March 18th, 2025 - Special BOE Meeting, Student Achievement and Operations Committee Meetings

001[Music] Are we [Music] I'm a [Music] Oh my good. [Music] I'm a [Music] I'm [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] You [Music] yourself. Yeah. Yeah. [Music] Hey, hey, hey. [Music] Heat. Hey, Heat. [Music] You yourself. [Music] Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. [Music] I love [Music] you. Oh. [Music] Woah. Woah. Woah. [Music] Oh, ooh. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Uh-oh. [Music] Baby. [Music] Come [Music] on. Hey. Hey. [Music] I love you. [Music] Hey, hey, hey. [Music] Oh my We [Music] get [Music] together. Heat. Heat. N. [Music] Hey, follow me. Heat. Heat. [Music] I'm [Music] Heat. Hey, Heat. [Music] You will yourself. [Music] feel. Hey [Music] I'll be happy. [Music] You're back. [Music] Ooh. Ooh. Ah. [Music] Oo. Hey. Hey. [Music] Woo! [Music] Woo! Woo! [Music] Oh, [Music] hey. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat up

002[Music] here. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Uh-oh. Fire. [Music] Yeah, feel me. [Music] I love you. [Music] Hey, hey, hey. Heat. Heat. [Music] Hey, hey, hey. [Music] Hey, hey, hey. [Music] Oh yeah, I'm [Music] Hey. [Music] You [Music] will be [Music] Hey, [Music] I'll be happy. [Music] You yourself. [Music] Ooh. Woohoo. [Music] Oh, hey. [Music] Woah. [Music] Woah. Woah. [Music] Oh, hey. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Hey. Hey. Hey. [Music] Hey. Hey. Hey. [Music] Hey, hey, hey. [Music] Okay. Heat. Heat. N. [Music] I'm [Music] Oh my good. Heat. Heat. N. [Music] I'm [Music] Hey. [Music] You [Music] will be [Music] I'll be happy. Heat. Heat. N. [Music] Ooh. [Music] Oh, you are. [Music] Hey, wo wo.

003[Music] Oh, ooh. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Uh-oh. [Music] Baby, baby. [Music] I love you. [Music] for me. Hey [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Um, under exception C1. Uh, with that, I'd like a roll call or call to order the recall to order the March 18th, 2025 Walking Public School Board of Education special meeting. If I can have a roll call. Yes. Miss Gonzalez, Mr. Riddle, present. Yes. Miss Lensing, yes. President Yuing, yes. I approve. Motion carries. There are um with that u opportunity for public comment. As a reminder, each individual um gets three minutes. If you need translation, translation will be provided and you will get uh six minutes. Um we haven't started yet, Chief. Miss Witherspoon attorney or you wanted to be added to the list.

004Okay. All right, while she does that, I'll keep going. Uh, if you do want uh translation services, translation services will be provided to you. Uh, you'll get an additional 3 minutes to allow for the translation. Uh, we do ask that you refrain from mentioning student or staff member names in your remarks. Um, clocks are on the wall around you. Just waiting for the sheet to come back and then we will get started. That's what she did. [Music] No worries. It's okay. Always talk about phone text. First name on the list. I'll get started while she does that. Randy Sebecki, how you doing? All right, Mr. Zbecki, whenever you start speaking. All right. Good evening all. Uh, first I wanted to uh congratulate the National Honor Society members, the seniors and the ones that were inducted,

005the sophomores and juniors. What was kind of disappointing that nobody from top administration attended that event, all those kids and all their accomplishments and nobody from the top administration even attended the event. That's why district calendars are so important. I reached out to some of the board members cuz besides Miss Hannah, she was the only one there. board member wise. That's why these district calendars are so important to know about these events because some of the board members that I reach out to didn't even know about it. Um, and then second thing I want to talk about is as a parent of a student at Jack Benny, obviously there's something going on in the district that the principal hasn't been in the building in three to four weeks and nothing is said to the parents.

006Now, we know how rumors get started. We don't like rumors, but when nobody says anything, that's how rumors get started. It affects the students, when they notice the principal hasn't been there, and then they're hearing adults in the buildings talking about why they ain't there, starting rumors. That's how the rumors start. If there's an investigation going on, at least let the parents know there's an investigation going on. But to not say nothing to parents, but then I'm still getting emails from the principal and he's not even in the building, you know, that that concerns me as a parent because why am I getting emails if the principal is not even in the building and he's been out 3 to four weeks? That's where we talk about accountability and that, you know, the district should have

007put out some kind of statement to the parents because that does affect the students. They notice it and that's where all the gossip and the rumors start. That's all I got tonight. Thanks. Thank you, Mr. Becky. Next name is listed as uh Chester Yes. Talking about Friday honor society. My granddaughter was there. Very happy for her. But anyway, um I talked to a gentleman on the board. I asked him why they always vote yes for Chicago. He says, "Well, you're not in the boardroom to look over the paperwork." So 288 meetings, everything's going perfect, right? There's nothing wrong. Yes. Yes. Yes. Go to Las Vegas, 40 people, spend over $400,000 for what? What do you bring back to the children? The children are failing. In fact, science 31%, ELA 17%, math is 11%. And folks

008and parents, if you want to know what the administrators make, you go to W uh District 60 employee compensation. See what else. So, we need a uh we need Anita Hanner back on the board and we also need Randy on the board to help out because Chicago cannot have it. All seven saying yes all the time. And Anita is the one that always talks about reading. In fact, they came up here and gave her a word about always talking about reading. Thank you. Thank you. Uh Ray Vukovich. Good evening. Uh you all need to apologize to every person in this room because it is extremely unprofessional. Your calendar says on this Tuesday you have two committee meetings starting at 6:00, but somebody up there decided to shoehorn a special meeting in starting at 6:00 p.m.

009And you've got a room full of employees that are here. You've got contractors and other folks that set their calendar to come here, yet you set an agenda to have a special meeting and you thought you could get it done in a half an hour. Now, I know enough about the Open Meetings Act. I know that the section that you had the closed meeting about has to do with personnel. Then you look under personnel. It appears that you're looking to demote somebody and then possibly fire somebody. So the superintendent and your lawyer thought that you could get this done in 30 minutes. 30 minutes. That's whatever this problem was. You thought you could get it done in 30 minutes? Why Why didn't you meet at 5:00 and then let these people come at 6:00 and

010do their regular business? highly unprofessional. And to everybody here, I say I'm sorry for their conduct. Now, we've got what, three board candidates out here. I hope that, you know, there's a good possibility one or more of you could be sitting up there here next month. I hope that you will hold the administration to uh show a little professional uh courtesy to their co-workers and the public. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Vauovich. Rayan Edwards. Well, unfortunately, Mr. Vauovich, everybody ain't going to hold them accountable because some of them was handpicked to run. You know what's confusing to me? And I'm I'm going to have to, you know, push back a little bit. Not push back, but push forward with what Randy said. Honor Society. All of those kids being nominated, right? what Ray just said,

011all of your staff, contractors, and stuff sitting here waiting on y'all. We still ain't did no real celebration for the accomplishment of what them boys did on that basketball court. They brought over 4,000 people together in this community. Do y'all not understand why people don't want to go to school here? Why people don't want to work here? the things y'all do. That's the perception. It's always an excuse why you can't tell us something. I don't need the details, but to just not tell us nothing. We put y'all in them seats to advocate and speak on behalf of us. How dare you not have a conversation with us about our business, our kids, our community? I don't know if anybody really realized un if a school district is not performing, the city would be horrible. I

012had to sit down yesterday and I had to go back on YouTube to look at some things and I noticed that the last scores and stuff that was talked about, it was done at a board meeting during an election year. Oh boy, y'all cold bloodooded. And I don't think everybody else read that, but I sit up late at night 2 3 in the morning when it's quiet outside so that I can think. I'm asking the people that I know up there that I've known for some years, Mr. Riddle, Mr. McBride, Miss Hannah, and even you, Mr. Yuan, what are we doing? What do y'all have to be proud of? What can you say you have done for these babies and this community? Because the scores says something differently. And unfortunately, Miss Hannah, this ain't individual

013testing because when we look at y'all, we see a board. I get it. It's a team. Unfortunate. And that's unfortunate. But I ask y'all, when do y'all tell this community something? Wow. Thank you, Mr. Edwards. Miss Witherspoon in America voicing our opinion and being able to speak up in meetings such like this such as this is crucial to our society. There's a saying that the old folk used to say you know what uh actually it was coined by Dr. Martin Luther King, justice anywhere is injustice everywhere. Again, not to piggy back off of what these gentlemen said, but you guys really need to take a serious serious look at what's going on in your school district. I can't talk about anything else, but let me tell you, like I said before last weekend when I

