all honesty, it takes a village. We keep saying it, but we need to tap into that village and and to be honest, we need to educate that village, right? like my husband's a very smart man, but if you ask him to teach my kid how to read, he's like, "I know how to read. He doesn't know

087the the formula, this the approach, how to break it down, etc." So, not saying that our parents aren't capable of it, they just don't have the education background to bring it to the table, to bring it to what their kids are learning, especially when you get into math and there's all these new approaches. Um, so I'm just hopeful that there's a focus to collaborate with FACE to really get to the parents the information they need because our parents want to help our kids. We just need to give them the skill sets to do so. >> And so and you're absolutely right. So we want parents as partners and in to the extent possible to assist in any way that they can at home. You're absolutely right. Um, and it doesn't mean that they have to

088become teachers at home, but having an awareness of what's going on, how they can assist, and just having that awareness to say here, um, I I know you're talked about this today. Tell me more about that is just in and of itself a wonderful thing to have. Um, so we have been partnering with Faith. That was part of our strategy with um gathering input and feedback from stakeholders with the work we were doing with the literacy plan and having um face sessions so that we could inform folks of what the science of reading was. And that's the same approach that we're going to take. We're starting to audit the math program now and and looking at what we're going to do to align our work with the new uh math um plan that's going to

089come out from Isby. So we're we're constantly looking at ways that we can bring our parents into what's happening and make them partners in the work. Um so yeah, I just want to acknowledge that that uh that's a constant conversation between uh our departments making sure that we're bringing in face and using them to be uh a platform for for uh to disseminate information about what we're doing, why we're doing it, and how it connects to our overall goals. Just to quickly add to Miss Lensing's point, even when you are educated in education, if you don't have the data to know where your child is struggling, you still can't help them, right? Like you need to know specifically is it grammar, is it comprehension, is it phonics? And so are we getting that communication out

090to our families sooner rather than later so that they know individually my child while overall in the district we can say we see that our students are like are struggling with vocabulary so let's have a session on that but as a parent if I know this is what my student really needs I can do more support around that >> and I'm really glad that you brought >> what what applications we have because again we purchase a lot of tools that can be utilized at home. And so, are we not only saying here's where your student um needs, you know, has room for growth, but here are also the tools that the district has to support that specific area. So, I think that's another great question and that's what we've been trying to do for the

091last few years here is trying to make sure that we have supports in place that can make life more efficient for our teachers but also provide information to our parents at home. And so we just had a a several meetings, one with our principles uh on a on a on a platform that can help us to be more efficient, that can combine some of the platforms that we're using into one system and and to help communication with parents. I'm going to be sharing more about that but essentially wanted to talk to the principles first let them vet that then I presented to the ASAP team as the large the division uh and had them had an opportunity to to engage with this person but um in this this company but that's what we're looking to

092do to have something that can have these reports that can say here this is this is how this is uh we took I ready this is where you were and and to to share are those pieces. I do want to go back to the last point about face though. I think it's it's a combined effort. If we can be more succinct with aligning those resources and then making sure that we're communicative with that and then hold workshops where we're saying here's here's what this means. Here's here are the tools that we currently have and here's what you can do and if you need additional support, this is where you can find them. I I that's what we we can get better at and I think that we're working towards um it just takes time to

093build these pieces out. So, but we're we're in the same mind frame. >> And then I just have a few more questions. So, just to clarify for this particular screen, this is English only because all the other ones are identifying if it's ELA, if it's Spanish. >> Yeah. >> But but what I'm saying is the test English only. on all of the others, it's telling you the test is only in English or the test is only in Spanish. It's in their language of instruction. Okay. Um the other thing is so the one before this is showing us um those basic foundational skills one slide back. And so we saw a significant drop, but I'm looking at that. Last year we only did this for monolingual and this year we did for mono and dual. >>

094Yes, that's the reason. >> Okay. Is there but what's the rationale that last year we only did it for mono and now we're doing mono and dual >> for specifically for CKLA. CKLA [clears throat] is in English and so last year we did have it in English. Uh for our mono for our foundational skills and phonics in Spanish we used tier. So this is our year one of using um uh of leto. So that's why you don't have that comparison of last year. Um it's it's folding in it as far as the implementation plan. So for this year because here it says this program focuses on uh early literacy skills in English. So our dual languages students were tested in their language of instruction or in English because that would also tell me why it

095>> if you go back one more. So this is where you're going to see in um ancto espanol, >> right? But this sec the second piece the the one right after that are you combining leto and CKL skills? >> No they're two separate. >> So then these are dual language children being tested in English. >> Yes. When when they are being taught in English >> then they are being assessed in their unit in English. when they are being taught in Spanish, then they are being um assessed in Spanish in in their content language. So, this is the first year that our kindergarten students have received English foundational skills >> and they get that in English and then they also get it in Spanish. >> Yes. >> Okay. Because that's what I'm trying to >> gather

096that Y that D. So then that makes more sense because we know if they don't have those foundational skills especially by first grade >> catching up is >> almost nearly impossible. >> So this this is this would be a year one. So there are many layers as Dr. Cesario mentioned now it's a year one right if you're a dual language teacher when it comes to English foundational skills and using that as well as within their um leto. >> Okay. >> So they're doing a wonderful job. I also want to note um or ask I should say are you guys also doing a lot of correlations as to you know we know we saw there were certain weeks that we saw dips in attendance specifically this year with community activity going on um you know and