014was here, my kids grew up in Walkegan public schools. They graduated from Walkegan. I am appalled at the lack of respect that's being showed for the teachers as well as for the kids when when when when justice is not being given freely or regularly like it should like you're supposed to be teaching. I you know I'm you don't have to worry about me coming here anymore. I've tried I tried to say hey let's partner together. Let's let's get this, you know, let's work together to get stuff done. Every time I'm rejected and every time somebody ends up hurting because of the lack of moral or I don't want to say morals, lack of information that you should be receiving. I think that I really suspect that you guys really don't know what's going on. And

015it's incumbent, we elect you. We elect all of you in the hopes and the d in in the hopes and the the the the authority hopefully that you have to ask questions. Don't just take listen to what somebody says because they said it. You need to research this. This is why you were elected is to look out for the kids, the employees, the teachers, the the admin, everybody here. You guys have a hard job and I recognize that. But it it comes to a point where all you can do is say, "Oh, well, I tried." And me, I'm the woman that's eternally optimistic, but I'm not anymore. I deal with school districts all across the state of Illinois. I've never dealt with a school district like this before. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Windsboom. This

016concludes the public comment. We appreciate all those who came and spoke out. We are now at our personnel. So, it's a proposed reclassification and non-renewal assistant principal. It is recommended that the board of education initiate the proposed reclassification and non-renewal of the middle school assistant principal identified in the immediately preceding close session and that the superintendent be authorized and directed to issue a written notices to such administrator substantially in the form of X.A shared in close session. Motion to approve. Second motion by Mr. Rud, seconded by Miss Fabian. Any comments or questions on the motion? I am uh really really asking that this matter be um be be held over and um until um the board is given more information in uh relation to the um to the um the person uh that is being

017brought before for renewal and um there um there is an there is an investigation going on and I just think that after the investigation is over that is when uh the board should take action. And so I am asking that this item be held over and um I am hoping it can be considered. Is that a motion, Miss Hannah, that you're making? I'm asking for it to be held over. So you making a motion that for it to be held over. A second. Have a motion on the table. Is anybody removing or resending their original motion? Can we go over the consequences of not if we do hold it over we are on a timeline. There is a notice that needs to be provided by April 1st if you hold it over this evening. Another

018special meeting would need to be called in order to take this action or you forego the opportunity. And we also forego the opport the we do not give opportunity to hear the other's perspective. Correct. This is following a statutory procedure. Correct. So so we so we can't have we can't hear the other side um unless this goes through. Is that what you're saying? Procedurally, the statute if you are looking to reclassify certain individuals, principles or assistant principles, they have the statute requires the board to issue the proposed notice by April 1st after which the individual is provided an opportunity for a private hearing and if they remain dissatisfied, they can have a hearing in public. That's the procedure and it's after the fact the board that the board votes we can't change that statute now.

019This vote is to initiate the process. It is not a final decision. All right. So seeing that neither one is able to resent or willing to resend that original motion. Okay. But I am still I wanted for the record that I requested for this item to be held over. Yes, ma'am. Um are there any other questions related to the original motion? Yeah, I mean I'm I'm not uh I'm not astute with law, but I do believe that uh there are amendments and other reservations that could be made to uh to deal with this matter in a ma in a way that could be done uh righteously and the right way and uh and as Miss Hannah uh has spoken uh I agree with her uh because there's as a board member sitting there's things that

020I should know that I don't even know pertaining to this issue and uh just because of that u I don't it's I just for me to be able to to make a decision about uncertainties it's not fair for me to just say yes to anything that I got some some um uh some some concerns out. If Mr. Riddle wanted to say something. Oh, go ahead, Miss Miss Fabian. And I recognize you first, then Mr. Riddle. I just want to be clear that this is not a final action and that we are following procedure through school code. Um, and so yes, we are board members and we all did receive information today. I don't want to um sit up here and pretend that we're making an uninformed decision. The final decision, we will have more information

021and at that time we can reconsider the outcome. How do you make a decision without having all of the information? That's the question. Yeah. Well, I guess that was explained to us in close session that statutoily it's not the best thing, but we are held to a April the 1st deadline um when we have administrators. And so, you know, it seems clear to me that in order to get what Miss Hannah is asking for, we have to take action tonight. Otherwise, we preclude hearing either side or the other side. Um, so seems to me that we have to take carry this action. So I that's that's the way it was explained. That's it's happened before in the district that that we've had administrators. Um, and if you don't take action, then you have to decide

022what you're going to do with that administrator, whether you're going to give them another administrative position, but your options then are not there. You've you've closed the door to further options. So it seems to me that I understand that we have to take action tonight. Yes, we don't have all the facts, but we we have enough facts to take the action that's requested because of the statute. Have those facts. I guess we'd call the question. Mr. President, I I haven't uh made up my mind. The thing that's frustrating, I want it. I want it held over. You do, but you didn't get your motion in first, but I got the motion, but we had a motion on the floor and they won't withdraw the motion. So, as the board, previous board president, you do know

023procedurally that we So, I don't want to make it seem like uh we're not following procedure. What I will say is um this is to the community, right? Any time dealing with personnel, it limits what we can say. What I will say is that I am disappointed to again be in this situation where there seems to be a level of ambiguity between the board and to between the community. And at this point, it continues to be a concern. Not more than a concern. we move past the concern. Um, it speaks to the overall culture, and you guys haven't heard me say that word a ton. Um, but a culture in which everything and all disagreements between the adults and the staff, much of it, not all, ends up becoming some type of circus. And so

024while I cannot go into the details and I wouldn't out of respect for that employee, we've been provided with certain information. I hope that the truth comes out, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. And I will stand on the side of whoever is right um in that situation for as long as I sit on this day is. Uh but it's been explained to the community that there is a statute uh to the board and I'm acting under the advisement of council with the decision that I make. Uh and so what will happen is the board will take the vote. Whatever the vote it is will be. If the board votes no, it is dropped. If the board majority votes in the affirmative, then there are other I don't want to call them protections,

025but is that the correct term? Procedural steps in the process uh in order to reme remedy. And I do apologize uh Miss Witherspoon, but uh public comment has ended. Roll call. Mr. McBride. No. Miss Fabian, yes. Miss Gonzalez, Mr. Riddle, yes. Miss Hannah, no. Miss Lensing, President Yuing, Miss Lensing, Miss Lensing, yes, with the understanding that the statute requires approval in order to hear the indicated individual's side in order for the board to make a comprehensive decision. President Yuing. Yes. Item approved. Motion carries. All right. With that, I'd like a motion to adjurnn. Motion to adjurnn. Motion by Mr. Riddle, seconded by Miss uh Fabian. All in favor signify by I. I. I. Any oppose? Meeting is adjourned. If we can take a fivem minute recess before uh continue with our meeting. [Music] Heat. Heat.

026[Music] Good night. [Music] Oh, hey. [Music] All right, it is 7:42 again. I'd like to call the February 18th 20 uh sorry, not February, March 18th, 2025 walking public school board of education meeting uh sorry like to call the Febru March 18th, 2025 student achievement committee meeting to order. Can I have a roll call, please? Mr. McBride. Yes. Mr. Riddle. Yes. Miss Hannah. Yes. Miss Gonzalez. Miss Fabian. Present. Miss Lensing. President Yuing. Yes. We do have a quorum. Miss Lensing had to drop. She's actually uh we appreciate her dedication. She's at outdoor education. So she was up in uh supervising a bunch of fifth graders from Cook Elementary School uh with her kiddos. So, she was able to call in for closed in our previous open session, but she did let me know that she'll

027be watching online and Miss Gonzalez was under the weather. Uh, but we do have the remaining five of our board members. So, we are good to proceed. Uh, item 3A, approval of the February 18th, 2025 minutes. Do we have a motion? Motion to approve. Motion to approve by Mr. Riddle, seconded by Miss Fabian. Any comments or questions on the motion? Corrections to the minutes. All in favor signify by I. I. Any oppose? N uh and first item we have a discussion item which is the Yman Creek uh presentation. So if you want to kick us off. Yes. Um good evening members of the board, superintendent, staff and community. Um thank you for being with us this evening. The first agenda item on the student achievement agenda is uh some information uh for the board and

028the public regarding some community engagement regarding the Yman Creek power cells. Um, you're going to get a presentation this evening from some representatives from Power Market, uh, who Clean Capital is engaged with, um, to to do the sales and the advertising. We have with us this evening, Mr. Ryan Libby, Mr. Christian Thompson, and Mr. Nick Bodwin. Um, I do want to inform the board, uh, this is attached in the agenda item. There is a separate summary attachment that does confirm uh the schedule of mechanical completion by May 31st of 2025 as well as placed in service date for the omen site of June 27th, 2025. So with that, I'll ask the representatives from Power Market to come up and provide the information and then if you could please um if you have any questions, please

029save them to the end of the presentation. Hi everyone. Thanks for having us. Um I'm here to talk about human creek community solar project. Sorry. My name is Nick Bodwin and um I'll be switching with a couple of my colleagues here. We'll be playing a little bit of musical chairs as we walk you through the agenda. Um, we're going to be talking about the project and construction overview, some of the uh, enrollment engagement process timeline and some of our key partnerships in the community. Yeah, that's mine. Um, right. So, you can go to the next slide. Cool. So, the human creek solar farm is 9.2 megawatts about a thousand residential customers um, subscribers as it says 101, but we are looking I think that's a very conservative estimate. So, it's a large project right in

030Yuman Creek. 50% of the project is going to go to residential households. Um, while uh 40% is going to go to an anchor subscriber, a large uh institutional offtaker and then 10% is going to go to a critical service provider, local organizations and the like. So, uh this is part of the uh Illinois solar for all. Uh you'll hear us say ILSA, but Illinois solar for all. Um it is to expand access to renewable energy. In this case, specifically solar. Um this project is best in its class, meaning that it's the highest discount in Illinois right now. Subscribers will get a 50% discount on the electricity generated. Um you know, keeping it all in wagon here. Uh it was a commitment made by clean capital uh to make sure that you know we're providing maximum

031benefit to the community. So I I don't want to explain anything that you already know. So I'll be very quick here. The human solar this is how community solar works in the slide deck here. So human creek it's going to generate solar. It's going to go into the grid and subscribers will receive bill credits for being a part of that project. So instead of think about a traditional rooftop solar, you have one household with one solar project. Um over 50% of the US population cannot do traditional rooftop solar. Community solar breaks those barriers down to make it so that everyone can participate in community solar. So a large project is built and creek and all the subscribers will see a bill credit and it will be a virtual connection if you will. Uh just by

032subscribing they'll get up to 50% discount off their uh off the credits that have been generated providing a direct benefit. Nothing needs to be put on any of our subscribers homes. So there's no infrastructure, there's no maintenance that needs to happen. Therefore apartment dwellers can be a part of the project. You don't have to own your home. Um, if you have a big old tree in front of your property, you don't have to chop it down. Christian, you want to come up here? I'll introduce Christian from Clean Capital. Or you can introduce yourself. Sure. Hi everyone. Good evening. My name is Christian Thompson. Uh, I'm a senior construction project manager with Clean Capital and I'm going to talk briefly about the construction process. Um this is a unique project for us uh with the consideration

033that it's a closed landfill. Um with that being said, it's approximately a 9.2 megawatt DC um project and that's just short of 17,000 solar panels. Um I mentioned it's uh special in the sense that it doesn't go underground. So it uses ballasted foundations for the racking. Everything is above grade. um so that we do not penetrate the cap. Um and it's a community solar project. It's connected to the comed um lines which then feed directly to the local grid. Um there's a lot of construction protocols on this project that we're taking very seriously. um to start there's been detailed calculations to show that the array itself, the weight of the equipment, the entire system will not um negatively impact the landfill cap. Um and that also is the case for construction equipment in the short

034term while we're bringing in uh equipment and and um putting weight on the cap temporarily. Uh that has been calculated as well uh to not have an impact. We're using specialized equipment um with low ground pressure um so as to protect the cap as well. And um we have strict procedures regarding simple things like ruting. So a lot of times um ruting is not a big deal but on this project it is. So we take things um like ruting seriously and make sure that we get the grass stabilized and um get it back to normal as soon as possible. With that, we also have a commitment to um minimal disturbance with regard to um neighboring properties and the community. Um it's the goal to make the project as successful as possible and have as minor

035an impact to the community um and as maximum of benefit as possible. Um talking a little bit about the construction status. Uh we've kicked off in early spring. Um we've got gravel going down for temporary roads and we actually have um racking, steel racking coming tomorrow morning. Um that's what's going to hold the solar panels in the air above the landfill cap essentially. Then the solar panels will come in later next month um which will be attached to the steel racking and then the wiring uh falls in suit um to the point where this summer we have a um an energized system that's connected to the grid. We then go through um electrical commissioning over the course of 4 to 12 weeks. Um get it to the point with um APA, excuse me, um with

036IPA that um we're a generating power facility just like any other on their grid and they can rely on us for power and for safety. Um so what we're doing now is uh starting the civil work. What we're doing soon is the um the racking work and then we'll be doing uh electrical work terms of enrollment engagement. Um my company Power Market has made it so it's very easy for everyone to sign up. Um and we have to start with who's eligible. Um there are two ways to see who is eligible meeting the 80% of area medium income. Um, Clean Capital has committed to bringing on 100% of the residential subscribers at the 80% area medium income uh threshold. So, there's two ways that we ensure you're eligible. Uh, one is census tracked. We take

037a look at a map that we'll show you on the next slide and another one is participation in energy assistance program, SNAP, Medicaid, Lie Hap, uh, etc. So, the good news is that roughly 90% of walken is in this census map. So we won't have to look for uh energy assistance programs on bills. Simply if you fall under the map, you are eligible to be a part of the project. Uh the other 10% on the bottom there, we're going to talk to ILA and see if we can get an updated map or the reasoning behind the remaining 10% hopefully making that you know we're breaking down all the barriers for people to be able to participate in this program. If you're in Walkegan, we want to make it so you can join this project very

038easily and see the savings of that 50% that we're talking about. So when it comes to the enrollment process, if you are going to sign up for the proc the project, we want to make it so that's very seamless. So just providing us with address utility information and then there's a couple documents to let ILA and commed know that you want to be a part of this process. It takes a couple minutes and we make sure that it's as intuitive as possible. Um, really making it so that you know we can expand that accessibility to as many people that want to be a part of that clean energy transition. So to get people engaged with the project, we're going to be providing some events. Um, in the past, you know, we're in all we're in

03913 states uh for community solar and we've done events with housing authorities, community groups, uh, municipalities, and we work directly with the community. Uh, these events are there not just to sign people up, but most importantly to make sure that people understand the program. You know, we are incredibly transparent and uh these events are for educational purposes as well. Awareness that you can sign up, how to sign up and so that everyone can understand what they're signing up for. In addition to we do some communitydriven events. Uh so we work at uh we we table and talk to the community with resource fairs, Earth Day events, community block parties, um a whole yeah, a whole slew of of different uh events there. When it comes to mailers, um we want to make sure we do

040mailers in the right way. We we know that that's a great way to kind of disseminate information to the community. Um but we only do mailers when we work directly with municipalities, those community groups, lie partners. so that it's not just, you know, it's a trusted source. You know, we want to make sure that we're speaking to the community and not just putting out a mailer, but co-branding it to make sure that everyone getting those mailers know that it's from the municipality, it's from your community groups, uh, as a very viable way to get 50% off your bill. And then finally, when it comes to customer support, you know, Power Market, we're there to manage the project and administer the project, that means the thousand people that will join the project. Um, we're going to

041be there on the back end making sure that everyone's happy, everyone understands the program, and if they have any sort of questions, they reach out. Our support team is incredible. Um, we are highly rated on Google, as you can see there. We are there to make sure that people see savings and understand everything. So um our customer support team is a is a very knowledgeable uh group that have been with our company for a very long time. So always happy to talk about them. Uh I'm going to bring Ryan up to talk about the engagement timeline. Go ahead. Thank you, Nick. And a big thank you to the board for hosting us as well as for all the hard work that's gone in putting this program together so far. Uh, my name is Ryan. I'm