097just national federal things that have been happening that have been really impacting our local community. So, have we also been taking a look at, you know, absenteeism? How many students are actually come coming to school? Because if they're not in school, they're not learning it. So, they're not going to test well in it. So, have we also been looking at those correlations and seeing, you know, are we seeing >> those dips? >> We did moni we we were monitoring attendance. Yeah. Uh but, you know, moni the attend we didn't see huge dips. Amanda can probably speak to that uh more more clearly, but we didn't see huge dips. But here's the thing is we we we don't know what the impact was in terms of what was Teresa. Did you want to say something? >>

098You can tell by like and also were they there for testing day, right? So how many what percentage of students were there on testing day and took these tests? Yeah, we didn't we did monitor that, but there wasn't a huge >> we didn't see there wasn't a big impact. >> No, and the board was receiving um those attendance reports. Um however though, what we don't take account for is the anxiety that that >> I was also going to ask about that the trauma, >> right? So, weren't we we we didn't have a way to capture that unless it was reported. I mean there was some cases where students may speak with the counselor principal but there was other you know the anxiety that there wasn't a way to capture that data. >> Yes and no.

099Right. So for those that were reported, you should be able to see an increase over time of how many students were referred to counselor, to their social worker, to you know their psychologist, whatever >> for the wraparound center, etc. Like we could see those metrics if those metrics are higher this year than last year. >> And you're absolutely right. So when I'm talking about qualitative data, I'm talking about So I get where you're going. When I'm talking about the anxiety, all those other trauma factors that our students were coming with, >> one say yes and no. So those referrals which were not out of the roof um in in for in terms of numbers capturing that we could see that. What I will tell you is I believe at that there was a lot that

100we did not capture nor did we want to capture because then we're capturing data that we would have to report if we were ever subpoenaed. >> So there's a stance there and I say that to say there were we [clears throat] don't ask don't tell we don't know. So that's where I was going with that component. However, we can look at when we can triangulate the data on supports, counselor referrals, the wraparound, and we did look at those numbers in a sense. I don't think we did the chart. >> All I was going to say is you they were not >> no >> of the ones that were were not self-reported, we don't know what the impact was because they didn't report that they wanted >> the trend that there was more this year than

101last year >> at the same moment of time. >> We'd have to go back and look. Okay. I I'd have to go back and look, but what I'm what I was saying in terms of in terms of attendance, there wasn't a huge deviation. >> Um, in terms of the impact that it could have had, we we it's it to me it's intanged to your point. And so, we'd have we can bring back we can look at that data and we can share that with you all. But we we didn't uh that's not that's not captured here, >> right? we can triangulate it for MOI and also when we look when we look at um the cohorts that Miss Lensing brought up. So we can look at that >> because I'm just saying like again trying

102to find where we can support because it's all connected together. We can obviously look at the specific test and go towards what skill but if we know that there's other factors that we can also support that's what we need to be looking at. And then last, um, looking at the data, it's it is very concerning. We're seeing that more than half of our children are not at level. Are we starting to summer school plan? >> Oh, yeah. >> We already started. >> Perfect. I don't want to wait till >> we already started the summer. We already started the summer school planning. That was another thing we talked about in the division meeting uh yesterday. Um, but the the plan is uh similar to to last year is to use the core curriculum again to extend

103that Miss Hen waiting for another question. >> Yeah, I am going to uh repeat my question that I had um couple meetings ago in terms of the um proficiency cut scores. I know that they were changed. And I want to know now because on the um on one of the uh slides it showed that there were a number of um percentages in the almost proficient proficient like that. right now. Is that due to the state >> with the proficiency cut scores? Okay, >> that's a good that's a great question. I just want to ask >> because I know that it it it that it has started. >> So, the AR cut scores have changed. You're absolutely right. what we're showing here does not include the I but I'm going to let just for clarification sake

104let um Mr. uh Dr. excuse me Dr. around speak to uh to to what happened so that everyone knows about the the change. So the community is but let me finish because my uh question that goes along with that is what plan is there to disseminate this information regarding the scores and how they have been adjusted. What plan do we have to get that to the parents so that the parents can understand? Because my concern, I don't want the parents to have a false sense of their children being here when in fact that's not true because of the changing cut scores. >> Okay. So, I'm gonna have Dr. Brown explain why the the the scores were changed, what it means, and then in terms of the the last part of your question about informing parents.

105I I I can talk about I can have Dr. Brown talk about what we've done already and then what we can do in the future. >> So, when you look at the state's documentation around this, you'll see them use the phrase right sizing. And what they're trying to say is that over the years, Illinois has repeatedly shown themselves to have the highest test scores or cut scores, I should say, >> in the United States. So, I don't remember if it was ranked three uh top five, something like that, where our cut scores were much higher than any other in the uh state. And so after many many people spoke up about it, the state finally said we need to take a look at this. And so over the past year or so, they've gone through

106the whole process of trying to do standard setting in order to say what is the real score that we should have that would deem a student in fifth grade proficient. So they took a lot of volunteers from around the state. We had a couple from our district that participated uh in it. I participated in one session prior to that for the performance uh level uh discussions. But the process is basically I have this assessment. I need to be able to decide what is my cut score for students that I'm going to say are proficient. What is the absolute minimum that they should be able to do to be on the cusp to say that I am proficient? and they ask all the people around the uh table and they go through all the items and

107they come to consensus to say that uh students can answer questions one through 24 and that's the minimum that they should be able to do in order to become proficient. psychometricians and the rest, they'll go back and they'll say, "All right, that equates to a a cut score of 748 when previously the cut score was 757 or something like that." And that's how they come up with their new cut scores. So, it's something that the whole entire shouldn't say the whole entire state, all the volunteers that they had that got together, they all agreed on that and that's what was pushed out uh by the state. So, it wasn't meant to uh uh to lower them, like dummy them down, but that's why they came up with the phrase rights size. They're trying to make

108it realistic because there were plenty of of students. They give you a couple of examples in their literature of students that were taking five AP classes, doing well in them, and still not scoring high on the ACT or on the uh SAT, but they were accepted into universities uh getting on the honor roll at the universities. And most people would say, if you didn't know about their ACT score, they would say, "Oh, that's a good student. That student is on track to do well." But then you find out that their ACT score was below some level that was set by the state and that was putting a a label on them of you're not good enough when everything else was kind of saying that you are doing well. So the state finally came back and

109said let's take a look at this and see if we can >> Right. I'm aware of the process that took place. [laughter] Maybe the others were but I I specifically I want to know what you all are doing to inform the parents about this change. Now, one one approach that we've had is through a previous um what do you call those? uh the parent university >> parent university >> where uh >> the parent universities where we're doing that through YouTube and online >> uh where we were explaining again about cut scores and how they work and how to interpret your students uh test results uh it mentioned about the changing of the cut scores but not necessarily that now that your student is a fifth grader the score is going to be 745 instead of

110uh 750 58. That wasn't the the overall focus. The overall focus was about understanding how to read your assessment score, what the performance level means, and what you can do about [clears throat] that. Okay, I hear you. I'm still wanting to hear my question. >> I can I can help. >> Okay, because I need to know what we're doing. I got an assignment to complete. >> What are we doing? to and make sure that the parents understand that there has been a change. >> So, go ahead, >> if you don't mind. Yeah. So, um I'm [clears throat] going to let uh Miss Malooki and and Miss Riceella Sanchez speak a little bit more about this, but um there are some uh curriculum brochures that are going to be disseminated shortly um through FACE. And then

111I know that um Jennifer also has some meetings coming up where she will be discussing that as as part of that conversation. But I'll let uh I'll let Miss Malooki speak to the um the curriculum uh brochures first and then I'll uh let uh Jennifer share what the information that she has. >> Have the brochures gone out to the parents? >> Hi, good evening everybody. Um yes. So at the beginning of the school year, we did provide all of our uh building administration with um help of the teaching and learning team as well as our face team with all of the links for our um our curriculum brochures for our families. They've been translated and are in uh really nice formatting so it's not uh too much of information all at once. And so all

112of the uh principles received that at the beginning of the year. Those were provided to classroom teachers that could link into their own um uh parent newsletters that they do at their own classroom level. Uh the face liaison that we have now are going to be doing grade level specific trainings at the school level with the curriculum brochure. So parents can know specifically if my student is a second grader um and are coming in for second grade curriculum um information. I can learn more about the curriculum assessments. I can learn about more what curriculum resources we have at home and I can know specifically what um how to log on into some of those uh platforms and applications that are available for for use at home. And so those are um with the lison now

113in place those are that's one whole scope of work that the lison are are responsible for in terms of parent engagement at the school level >> and okay and that's great okay so let me want a couple well one more question >> yes ma'am >> hey and I know that we have students that um that has been struggling for a long time and I don't even know if you all still um categorize them in student groups or no >> in the sense I'm sorry in the sense of >> like okay like uh our um our black boy initiative >> by race by ethnicity we can look at the data >> okay because yeah cuz I want to know how where are >> those individuals those students that there was a focus on. >> Mhm. >>

114And so where are they now? >> Yeah, we can look at the data in a variety of ways. So we can look at it by race. We can look at it if they're diverse learners, if they're, you know, we could look at it in a number of ways. So if you want to look at some data like that when we come back for MOI captured Miss Lensing, what she would like to see, I heard from Miss Fabian. I will also bring that along too. We'll look by race in multiple different categories >> because we're in like year four now. >> Yes. If I can and to answer >> and to answer to answer your question [snorts] earlier is there is going to have to be a in a sense a a road show in the

115sense of how the accountability system is changing for the state. I was just um in a meeting with um Dr. Sanders on Friday. I mean they're still working out a lot of those logistics. It is not completely set as of yet. Once all of that does get solidified by the state, it will be our responsibility to educate all the stakeholders in our community around that. So what I potentially foresee is virtual opportunities, in-person opportunities, um building opportunities where um principles are leading this discussions with their school communities. So yes, Miss Hannah, that will be rolled out once all of that is solidified. >> Can I just clarify something really quick? >> So two things right. >> Oh, sorry. >> I didn't see his hand up. >> Go ahead. >> So was I after Miss Hannah

116or am I after I can wait for Miss >> I M. McBride, I apologize, but earlier board president had said Miss Hannah then Miss Lensing. So, I'm fine to wait for you to go because you haven't spoken. I'm just clarifying that that's what was said. So, I want to make sure that my hand rising before wasn't >> I thought you spoke then Miss Hannah spoke and then he wanted >> It's okay. >> It's fine. You can go. It don't matter. >> I'm just clarif >> Well, you know, uh, like you were saying, Miss Hannah, categorize. When I was going to school, we were categorized by uh 71, 72, 73. Absolutely. And that was based on our ability to learn. And as we uh throughout the year, we were able to the teachers were able to