042the director of subscriber acquisition. My role is largely in the on the ground work and relationships that help spread awareness and inform residents about programs like this. I'll be walking y'all through what the engagement timeline is going to look like and what what you can kind of expect to see in the coming months. Uh, getting started with the uh, next slide or with a quick overview. Our target enrollment completion date is October 1st. This deadline gives us enough time to hit a target of somewhere around a thousand residential subscribers. That thousand number is a little bit rough. It could be higher or lower. It depends on what the usage looks like for the average resident. If it's a lot of if it's a lot of studio apartments or if it's a lot of single family

043homes, might be more, might be less. to help us with that deadline. We have we're breaking the project into phases. Uh the there are goals associated with that that we can measure internally so that we can make sure that we're put you know putting the right effort in uh to the program. Uh the first phase is where we'll see the most excitement. This is going to be a period of celebration and kind of promoting the project as this long building project finally reaching the stage where people can start to sign up and enroll. Uh we are we're already in communication and have a relationship with CAP Lake County the local heap administer. They're eager to help connect their program participants with this program. We'll also look to set up a kickoff meeting in the community

044with members of the uh city as well as with staff at the school and begin to establish an initial presence at community events around Earth month as well as like spots where we'll likely run into people who could benefit the most from this program. Then as we go into June and July, uh there are some additional steps we'll take. This is where we'll start to use mailers to re make sure more people are aware of the program. The Department of Energy also has a new tool to allow LII HEAP agencies to better share programs like this with their participants. We'll be looking to use that as well as just continue a presence at community events. And then going into August and September, the final phase of our campaign. This will be more of a focus

045on summer events, whether it be block parties, back- to-school resource fairs, and similar things, as well as just a final round of our own driven events to help reach the uh final uh or final target for enrollment. As people enroll, there'll be a uh timing for the credits to start hitting their COMED bills. The farm is currently under construction with the expectation that it'll go or with an estimated completion date later this year. As it goes live within two billing cycles, the program participants will see credits start to hit their COMMED bill. Um, as you know, they'll enroll up front and then as it progresses, they'll continue to get communication and updates from us informing them on how the project is going and keeping them updated on when they can start to expect to see

046the benefits from the program. Um, as we work with the community, we'll work and emphasize the community element of this part by building relationships with organizations within the community. I've kind of highlighted some of the next slide. Uh, this is an example of some of the organizations we've worked with in the past across our work across the country. Uh, but as we've looked to focus in on Walkegan and identify who to work with in the community, um, you can skip ahead to the next slide. Uh, the we'll be looking to work with the school. This is a great program that y'all can really help celebrate as finally coming through. Um, and we'll look to find great ways to engage, inform students and parents about this new program that they can enroll in to get help

047on their utility bill. Additionally, I've talked about our relationship with Cap Lake County. The city of WKEAN is also eager to support this program and promote it. We have a great track record of working with municipalities to uh engage their communities. Uh lastly, the uh SEAR programs. For those unaware, the SEA programs are a workforce development program in Illinois to help build a new workforce of clean energy uh or clean in the clean energy industry. Uh the Lake County and the Community Works are both participating. We've reached out to uh both organizations already to talk about ways where we can connect the dots and help their participants also get engaged in the program. Um, and then lastly, we're also looking to engage with Spanish language community groups as well as houses of worship. These are

048all organizations we've worked with or worked with in the past in different communities we see as critical to helping make sure the most people are informed. Beyond that, we'll be looking at maybe some strategic hires in the community to help spread the word, people who are connected and tapped in who can help uh, you know, raise awareness inside the community. But as we go forward, we have experience working in Illinois. And these are some of the anticipated challenges and solutions we'll be looking to uh handle up front. Um partner bandwidth is a big one. As we work with these nonprofits and organizations, they're going to have priorities. I'm sure you all have a big docket of things to cover, too. Our goal is always to keep it simple. And if we work with a nonprofit

049where we maybe need additional assistance, make sure that there's compensation resources provided to help. There's also a challenge with a lot of confusion about different utility programs out there. In particular, alternative retail energy suppliers or ARIES are something unique to Illinois. Everyone I talked to has likely had someone approach them at Walmart, show up at their door talking about getting them onto a program for their comm bill. A lot of the sentiment is that these programs aren't a great deal for comm customers. Very often they come with additional fees. Community solar like this program is very different than an Aries. Community solar is tied to a specific farm in the community with the explicit goal of reducing people's utility bill whereas an Aries is buying power from all over the uh country and may result

050in higher costs for a subscriber. So as we talk with folks a big part of the outreach and what we find is most important is making sure they're aware. We have partners at the Citizens Utility Board, one of the preeminent watchd dogs for utilities. They've done a great job putting together educational materials explaining the difference. They've been critical of ARIES but are huge supporters of the community solar industry in Illinois. So for next steps, what people what people can expect in the coming days, we're currently in the final stages of wrapping up the uh subscriber enrollment process with the with the Illinois Solar ForAll team. Once that's done, we're going to start doing some initial events with Cap Lake uh with to make sure the enrollment process is working uh solidly and then from there

051start scheduling our initial uh community events to help raise awareness and get people engaged in the program. Um but again, a big thank you to everyone who's uh worked on this project and supported it so far. Uh we're this is an open call to anyone in the community that wants to help and support. They can reach me directly. I'd be more than happy to talk with folks. Um, and with that we can open up to questions. Go ahead, Miss Anna. Um, you know, microphone, Miss Hannah. Oh, I'm sorry. Can you hear me? Yes. Okay. Um, you know, there there's been solicitations and so forth um in the communities before. Okay. Mhm. Um and I'm wondering if um you sign up for um for this solar service right now. I heard you say that com Okay.

052So will Comet still be the primary supplier for the electricity. Yes, the their relationship with KMED will continue as it is. They will not need to, you know, set up a new billing account or anything like that with us. We as once they enroll in the program, the only thing that changes is that a line item will be added showing the discounted credits applied right to their COMMED bill. They'll continue to pay their COMMED bill same as they currently do and will still be able to participate in any programs like energy assistance that they already do through their COMED bill. So there's there is no disruption to their experience with their power or with KMED. Thank you, Mr. Okay. First, I'd like to thank you very much and and everybody from Clean Capital and Power

053Market because um the board has been waiting for this for a long time. Um, and we are excited to find out that that and actually I was excited uh because I was at Sunset House a few weeks back and lo and behold the trucks were moving in and things were happening there and and I said, "Oh my gosh, we're we're really seeing some work starting to take place." Um, as our students know, solar is the the way of the future, solar energy. Um, we do have solar on uh about seven of our schools right now. Um but we we haven't had the chance to apply uh uh people in walken to really get some of them have put solar on top of their roofs. But this is something that you said everyone especially the people

054in the census track if the way I understood you to say that if they're in that blue census track um you they just need to verify that they live in that area and they will be able to apply for this community solar. Um and and can they actually do that online? Will they be able or they actually they can actually do it online? Yeah, the our our enrollment process is designed to make it easy for folks to apply and enroll at home there. You know, they'll have to verify address, provide some comment info. There's some forms they'll need to sign off digitally. We'll also make sure we're present at local events for folks that are digitally savvy and help them do that. Will they have to bring I heard you say uh you know eligible

055um participation in income. they have to have income based uh you know certain income level uh will they have to show SNAP Medicaid those sort of things I wasn't clear whether they would have to bring that with them only if they live outside of one of the blue census tracks outside of the blue census track the blue census tracks the population in those tracks 50% or more fall below 80% of the area median income which is why they're automatically eligible but outside of that they'll just need some additional paperwork It's it's a terrific program. And then as I as I heard you say, I I already belong to a community solar uh program and it doesn't provide anywhere near 50%. So um will people that are already on a community solar be able to switch

056to this because of where they live in Waggan? Yes. The way community solar is set up in Illinois is uh it allows people to leave programs and move to new ones. they should check with their existing community solar program to figure out what the process is right for for leaving and they may want to be considerate about like like I do the uh timing around them. There's usually a uh notice period you have to give if you're leaving. Right. Right. Um and then my other question and it's an important one is the school district um is getting from what I understand some rent for the land that we own. Um but we would like to be with one of the anchors. It says in your program one or two anchor uh subscribers and of course

057we have a lot of electricity use. We have only a few buildings. We have uh about 22 or more 25 26 buildings total. Um only about seven of them have any solar on them. So would we be considered as one of could we negotiate with you to be one of the anchor um subscribers to reduce our energy use? Absolutely. like we'd love to prioritize y'all as a uh potential anchor for this program considering the lands it's your land and it provides a great benefit to the public by reducing utility costs for the school. So you'll probably be talking with Mr. Briner back there um about that um because we want to certainly jump in and be one of the um subscribers to that program so that we get in on the ground floor and don't