117uh see us progress and we were moving on up. >> Absolutely. >> And since then, I think uh later uh the year they it's called wraparound. It was called wraparound after that. They changed it to something called wraparound. You did not move until you learned. Mhm. >> And uh now I guess now whether you uh learn or not, you just move on. >> Still moving. >> Yeah. But but you you did not move until you learned. And you did learn because you had all kind of components to help you learn. You had uh >> you had community, speaking of community, you had community in the in the building working with students and whatnot to help them uh I guess overcome some of the uh disparities that I can't learn. And then they you had you

118had community members in there behind them pushing them. But I do know that uh in order to learn, if you don't know something, you need some help. Some people got money. They send their kids to silver to make sure that they learn. They got programs out where they where they can learn. Now we don't. A lot of we come from a community where they don't have a lot of money. A lot of kids coming in with poverty. But so what do you do with that? You one thing you do is summer school. That's one thing you do. But summer school to me should be all year round. You shouldn't have to have wait till the end of the year to say, "Well, we're going to help you." You should have things in place all throughout

119the year to help them. Boy, summer school come and there are there are things that you can do. You know, you got you spoke about the wraparound. That was the whole purpose of the wraparound for having it there. Also, too, you had you got the boys and girls club. We got all kind of programs out there I think that you can tap in on to for kids that you can send to to [clears throat] help them learn. And but the back to the parents I heard talking about the but if the parents don't know where to go with their kids when they're having problems and I heard someone say also too sometime the parents can't help because they're a little uh short short educated themselves but at the same time once they do realize their

120kids are falling short we should be able to have some place to send them. So I I'm saying that you need to think outside the box and we got the money come up with some solutions to to send these kids once you recognize them. Don't wait till the summer time to do it. And and and you you you're doing tutoring, but tutoring come in all flavors. It comes in all flavors. So I I I have no more to say. Thank you. >> Okay. Who's next? >> Miss Lindsay. >> So yeah, so I had raised my hand um after Miss Fabian had her question around um the anxiety component. Um the thing is is that while we may know it, the federal administration may not realize it. So even if to your point, superintendent, we were

121to collect that data, we're in a community that's heavily impacted. So even if you are the targeted audience of those efforts or not, you could still experience test anxiety. But to your point, it may be used against people to target them for alternate reasons. Um, and we still also have students that have general test anxiety. I I know as a parent myself, my kids are like, "Oh my god, I have, you know, I ready coming up. I have MAP testing coming up." And my feedback has always been to them, don't worry about it. Just do your best because the more anxious you are, that's going to impact your performance more than not knowing. Um, so my my general question is [snorts] we are worried about their mental health overall. I don't think it would be

122a bad idea, though I don't know how big of a lift it would be to set up an anonymous survey for each week, whether it's, you know, our elementary school students doing it during um classroom community time, whether it's um during the oh the advisory period for Yes. for our other students. once a week just having a check-in of like how are you feeling overall so that we can track over the course of the year once a week check in and when it's around testing time you can start to pinpoint okay we see higher lower etc. >> Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. No, no, you're absolutely right. And what one of the things I was going to say before is these are things that we're already doing. Yeah. Okay. You know, we have a lot. I think

123one of the first things that I know I did when I came because it was one of the things that was really important was making sure that we were addressing mental health concerns. >> Yeah. >> So, we we have a number not only program-wise but also curriculum wise in terms of second step. And then we have tools to survey students like Panorama and and and things like that. So when I was referencing it before, it wasn't self-reported. So there are cuz on any given day that there is a test, there are going to be students that have test anxiety. Yeah. >> Right. And if a student addresses that to to us, you know, I I know I I feel confident enough to say that our teachers would address that with those students and make sure

124that they had whatever supports were available to ensure that that student got what they needed in that time of crisis. Um we specifically as it related to the the question that was posed by Miss Fabian about what had been happening. >> Yeah. I don't I I can't I don't want to speculate that that it could have been a factor. I would assume that that would be a factor because it was a factor for all of us. We were all concerned and consumed with what was happening. We were checking, you know, when we ask about the attendance. We were looking at attendance on a daily basis and that's how I know that it wasn't impacted. Surprisingly, it was not impacted to the degree that we thought it would be. Um but yes, we we do have

125things in place to be proactive, not only, you know, reactive, but proactive to talk to kids about, hey, you may have you you come up in these stressful situations. How do you handle them? One of them being test taking situations, making sure that you're you're breathing and doing what you can to alleviate anxiety. Um but then again, always making sure that we're here for our student. they need something and directing them to the appropriate support. >> It's nine o'clock. We're gonna have >> I guess I'm confused on your response, Dr. Cesario. Are you saying we are checking in with them once a week or we just have the programming to support them? >> We have a number of things is what I'm saying. >> But panorama, that happening every week? >> No, it's just beginning

126and end. >> That's what I just wanted to make sure. Okay. Okay. >> I'm good. >> So, you're asking for a weekly check. >> We did hear [clears throat] your ideal, Miss Lindsay. I I did I I wrote it down. So, >> just so you know, it didn't go. >> Yeah. >> So, I just wanted to clarify so we're not reinventing the wheel. Um and I will send the links to uh Miss Placencia isb.net net already has all of that information and translated in several languages on the proficiencies and the cut scores and the student growth and how all of those metrics are calculated and how everything was changed and why it was changed. So all of that is already done and it's already translated. So as we're putting out all this information to our