058get booted out by a couple other um I'm not sure what big other subscribers would would want to get in. possibly the city, but we'd like to get in as well. Yeah, we'll make we'll work to make sure y'all are prioritized with the program and give you I'm really excited about this and we want to help you advertise this to our families because um you know, we want to give them an opportunity to get on board and and save energy. And I think it's great as well that it's it's being offered to all families, even those in that are renting, you know, an apartment or whatever, um reduce their electrical bill by up to a half. Now, would that change you say up to up to 50%. In the summer or when it's not cloudy,

059um the solar is generating more, but then when it's generating less, if it's snowed just recently, the snow hasn't melted off those solar panels. Is that when it goes down a little bit? You can expect some variance throughout the course of the year. When we assign a share of the program to users, we look at their average electricity usage over the last year and try to map it out to make sure the credits are allocated appropriately. There can be some seasonal variance with it. They might see higher sa, you know, more savings over the uh summer months and fewer savings over the winter. Over the course of the year though, they should see that 50% credit on the and it should be reflective of their the supply portion in someone's bill. And I just want

060to clarify too for the public and I I want you to clarify. I mean there's some families have have you know been solicited by vendors and you know they don't want to get hooked with having to pay for this these solar things afterwards. So can you assure us and our families that one families are not going to pay any upfront costs to sign up to this program and secondly they're not going to pay any costs um at the back end either. you know that so it's it's it's a free program and if if they move um they're not going to get stuck with getting off of this program, right? They if they move to or they move to another apartment, can they take this with them or they buy a house? They were in an

061apartment, can they take this this thing with them as long as they're still in walken? Yeah, we've got a few questions there. The first one is the the question of fees, penalties, or costs. There's absolutely no cost to signing up and there are no penalties if somebody were to drop the program or move and close out their COMMED account. That's largely thanks to great legislative action from Illinois in setting this program up, making sure it's as accessible and available to residents that can benefit from it the most. Uh so those rules are set in stone by the uh by ILA and Illinois. Um, regarding uh moving, uh, someone could, if someone were to move within walken and stay on stay with KMED, they'd be able to move the service at it. They'd need to connect

062with us and let us know so we can help them migrate it over. Uh, but someone would still be eligible. If they move outside of Walkegan, we do have other programs similar to this that aren't location-based. We can help them get access to one of those if they're eligible. Okay. My final question is um with the solar um community solar that I'm on right now, I have to pay them something monthly, but then they give me a credit and usually the credit is quite a bit more than what I've just paid for that month. So, is that are people going to have to pay something monthly to you? Not at all. This program will exclusively exist on their COMED bill. What you're referring to is a what we call a dual bill program. Yes. which

063is uh older community solar farms are in that spot. When it comes to especially for programs that are designed for low to moderate income households, we're talking about communities that may be underbanked or may you know may not have the same digital savviness. Uh and so it's very important for programs like that to just be to just exist on the COMMED bill. So someone won't have to worry about a separate bill at all on this project. They'll just see it reflected right on their comment bill and we'll be able to track it monthtomonth there. Okay. It's my final question. It sounds too good to be true. So those people that are skeptical, how is your company making money putting this on? Because you're not charging the district to to install these solar panels. Yeah. Can

064you explain to the public or to us how does a company like yours do this without charging either the subscriber or the school district? So who's paying the cost? Who's paying the cost? Yeah, this is a really common question and skepticism is perfectly fine. You know, if when I come in, my job is very much telling people, hey, I'm here to help reduce your electric bill. And I run into it all all over the place. The way this program works is the portion of their bill that goes to buying power is being allocated to this project. So, they don't have to pay us just by paying their comet bill. They're compensate. they're compensated that because solar power is so much cheaper than traditional energy sources. It allows the Illinois to use one of the cheapest

065sources of power to help families in need. It sounds fabulous. And and I have one other question and this is an important one too. We have 17,000 students here and solar is indeed not the way of the future. is the way now and it it needs to be continued and and um how can you guys help us teach our children about solar? Is there going to be any availability for our teachers for instance to uh take some of the kids to see this solar the way it works? Is there any kind of uh stuff educational materials that you'll be able to give to teachers so that they can say hey kids this is what your family is getting and this is why it's happening why these solar panels work. Is it will there be an

066opportunity for kids to visit this solar site? That's not something we've discussed so far, but I'm all for it if it makes sense and it can be done safely uh for for the kids. You know, speaking personally, I'm an old uh science class nerd from high school. And the thing that changed my life and put me on an environmental career path was visiting a brownfield on a field trip. Um so I'd love to help coordinate education and access to kids across the school. Mr. Briner is the man you want to talk to because he's been an educator for many years and he's got a heart for kids hearing about this and learning about it. So yes, talk to him and talk to any one of us on the board as well. Thank you so much

067for this pres. We got Mr. Edwards, then I have Mr. McBride and then Miss Fabian. The presentation's over. But how you doing, sir? So I want to ask a question because I hear you talking about it. You saying it's free, right? Mhm. So when we say free, we no cost. Right. Riddle asks most of the questions. Um is there equipment that you have to give to the families? None whatsoever. So when you saying if they move it'll transfer over, what do that look like? Cuz again, you've heard them say many people knock on our door. I just had somebody in my community today about this, right? And the first thing we do is say no thank you and close our door. Right. Yeah. Um, when will we see the changes in our bill? Would that

068be immediate or is we looking a couple of months down the line? Yeah, it depends on when you enroll for the credits to start applying to bills. The farm needs to go live. It's currently under construction. People will be able to save a space in the program now. And as soon as the farm is done later this year, they'll see credits appear on their bill within two months of the completion date. Okay. And you had a question about equipment. There's no equipment necessary for this. It's done directly through uh their commed bill. And so we'll see the changes on the bill. Mhm. Okay. And so you guys are willing to come to the community and really be detailed with educating the community about this and not just sending us all of this information um for

069us to navigate through this. And also just you know just some advice to you guys when we do this. Maybe it'll be helpful if you guys come and help walk people through the process of setting it up, right? Um whatever that looks like. Even when we're talking about navigating through the system that you guys are putting up. Absolutely. That's a that's a big part of the engagement and a big part of our outreach in communities is finding ways to connect with people directly. It mean it helps so much more if somebody's there to answer your questions and explain how the program works. And a lot of people are great at handling things online, but if you're not, you know, that means you might be excluded if someone isn't there to help you. and we're here

070to make sure we step up and make the program accessible to folks in the community. Okay. Thank you guys. You guys did a great job with your presentation. And real quick, Mr. Riddle, I need this energy when we're talking about our kids. Oh, yes. Cuz you was fired up right now. You were You were on fire. I want this same energy when we're talking about grades and we're talking about our kids, sir. Respectfully, thank you. All right, Mr. McBride. Uh, my question sir, I wait till Ray Ray get done. You done with him? Yeah. Oh, I got to wait till I get his attention. Brand, he's over there somewhere. So, yeah. Come back with me. Okay. My question, uh, who's not eligible? Cuz you keep saying the eligibility. Who's not eligible? That's what I like

071to know. Yeah. So, Illinois Solar for All was designed by the state to provide this discount to families that could benefit from it the most. the ILSA has defined that as people who are 80% of the area median income or less or people who live in one of the census tracks that I outlined. As long as you're a resident of Walkagan and can fit either of those two other criteria, you're eligible. If you fall out, say you live outside of the Walk Keaggan area, you can enroll in another community solar program instead. So So I asked the question, who's not eligible? So you you you said that that sensor track that blue sensor track you showed. Where is that location at? Yeah. But I'm asking I'm asking what area in Walkagan is that location? All

072of it. Right. Most of it. About 90% of Walkagan residents live in one of those tracks, but there is a I don't know if it's in there should be a link. Yeah, there's a link on the slides that takes you right to an interactive map you can plug your own address into. You can look your address. Mr. McBride is also part of the township and there may be an opportunity to collaborate in order to make sure that township residents are aware of the program which which is right but I was just still trying to well I guess I got to look at this map. I'm not a map savvy but I'm just I'm curious about where this area is because number one I hear I hear the word SNAP and I hear the word benefits