127families, we don't need to spend all this time reinventing the wheel. just I'll send you all those links. Um, thank you. >> And then and to your point, Miss Placencia, yes, it next year is going to look >> even more different because the process was a year and a half long, but they're still going. So, it's going to look different again. Um to Miss Hannah's question, the reportcard, the Illinois reportcard.com has changed as well so that you can disagregate data by growth, by proficiency, by type of assessment. So you can actually go into our district and ask for I want to see this group of students, how they did in this test, on proficiency or on growth. So they've changed that whole report card so you can get that aggregated data. Um and also we

128also have to understand that we it we won't be able to compare that data to previous years. So when we're also asking about the African-American male initiative, we're asking about data that was four years ago where they were taking the SATs where the proficiency cut scores were different and where we were using a different curriculum. So, not only is that data cannot be um it's going to be skewed obviously, but yes, but we can't do a comparison because it's not the same data on the report card. And then even on here because these are this has nothing to do with the report card. This is our curriculum. So, we can't even compare our curricular scores from four years ago to now if they're doing whole different assessments. So I just want to caution us that

129yes we should be absolutely looking at um that data but there should always be the caveat before that to say this is what they were tested in in you know four years ago this is what they're being tested at now and maybe just compare the years of the actual testing >> four years there's three years in between and so what's been going on in them three year. >> That's That's all I'm saying. I I hear what you're saying. >> So those metrics. So even the SAT changed the year the not the following year. So that's what I'm saying. Like we just need to make sure that >> we're comparing apples to apples because otherwise it it like it's a moot point trying to compare SAT to ACT and trying to compare, >> you know, CKL

130LA scores. You know, it just I just want to make sure that we're comparing apples to apples and we're not confusing our parents even further. Thank you. >> Thank you. Thank you, Dr. >> Thank you. >> We're done. >> We're moving on. >> Thank you. >> Item 18, foyer report. >> This is just anformational item. The work from the foyas that have come in and been processed for the month of November is available for your review. >> Thank you. Number 19, old business. Is there any old business? >> I got some old business. I just want uh at the last meeting I got very disturbed because um we were given a report um well we were told uh about the um Brookside roof and I know that there had been some leaking over there and

131[clears throat] um I need to understand why the board was told that the entire Brookside roof was going to be um replaced for $10 million. And then we find out that the um that the roof, the $10 million roof had left portions that were undone. And I just I I don't remember that being told to us. It was we were told that the entire roof at the school was going to be done. Now, I'm looking for I'm looking for some answers and um a and you know, I I'm not going to get um I'm not going to get gaslighted or anything because that's taxpayer money. [snorts] And the taxpayers heard also that the entire roof was going to be done. And now we're we were told that only a portion of it was done. $10

132million. Somebody need to answer some questions. >> So, Miss Hannah, let me ask the board. which I I could follow up on this, look into this and get this out to the board and we can make a statement on this at our next meeting um to give Mr. Molten who is sitting in the back time to look into because this is the first time I've heard of it leaking. Um to look into the leaks. Um are you okay with that, Miss Hannah? >> Sure. I just need I just need some answers sooner than later. So, we will we will get you we will get an email out to the board on this before Friday. Today is Tuesday, Learn. I need something to go out to the board before Friday, but we will also because you

133did state it was taxpayers money. >> It is. >> Um I will It absolutely is. Yes, Miss Hannah. We will make a statement to um I don't want to say correct the record because that sounds negative. Let me just look at it and then we will let um our stakeholders know what's going on with your question. Is that okay? >> That's fine. >> Okay. >> Thank you. Item 20, new business. >> I got some new biz. Um give me a minute. I need to consult with Lee. Okay. Come. Okay. Um, and with all due respect, um, and I I was told this by, um, a community member. And the reason the community member knows was because the community members were an eyewitness. Okay? And um I'm a little bit embarrassed to even say this, but

134um we have I'm going to premise it uh like this. We have this beautiful building here, 214 Washington, that we invested in, the school district invested in. And uh we also have uh Lincoln Center and we have um multiple schools where meetings can be held. But when I get and I hear that um our staff is going into um a bar in the middle of the day. Don't know what was going on, but the appearance of that is not good for our uh school district. Um the aside from there's many things and as board president said there's things that are um are happening in our district and there's many things that need to be uh repaired. But one such thing could take and knock all of that down just by the appearance. And we have

135too many buildings for us to hold any kind of educational anything at a local bar. and I'd like answers on that as well. >> So, I can answer that. I don't know exactly. I know Dr. Cesario wants to come up. I'm going to try to start answering this for you. I don't know what you term as a local bar. The ASAP had their MOY meeting at Lucky Scotties, which is a restaurant and which catered for the board this evening. They rented out their up upstairs space and they had a meeting with approximately over 30 to 35 people. >> 50 50 people. >> Okay. So, >> can I can I just finish? I'm going turn it over. >> Um, there was no liquor served. It was during the day. I was there approximately maybe 2 hours.