073and uh I guess if you got if you're a high income level you ain't no SNAP. You can't get it. And so NAPS is really targeted towards individuals that's uh should I say uh lack of income and pretty much minority so to speak and uh and I think uh Ray Ray asked the question was was there was it free and it's hard for me to it's hard for me to see somebody coming into the community giving anything free without no benefits involved on the other end. It's just hard for me to see that. And I know for myself, I'm on a budget. How would that affect me? And I got on the budget because again, it helps me save money on my on my utility. How would that affect me being on a budget? Would

074I qualify? Yeah. So, it sounds like you're referring to a budget billing option where you pay the same amount monthtomonth. Exactly. Yeah. And then annually, KMED up updates it. Uh what we usually see for budget billing folks is they still get the discount, but because the solar power can vary throughout the year, more in the summer and less in the winter, your budget billing option effectively becomes your ceiling. And then throughout the year, you'll pay a little bit or a little bit or a lot more less depending on how much how many credits are being paid. So you'll still be able to do your budget billing option. Uh you'll just see a variance in terms of the amount of discount you get each month. Just think of the budget uh billing that you pay now

075kind of acting as the ceiling. Well, I know how the budget building work because uh number one, it's you you pay on the loan on the front end to help you out on the long end. Yeah, that's that's how the budget didn't work. But I I'm still just kind of It's hard for me to see somebody getting something free. Well, it's just really hard. I mean, and I want you No, no, it's not free. It's it's a government program. So, you all are being compensated. Well, that's that's what I I figured it was a government program, but the question was asked how you guys benefit this and where was the money coming from. That never was safe. No, that's why I want to be transparent in that. But also, the program is electricity and the

076energy is not. So, you're still paying. You're not getting free electricity electricity energy. But you if you didn't have those indigenous people that you're talking about with SNAP and all them benefits, you wouldn't be able to do this. That's my point. Yeah. We're It's like so many other things that goes on in terms of federal money that's being given out to to minority communities. You wouldn't be able to do that if you didn't have those I want to use the word I'm just temple poor people involved. Yeah. I think uh maybe and we can come I don't even want to say come back but I like that Mr. McBride is the legislation that he talked about. of the clean energy jobs act in Illinois is they are putting uh you know uh it was Illinois's

077legislaturator's way to address um you know solar clean energy as Mr. uh Riddle talked about the future and make sure that um low to moderate income communities were able to access uh access those programs and those benefits as well as the jobs that come along with those. So, uh, you talked about some organizations that they're already partnered up with that are doing work in this area. Um, and we have I know Rita Mayfield is one who was a big champion, um, of the legislation. So, like you said, it's this it's it's a it sounds too good to be true and we can have more information as we come along, but I think uh what you said is like even yourself or people who don't necessarily aren't considered low to moderate income, think of it the

078same way that we do our lunch program. There are some people in Walkgan that um would not qualify for free or regarded lunch, but because more than 60% of our students do, then everybody does. And so uh again up to 90% based on that that would you know I can see the map be a vast majority of walkegan residents including where uh majority of the township resides. I see you Mr. Vukovich. Miss Fabian has been waiting and then we'll come right to you. Go ahead. So I did click on your links and I saw some of them were translated. This is one that talk closer to the mic. I'm sorry. I did see um your links and I clicked in on them. This is one that doesn't seem to be translated. um and the the

079your power market as well um which has a lot of information and how that process works. So I would just like to see um within your organization if how we can um aid you in getting that translated just given our population number one. Um number two with the application and I think um Mr. Edwards alluded to it is having somebody um assist in applying because sometimes even navigating the online systems can be a challenge and so even with that application ensuring that um it's bilingual or that you have some sort of event to apply. In the past, I have worked um with CAP in order to have those lie heap application events where you know we did it in coordination with something else and then we had people that were trained to help them you

080know apply for that service. Um so just thinking ahead when you're doing events of u maybe training some community volunteers that would help families apply and go through that um system so that they can qualify for the program. Um, and then I just would like to connect with you in the future just to give you some ideas of different organizations like our Clean Power Lake County, um, United Ways 211 and all of those other organizations that can help push people towards this um, and help you reach your goals because, uh, I knew I community action partners is great, but people are going to go if they qualify for, uh, lie heap and this program expands to to more than just that. Um, so I will connect with you later on that. That sounds fantastic. Thank

081you so much. And then one more thing, sorry, and Mr. Riddle alluded to it as well. um is that the opportunity for students. So, not just field trip, but if if it's unsafe to do so, but having maybe um working with some of our um curriculum writers to kind of put together on this is the project in Walkegan, what it looks like to aid our teachers or having like a guest teacher for the day or for the lesson um to kind of show our kids what's happening locally with um clean energy. I I did not expect to be made an honorary teacher in this meeting, but y'all have me excited. One of my best friends is a high school bio teacher, and I'm so stoked to tell him, "Hey, they've given me your job." We're

082an hour. How are you? Hey, I got vacancies. Go ahead, Mrs. Vukovich. Well, uh, what first thing is, uh, what Mr. Riddle and Miss Fabian have said about the educational component, turn that around on you all. Uh the schools that have solar panels on them now, which was donated to the district, didn't cost the district anything. Uh they all have monitors in the school buildings that were the intention was for educational purposes. Are you using that for educational purposes? I know you can't answer that right now, but I would hope that you can get me an answer on that. Uh you know, this project long overdue. I'm glad to see it coming. Uh the district will make money on the the rent. Uh the any savings on possible electricity once the project is complete. I

083believe you'll have to pay real estate taxes on that stuff that's above the ground because it's considered a leaseold. So the district will make a little bit there. Uh just asking the developers, are you taking uh advantage of the state of Illinois sales tax exemption and the solar panels? Yes. Okay, that's good. That's the savings. I know at one point in time the city was applying for the uh uh enterprise. Really quick, can somebody give them a mic because for those that are listening? Oh, you do? I can barely hear you. Maybe it's me. Go ahead. It is. It's a uh at one point in time the city of Ha Keegan was looking to extend their enterprise zone, but my understanding is the state law has changed that any solar project is eligible for that

084exemption now. So hopefully you don't didn't wait for the city because I don't think they ever did that. I got a question. Final question. Oh, I got one. No, I got two more. So I'm going here because you guys have been waiting patiently and then I'm coming to you, Miss Hannah. But yes, final question cuz this was an hour. Yes. Okay. I'll give you the last word. I just want to take a minute to introduce myself. I'm the uh remedial project manager for the US EPA for Yoma Creek Landfill. Uh EP EPA approved the design for the solar package. And this is Bob Solak. He's our oversight contractor while all the construction's going on. So, yeah. Thanks, Ray. Bob Solak with a company called Hard Hat Environmental. I'm the on contractor for the landfill itself.

085So, it's kind of my one of my jobs is to oversee the project, make sure it's not impacting the cap or the remedial action in any way, just to make sure we keep that that safe and all the hazardous waste that's under there in good, you know, in goodstead. So, um, really excited about this. I know this solar project has been a long time coming. I think it was 2016 when we I first heard about solar, you know, coming to the landfill. So, it's been a long time coming. Co slowed us down and all that, but it's good news. I wish I could sign up for 50% off my bill, but I don't live in Milwaukee, unfortunately. So, I hope uh a lot of you take advantage of this opportunity. Brandon, thank you. Miss Hannah

086boy president as long as we have the EPA here. Can I just ask him a quick question? It's been an hour. Well, I know we're spending a lot of time on it, but but it's just we also have, you know, Wiggan has many uh brownfields and one of them is huge and I'm just as long as you guys are here from the EPA and you guys are here um down John Mansville uh has had a 400 acre site down just north of our coal fired power plant that's shut down that's been remediated. It took 20ome years to do it. um they encapsulated the the uh the stuff there, but they still have like um I read that there's like 170 acres or so that was basically remediated could be built on at one time the

087park district was going to put a soccer field. What's the and I think this the land is now owned by the city. What's the possibility or has anybody looked at remediating that with a solar field because it'll never be built on. So it's just a question. And I don't know who has to pursue that, but that would be great as well for Waggan residents if that was a community solar project. When you finish this one, you may want to work on that because it's a it's a terrific area. There's there was 400 acres down there. Um and and most of it was remediated. And I read that 180 acres, something like that, could be used for certain purposes. They were going to build a uh soccer fields and stuff on it, but that's not going