136We had presentations on data. People received awards. Um, there was a buffet. Um, there was acknowledge, well, I did say the acknowledgement. I do not term Lucky Scotties as a bar. It is a restaurant that many of us visit during the lunch hour. Um, and so, and they do have an upstairs facility to rent out to host for meetings. I also know that Dr. Cesario um acknowledges his ASAP team. I believe it's twice a year. Um and last year um I believed it was at um Primo and Gurnie. The goal was to ensure that we were keeping money local and local businesses in Walkegan and that is why um they chose Lucky Scotty where people could walk over. Go ahead. I'll let you speak at that point. >> Actually, I just wanted to clarify a

137point. I didn't rent any space. They gave it to us for free. Um it's the second floor. there is no there was no alcohol served and there there wasn't a large enough space to hold that a meeting. So we're we're having even though we do have these beautiful buildings as you mentioned Miss Hannah there often isn't enough space um to to hold all our meetings. And I did want it to be local. I did want it to be local. And so I I looked at what our neighbors I I I didn't want to move people to have to go very far. Uh but I can share the agenda with you. There were there was uh as I mentioned uh during the earlier conversation about the um the platform that we were vetting that was an

138hour and a half or two hours. Those those people were there presenting. We were also there were updates on our priorities. My my goal as leading the division isn't only to work with five or six people. It's to work with all of the people, the managers, the coordinators that I don't get to see on a daily day. Uh that I don't get to see daily. And so I understand the concern and thank you for bringing that up. It was is when I looked at it, I looked at it as it was a restaurant, not a bar. Um they give us 20% discount or 15% discount. Um the there's employees who go there, they go down to Greentown, they go down to Post. We want to uh encourage the uh patronizing of of businesses in the

139community here. Um that's what I was trying to do that. So I'm sorry you viewed it that way. >> No, it's not that I viewed it that way. >> It's how the uh it's how the community >> all of them. No, the people. No, let me >> No, I just I just wanted to ask. >> Let me make this clear. >> If someone told me >> someone told somebody else and if they told somebody else, they told somebody else. Do Do you understand what I'm saying? So, it's the appearance. You understand? And I I respect what you were doing. >> Thank you. >> You understand? But that that you would never th this is something unprecedented. I'll say that going into we have this educational center. >> Greentown is used quite often as well. And

140I believe that is that's that is >> Don't tell me that cuz I didn't even know that. >> Well, not by us. >> But I don't want to Can I just help? If you Google Lucky Scotties and I'm on there, it says Lucky Scotty's restaurant, not bar. So, I think words matter. Do they serve alcohol? Absolutely they do. Were they serving alcohol at the meeting? Absolutely not. There is not many restaurants in Walkagan. And I I I can't even think of one that does not serve alcohol or at times even has gaming in their restaurants. We were not on the first floor. We were in a private room upstairs. And so it it is a restaurant during working hours, not at 7 8 9:00 at night. This is working hours. And so I hope I

141clarified it for anyone who had concerns. There was an ASAP meeting at Lucky Scotty's which is a restaurant and it was upstairs in a private venue with the ASAP team. The venue was not rented. Thank you for the clarification. It was donated and we did buy food for our staff which we would have bought even if they were here. >> It was from 10 to 2. I just want to be very clear. It was from 10 to 2. I waited until everyone had left. No one was behind and in fact I had come back to the building here and had to talk to a number of people and everyone went back to the respective building. So uh but thank you for bringing it up and and uh I understand uh but I'm thank you superintendent

142for emphatically stating that you know it is a restaurant and we were there to do business know what it is tourist. Okay. So, can I also ask >> No, I don't do it. We can we can move on. >> Well, because I'm done, >> Miss Fion. >> I don't want issues like this to continuously come up. So, can when we have an issue like this, can we ask that it's also sent out so that it can be looked into so we have these answers so that everyone is prepared and not caught off guard >> because I also don't want our staff to feel like they can't go next door and eat lunch. Especially when we keep saying we want to bring parents in, we want to bring community in. We want to have all these

143partners. That is one place that I know does partner with us and does give discounts specifically to walk staff um and has been helpful along with many other restaurants that you show your Walkagan ID during lunch, they will give you a discount. So, I don't want our staff to feel like they're being monitored during their lunch hour where they can choose to eat where they would like to eat. I understand the appearance, but our community member community members or member whoever is bringing this to to your attention or to the community's attention also needs to understand that it's their lunch hour. They are free to eat where they want to eat. And if they're not consuming alcohol, doing any of that, there are very, very few places that don't serve alcohol and also serve food.

144I just think that these kind of issues should be, you know, brought up like in an email first so they can be investigated and then we can explain it out because I'm sure there's going to be other instances like this and I just don't want our staff to feel like they're constantly being monitored and micromanaged. Thank you, Miss Lindsay. >> Um, I just want the public to be aware that we do have policies and expectations in place for staff coming to work under the influence. >> Um, and we I just want to make sure that like we are also specifying during working hours. Um I know during the pandemic at least on social media there was um a lot of conversation around I am a teacher but I'm still a person. So while I'm in

145the classroom and I'm working with your students, I am very professional but I can be in the community on my own time being an adult consuming and behaving as I find appropriate for myself. Um, so these I can understand the community's concern because the general optics may not look good according to their perspective. I think these types of situations just highlight the need for us to rebuild that trust on all levels. Um, so it just it highlights the the work that needs to be done. >> Thank you, Miss Lindsay. Okay. Uh, next item, student discipline matters. I see none. Board member time. >> Let me go. I just got >> You want to go first? >> Okay, miss. >> Okay. First and foremost, you you know that we have three of our former students that

146attended Brown University. There's three of our students. Mr. Aljacus, did you find out anything? >> No. Okay. Um, well, >> no. >> Yes. And and if there's someone out there that could um possibly let the superintendent or somebody know that our three students that are presently at Brown University, if they're okay, then I'm sure that that would ease our minds. Okay. So, somebody out there, if you hear us, let us know. Um, and um, another thing, you all have a merry Christmas and enjoy your time off, get rested, and just look, it's time for us to go on the last leg [snorts] of the rest of the school year. >> Thank you, Miss Hannah. Miss Lensing, >> um, I wanted to touch on a couple of things. board president. Um, I appreciate you highlighting the