088to happen. So, this could possibly be used. I just think it's a great area that's laying vacant now. Um, just I don't know who would check on that, but probably the EPA guys would get involved and you guys would have to be involved. We do that as a comeback as opportunity for other sites. So, let's get this one. Yeah, let's get this one done first. We'll make sure this one is so successful and so popular that the demands Yeah, we'd love to see some of our other brownfield sites used for our citizens. Yes. Thank you. Miss Hannah. Okay. Um, we got a we we have Mike Hannah. Oh, testing. Testing. Okay. Um, okay. Seriously, we have um we have a new building, right? And I'm wondering if there has been any conversation with you in

089reference to putting the solar panels on 214 Washington Street. The building is so high up there, it's always going to get some sun. So the po solar panels up top of the building. I'm just wondering. Yeah, I I think you know the more solar panels the better. It's not something I can speak to directly, but I think it's a great idea for the uh or for the uh school in the city to pursue. Okay. So, I will I guess direct that to um associate superintendent of operations about that solar panel on 214 Washington Street or the new or the new roof on the high school, Brookside. Yeah. So, thank you for the question, Miss Hannah. We're always looking for those opportunities based on our properties since we do have solar at seven of our sites

090as was said earlier and we'll bring some information back to the superintendent on that. All right, next item. All right, thank you everyone. All good stuff. I'm someone who's been critical of the the timeline, so I'm happy to see that it's coming to fruition. Um, when we go through these, if you have a question on them, uh, let me know. But I'm going to call out the number, the letter for the sake of, uh, brevity. Uh, community members can ask a question. Board members can ask a question. The items are attached. Uh, FA, renewal of consumable program 9 through 12 grade ESL materials. Uh, B, renewal of 95% core phonics. I believe we passed. What you talking about, Matt? Where are we in student achievement? Yes. What happened to operations? We This was part of

091the operations meeting because it was first. They had to Yeah, you good. That should have been, you know, it would have made more sense for that to be in operations. Go ahead. We didn't go to operations. Oh, okay. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. It's 8:30. We still got We got B renewal of core 95% core phonics. C renewal 95% curriculum embedded coaching for SY26 grades three through five Chromebook purchase for Crystal Ray St. Martin College Prep. Question on that, sir. Go ahead, Mr. I just Yeah, I I read through the material and and I understand we're buying a 100 Chromebooks um you know for Crystal Ray, a private school. Um it's going to benefit you know our kids, but but why exactly? I still don't quite understand why Walkagan School District has to spend uh

092money to buy these Chromebooks or I know it was agreed upon amount but can you just explain that to us why we have to buy materials for a private school in our area? Sure. Um absolutely. Good evening Mr. Viddle, board president, members of the board, colleagues, community. Um the funding that is going to be utilized to purchase these Chromebooks is our title one funding. And because Title One funding is a federally funded grant, it is uh provided to our district based off of our low-income population um for all students who are within the Walkagan District 60 um boundary. Um not all of our not all Waggan 60 students who live in Walkagan attend our public schools. And so every year we work with Mr. Nicholas Chin who helps oversee our Title One fund. And he

093does several meetings throughout the school year to meet with all of our non-public schools. And because the the money is driven by the student and the number of students that we have, whichever school provides the services um and and education to that student, the money follows the child. And so if there are five students who attend a non-public or 15 students that go to St. Annies, that money per pupil amount is allocated for each of those individual students. And that amount is then set aside for the non-publiclix to spend on the instructional resources that they deem uh they need for those students within their program. And so the the money from our title one um is student driven. The school principles collaborate with our um our financial team and they determine what resources are necessary

094and then we we purchase it through our title funding on their behalf, but the money follows the student. Okay. And that so that's true, Miss Patty. Thank you. That's true then as well with our other uh private whether they any any nonpublic school within the boundary of walken is considered eligible for title one funding we are like the gatekeepers or the holders of the initial um allocation but we do work with nonpubliclix to find out how they want to allocate that funding and make purchases and in cooperation then with those schools they decide how best to use that money might not be for Chromebooks but might be for something materials. Okay. Correct. All right. Thank you. You're welcome. All right. Item E- rate 202526 network cabling. Do we have all of the um um 20

095uh 214 Washington Street? Are we all done with that um um cabling and all of the technology at that building? Just say yes. briefly. The answer is a yes, right? Yes. The answer is yes. Yes. Right. Okay. And this is just a upgrade on our Dr. Quis these Oh. Oh, sorry. No. I I just asked the answer if it was completed. Yes. Network cabling for all floors, you know, has been done. Are we going to be able to um be eligible to get rates there at that building as well? No. Just where there's e-ate is only for schools where we have a students. Yeah. And Dr. Qu can I ask a question for Dr. Cravis? As long as you're up there, these rates um network fiber the connectivity that's just an upgrade. That's correct. That's

096what we're doing is trying to improve what we have because that's correct. It doesn't last forever and and in one case we did some new work on Hyde Park and we just have to that's a little further down but we had to we had to to make some improvements on that. Okay. Thank you. All right. Um item F purchase of curriculum for grades 6 through 12 Spanish language arts oneway education for SY 2026. G renewal of everyday math. Mr. Yuing. I'm sorry Mr. I'm sorry whose hand I missed. Uh F purchase a curriculum. Go ahead Mr. uh Edwards. Hold on. I just want to ask a question. You know, I know this through 6th through 12th grade, but often times I see us buying some uh things uh curriculum things and it's always in Spanish,

097right? And I get it, right? But when are we going to start doing something for these English-speaking kids? I have a nephew that's eight years old. He goes to Glenn Flor and he come home every day and he always talk about how everything is in Spanish and he wish he knew how to speak it to communicate with his with the students up in there. He's probably about 13. It's probably about 13 black kids up in there. Y'all, I'm saying this to say because I see this on here. If this community going to ever thrive, we got to be able to speak both languages, y'all. And nothing is being given to these English kids to understand their counterparts or even most of the teachers who come from a a Latin, you know, community, a state overseas,

098right? And then y'all think we're making fun, but we're not. We're saying we really don't understand because this is what our kids is telling us right now. I got my sister ready to take our son out of the school. I'm just saying y'all. We got I I I know what the president doing with the DEI and all that and names and everything changed, but we could still be doing something for these black babies. Seriously. Board President, do you want to comment on that or I I don't I'll let them and not because it it's super respectful. I think Mr. Edwards is asking a specific question. So I will comment in that he's talking about you said your nephew was in third grade and oh which grade? He's like in the first first grade. Okay. So

099we have a dual language program that Miss Patty can speak to. That's why I said I wouldn't. Now the issue is it starts in kindergarten. Is that correct? And then it moves up with them. So we do have and they just did an article in the New Suns featuring some of the kids that started in that program. I don't want to speak for it, but we have a board member that also is in that program. So, what Mr. Edwards is also saying is for the kids who aren't in the program, how are they getting access to uh those type of bilingual services? And even if a parent like my child who is not in the bilingual program wants to be introduced to Spanish, right now the only opportunities they have is in middle school. So,

100I think that's a fair point. I just want to say is we do have the dual language program. my whole mind. Yeah, we have it. So, but we have to do a better job of u communicating about it. And that was one thing where I I give credit to the district, but I also give credit to Miss Brisco and I got to shout out Miss Hannah is because they what was it? We see women of uh we see women's educators. They had a thing. They said they wanted black kids to be not black kids, all kids uh to be exposed to Spanish. And we have every year rolled up our dual language program which is now through fifth grade or is it fourth grade? Fifth grade. Fifth grade. Fifth grade at at Cook at Cook.