147conversations that you had, especially with regard to our Lakeshore campus of CLC. Um, for parents that don't know, CLC also has a fast-paced program targeted towards our sixth, 7th, and eighth graders. So what they do is they look at the top 5% of kids throughout the county and offer them opportunities to enroll in classes at CLC um for enrichment. Um we do have several W Keaggan students that qualify and as a parent one of my concerns was that they were not offering any courses here at the Lakeshore campus. So, it's been raised with them and hopefully because of how great they are doing, um I can now kind of push to say really we need something in Walkegan for our kids because it is a cost to families. Um so, I hope they have scholarships

148going as well, but it would be nice for us to host some of the other middle school students across Lake County at our beautiful campus that is doing such a great job. Um, I also want to put out a reminder that there is the food drive on Friday. Uh, Mr. Mo, correct me if I'm wrong on the times. Uh, but I believe it's 4:30 to 7 4 to 7:30. >> 4:30. >> Ah, 4:30 to 7:30 and that's at the Brookside campus. So, these again are holiday meals that the district is providing to families that need them. We do have our students going on a two-eek break and I echo Miss Hannah's sentiments that we want you to rest and um get the much needed uh downtime. Thank you for posting that. Uh but I just

149want to make sure that families are again aware 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Brookside campus picking up at door 25. Um, huge thanks to the volunteers that are helping support that initiative by being out there in the cold. Um, I also want to congrat I was not able to attend unfortunately. I'm sure Mr. McBride was there um along with maybe other board members, but the basketball game that happened this uh past Saturday. Um, I had a prior boss reach out to me. He's like, "Are you here?" And it's like, "No, I'm in the city with the kids." Um, but it was it was a great game. It was well fought. Um, so our our kids are doing uh a great job and I hope there was a lot of attendance at this game. >>

150Perfect. Um, so if we can get that um to continue through the rest of the season for other sports, that would be great. I'm going to echo again ghettoird. I'm hoping to to see that as a comeback because that is a deep walk tradition. Um, but great job basketball uh team for I also want to commend our elementary and middle school students. You just went through some of the testing that we referred to tonight and I want to wish our high school students good luck. Their final start tomorrow. Um, rest. At this point, you just need to sleep and then just try your best and we'll see how it shakes out, but good luck to you guys. Uh, and then the last thing is I hope everyone has a good holiday break. I know the

151holidays bring mixed feelings for people. Some people are mourning the loss of their loved ones. We do have some families impacted by the federal administration, so they may not have certain family members with them. Um, but hopefully you just take a time to to hug those around you and just appreciate one another. And as we end the semester and for when we come back, it's my hope that we continue to pour love into these students because we have the best kids. We do. And they just they need to feel it. So, if everyone can do their part and just share the love, that would be great. That's all I have. >> Thank you, Miss Lindsing. the >> so the walking public schools foundation will be doing the annual polar plunge. So if you want to

152see uh Mr. Alsakis, Mr. Luosa, myself and former board uh member Miss Gonzalez act like fools running into cold water. We will be there um to support our Waggan Parks uh foundation. Um and that is on New Year's Day at Waggan Beach. Um, along with that, we've been seeing a lot of our teachers requesting their funds and reimbursements for the grants. And so, we're really excited. We've already received a few pictures of some of the activities that they've been doing. So, please continue with those. Um, we're really proud of those teachers. Um, along with that, in thinking of what Mr. Excuse me. Rodriguez said earlier um in the new year, I think one of my resolutions is going to be just to be more mindful of my words and how I speak about um not

153just our district, but our community in general. Um and just making sure that, you know, I'm personally continuously promoting all the positivity that's going on in here. Um, and that's not to say that we don't acknowledge our areas for growth, but just also understanding that our students hear what we say and and see what we say um about our schools, about our community, about them. And so just minding minding my words. Um, and then that was a great spotlight this um the beginning of this our our session for the assisted technology. I don't know if it was explicitly stated, but November is assisted technology month. So, thank you to all of those who support our students. Um, I will say I have had to learn that um in my own personal life using those tablets.

154They're not cheap. They have to be updated. And there's a lot of programs on there that are very, very helpful for someone who um cannot communicate verbally. and sometimes your insurance doesn't even cover it or it's very difficult to get those types of items covered. So, it's so important that we have these idea funds that um our federal administration is pouring money into our students with special needs to purchase these types of items and train our our students and their families on how to use them because it is very very very critical um for their growth, for their understanding and for their emotions. not being able to talk is and and express your needs can be very very stressful not just on yourself but on your on your family. Um so thank you again to

155all of those staff that really work with our students um who really need those supports and with their families as well. And then just as community members, again, pushing your legislators to really support federal funding for all our academic programmings, especially for those who are most vulnerable. And Phelis Navididad, for those of you who celebrate, um, if you celebrate something else, I hope you are enjoying this season. If you do not celebrate, take just take a break and relax and enjoy. Thank you, Miss Ellen. >> Okay, I just hope everyone has a good nice long break and enjoying time with family and happy holidays and also thank you for the gift. I really appreciate it. But yeah, thank you, >> Mr. McBride. >> Excuse me. Uh going back four years, Miss Hannah, uh we were

156uh in a session where we had a kid come in over at uh the high school was trouble and we had to make a decision on him, either suspending for the rest of the year or come up with some kind of attorney for him. We sent him to ADOC. That kid is staying with me now. He's graduating from Alabama and he said to me, "If it don't be for you and Miss Hannah, they don't tell him what would have happened." And he made it clear he wasn't no bad kid. He just needed the opportunity. And just like him, there's so many other kids like him. They just need a little support because sometime they come from families that don't get that support. And as a result, >> they, you know, they they just they they

157just uh do things they ain't got no business doing. Not because of the fact they don't know better, just because of the fact they don't have nothing else to give them any support. But anyway, uh this kid now he's staying with me. And just and uh also to uh uh the backstory behind it is Tan's brother. Can you believe that? And you all don't know who I'm speaking about. Tan. Tan was my grandson that committed suicide in my garage. And he was another kid that we sent down to Death Plains to Connections. He didn't make it, but his brother did. And I'm so proud that his brother is back here in Walk Keegan. He's going to graduate in May. And you know, I'm going to be down there, me and my wife, to support him.

158So, but I'm just saying that uh that uh we have kids that we underestimate because they don't get the opportunity. And sometime we look at them as boy, we shouldn't be what we shouldn't be looking. I'm kind of emotional right now. And uh and I know that we have kids. And I Miss Felicia knows I have a nephew that was in AEOC. Guess what? He's an attorney now for Amazon, but he always tell me, "Uncle Jeff, I'm glad that you were behind me and you helped me get this done and do this and do that." And right now, that young man is attorney for Amazon. And he came back here to one year, I think it was, was the Valencia, and went back to AOC to talk to the students say, "You can make it

159if you want to." Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. >> That's my Christmas present. >> And he speaks how many languages? He speak four different languages. Wow. >> Oh, thank you, Miss McBride. Yeah, Mr. Riddle. >> Yes. Um, I guess the only thing I want to say is that um the spotlight on 60 as well as what we heard from Miss Fabian and Mr. McBride here, uh, Walkgan does provide some wonderful opportunities for our students and they do wonderful things with their lives. Um, this was brought to my attention this week here when our Lions Club um had our annual holiday party at Bertrans and we had [snorts] um special needs children there. Um about 3540 children and their teachers. Um and one of the things that always impresses me and we do this annually

160is the teachers and the way they care for those students. Um and and you can see that that we have some of the best teachers in the world here who who really work with our kids and um for the last two years we have had one of those students who have has moved on to my alma mater. In fact, Miss Fabian um >> mine too. >> Yes. Her kid she was teaching this child this child um how many years ago, Miss Fabian? >> Oh man, she's in her sophomore year. >> So she's in her sophomore year at Illinois State, my alma mater. And I asked her just this past week, what are what are your plans? What are you what are you going to do? She keeps coming and volunteering. No, at our party former

161>> pardon me. >> No, I'm just clarifying. Not not my child. One of our >> No, one of your students. One of your former students. Yes. One of one of Fabian's former students. >> And she volunteers um and wants to be an inspiration to these other children that come to the party. >> Um she's on Christmas break right now. And I asked her, "What is you what are you wanting to do?" And she said, "I I want to be a teacher. I want to continue to inspire kids to do great things. Um I had so much help. Um Miss >> Bobby, she wants to be a teacher for the deaf and heart of hearing. >> For the deaf and heart of hearing. Yes. >> She had and she had to learn how to speak, you

162know, and so I'm just saying it's just it just really is great when I get a chance to see the good works that our teachers are doing and that our students are doing and how they we have so many students who work really hard and progress and do great things in their lives. [clears throat] So I just continue to do the good work. I thank I'm thankful for all of the wonderful teachers we have in our district and the wonderful students and hope all of you have a needed um wonderful holiday break and thank you. >> Thank you Mr. Riddle, Mr. Mir. >> Um thank you everybody. Um three more days. We're almost there guys. Three more days. Uh congratulations to all the teachers, uh students, parents. Uh I know that our high school has

163finals. Um I know you guys are going to do great. Just hang in there. Um, happy winter solstice to everybody. Christmas, felis, navidid, kwanza, Hanukkah, whatever you celebrate. U, please make sure to take time out just to be with yourself, friends, and families and just enjoy this uh last two weeks we have here in 2025. >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Mr. Hakobo, >> I'm just here to wish you guys a happy holidays in advance. Um uh for those who are taking finals, wish you guys luck. Just just hang in there. It's just three days. We we've gone through three days every for the whole semester. It's just three other days just a little bit more harder, but you guys got this. Um I like to appreciate the gift you guys left me. I really thank

164you all. Um besides that, good night. Have a good night. >> Have a long good break. >> Yes. Wonderful. >> Thank you. Thank you. Yes, Miss Hannah. >> Oh, you're welcome. You're welcome. And I just want to thank everybody who stuck with us this late, all the uh the survivors. Thanks for being with us. Thank you for all that you do for the district. We really appreciate it. You know, sometimes it's it's hard for you to realize how much we appreciate all the people that we have working for the district. We have some of the finest employees here and um I I just don't think that you are given all the credit that you need and um just want to thank you. Wish you the best for the holidays and um guess we'll see you

165next year. >> Right. >> And with that, I'd like to ask for a motion to journ. >> Motion by Miss Favian. >> Second by Miss Lensing. All in favor? >> I oppose. Motion carries. Meeting is adjourned at 9:36. There.