101So yeah. Um but we got to make sure more kids know about it. Uh Oakdale. I'm sensing an opportunity to advertise kindergarten registration. So the two-way dual language program has been at Cook Magnet and has been part of there. And this year we have uh piloted a two-way dual language program for native English speakers and native Spanish speakers together at Oakdale PreK. It is opening up to kindergarten next year. Kindergarten registration is going on right now. Any student that is going to be 5 years old by September 1st, please register for kindergarten. The next um open activity event is going to be April 12th at Whittier. When you register for kindergarten for next year, you'll be asked if you want to be part of the two-way dual language program that is uh tentatively scheduled for

102Oakdale and Glenwood. It's going to depend on how much interest we get, but we're looking to expand that into kindergarten besides just Cook Magnet to have other schools to have that as well. So, please register for kindergarten. Thank you, Miss Christristen. Yes. Thank you, Mr. Christie. And thank you, Mr. Edwards, for the comment. And I just like to uh piggyback because um again we are doing what's called peacemealing peacemealing education and um the the the students that are going to get it in the pilot, right? That's only one uh one small group of students in in relation to the um the the uh student population. Fair fair point at that at that age that we're trying to do. Fair point, Miss Hannah. Just want to remind the board and that's one of the conversations for

103the next board is one of the issues is staffing and uh to have that bilingual dual linguish program. It's a hard to staff area. So there has to be investment um from the board if that's something that they want to see at every school. So I do want to I'm trying to get through I know you're trying to get through but I need to add it's not just an investment on staffing. It's an investment on the famil family's ends. If we don't have the equal number of buyin from the monolingual English only speaking families, then we cannot create a true dual language program and they have to be committed to stay throughout the pro because it's tough the first years and a lot of our families pull out, you know, because they have to keep

104rolling up and they start with heavy on the Spanish. So, um, it's a commitment on both ends. Yeah. So, I think it it it's not a it's not I want the board and Miss Hannah has stressed this a lot about the pilots and expanding it. So, I want to be fair that she's not saying things she hasn't said before. In this specific situation, I want to talk about like I probably wouldn't have chosen dual language for my family. So, you want to have those options and maintain those options but expand those opportunities which is what I think the goal is. It's all my math. And uh with that item G, renewal of everyday math curriculum, embedded coach, um I did also want to call out too when we talk about the Spanish materials, the core

105phonics materials, those are all for um monolingual students, right? There are even things on here, they just usually don't say monolingual explicitly because that is considered to be the the the normal one. So there are options on here. So we're doing both. Um, we are at -ate for 2527 network fiber connectivity renewal of dreambox learning for K through five. Go ahead, Miss uh Fabian. Um, again, just as we're looking at, can we uh Miss Fabian's mic is really low. So, yeah, I feel like I'm screaming. I feel like I can't hear either. So, I'm like, um, so is that better? That's better. Okay. So, when we're looking at um apps again um and I know Miss Lensing's not present right now, but it's something that we keep saying is looking at the student usage so

106that we can vote appropriately to ensure that these things are being utilized. Um so, thank you for the graph on Dreambox and showing the percentage of students and how much usage there is um so that we know that this money is going to the right place that's actually being uh utilized and helpful to our staff. And the students like Dream Box, too. My um my my um grandchildren use Dream Box and they love Dream Box. If your kids don't have homework or if you want to work on it with their reading, first thing you can ask them is, "Have you done your Dream Box?" They know what it is. They know how to log in. They use it every day. And that's something, as Miss Hannah said, it's it's it's fun, but it's also educational.

107Uh so just ask them. You don't got to know what it is. is just say, "Have you done your dream box?" And if they say no, uh it allows them to get ahead and it meets them where they are. So, it is a great program. Uh so, thank you for the call out, Miss Hannah and Miss Fabian. Uh Jay, updated intergovernmental agreement for college and career navigator at Washington High School campus. Go ahead, Mr. Yeah, I just want to just say how pleased I am that that we have these career college and career that we have a college and career navigator uh paid for by the College of Lake County. So this this is a college career person working for the college employed by the college but at our Washington campus. So I'm just thankful

108that we have this inter intergovernmental agreement and that their ch our children have access to that person. Uh community college it CLC is a wonderful community college and of course we have a campus a beautiful campus downtown as well. Um and I'm just pleased that we are collaborating with CLC and have this person available for our students. Thank you. And um can I ask superintendent now they are they are the uh college and career um navigators, right? Mhm. But now we are not moving out any of our staff because we have a very capable um college and career um uh individual here. and I just want to make sure that these people aren't going to be replacing her. Good evening. Um, superintendent, board members, and community members. I think they know. I'm just playing. We

109are not moving anybody out. They're um they've always pretty much been on campus. I'm been embedded. um they just changed their names throughout the years I've been here. So they are at Washington campus and be clear they're at AOEC too. So they're supporting our um kids um one day a week at um AOEC and then 3 days a week at um Washington campus. Um so that's So you're not being pushed out? No, nobody is being pushed out right now. No, nobody with CLC. No, we've always um had a great partnership with CLC. So, thank you, Mr. Ellis. Yeah, I was going to say, don't change nothing. I just so happened to be at the city meeting and the dean of the Lakeshore campus. Um he gave some stats um at the city meeting and he

110talked about how the numbers have superseded uh post pandemic. um and he talked about a lot of our students signing up for some of those classes. So, kudos to the team and the work that y'all doing. Please don't stop. Get them babies in college and let's stop talking about getting them up out of state and let them try local first so that they can get their feet wet and get the feel of it. So, good job, Miss Fton. and and shout out to Miss Foldin talking about uh in in the team in CLC because for the first time we have AOEC students that are participating in dual enrollment with the College of Lake County. So I think that was important. I think it needs to be recognized and we need to um shout out the

111students who are taking that initiative and um and I know there's a lot of controversy around the credits but sometimes this is what it allows also is to give those students those additional opportunities where they can earn college credit um and they're doing well right yeah and I just do want to uh shout out uh the team and the support I um we do have um with um Amanda's not here tonight. But Amanda and um then the uh team that I do have, I have a awesome great team. I mean, call I really appreciate them. Um Cecilia over at Washington campus, Melissa over at AOE, Jil Sheepard um over at Brookside, and then I have a middle school person, Destiny, that's been rocking at the middle school. So, we've been able to support um um

112taking the kids to CLC in elementary this year. We took like 80 kids um from North. We're doing the Carmen Buckner um in a few weeks over at Carmen Buckner. She's been doing a lot of lunch and learns at the middle school. So, um I have been fighting for this, y'all know, forever for college and career managers or more college and career support. and they've been uh I it's been a lot of less uh stress on me and relieve I can go and do other things while you don't have to be on the bus for I don't have to do any I don't have to drive the bus no more I don't have to go on the you know uh all the trips anymore they've been awesome so I just um want to give kudos

113um to them um what they're doing and um how they've been helping a lot of the students in need that we have. So, and uh so they have 100% Yep. Yeah, that's wonderful. 100% Walkan grads. Uh all rake Keaggan grads I was able to hire and that's awesome. And I I have to say this and I'm not from Rock Keagan and I hired all Walkagen grads. So, so um super important and I think it's great because we talk about those opportunities like Mr. Edwards called out local exposure, but then we also have the H.B.CU DCU tour where Jalil will be there with some of our students and then we have some students that are going to Michigan and other areas as well. So being an intentional about making sure that there are opportunities that exist

114here in our community and opportunities for our students that may want to go away and have that different experiences. So I appreciate um your group for developing those opportunities and relationships for those teams. Miss Fabian. And then real quick, also the fact that we're not just looking at college, but that we're also looking at career and promoting that. Um, thank you again for putting that into AOE as well, cuz I've had to have that fight often. Um, so I just appreciate all the work that you do and the understanding that college may not be for all of our children and that's okay and providing those opportunities as well. Thank you. Thank you. All right. So we are now gaggle contract. Mhm. Okay. Miss Fabian has a question. Just real quick on the on the gaggle

115cuz I don't see any reports and I don't know if there's any if there's I know what it does and I don't know if there's any other like applications like have we compared to see if like how accurate it is? Is it catching everything? Are there other apps that may be better or not? Dr. Quas here can answer much more robustly, but um Gaggle alerts provide a great deal of information on a daily basis to principles and assistant principles. And so I know that is um a very effective application to help us know when students need support and and flagged language to help us make sure that they are being safe. Um Dr. Quas can speak more about it. Sure. So Gagle is our monitoring tool not only for the students but also for all

116staff. So there is a 247 uh help desk of human beings that are monitoring keywords. Anything that is stored in Google Drive or any email communication uh Google is monitoring those those communications and it's been working fine for us. Okay, good. Thank you. Uh next up is the renewal of Sofos endpoint contract. Okay. for a long time. We I I'll remind you, Miss, after this meeting. All right, we got item M, the renewal of Newton Nick's contract. Keep going. Keep going. Did I pronounce that right? New contract. So the renewal of Nutanix uh is basically this is a software renewal for our main distribution frame. So we have one MDF here at Lincoln Center. We have a second MDF at Brookside campus. In the case of an emergency natural disaster that we need to fill

117over from one network to another one, this solution will allows us to do that. Right. I I I remember seeing that that secret room but and I I I just didn't know the name of it. Yeah. All right. Item N, renewal power school evaluation platform for 2526. All right. Motion to adjurnn. Motion to motion by Mr. Riddle, seconded by Mr. McBride. All in favor signify with I. I. Any oppose? Nay. Meeting is adjourned. I need five minutes and then we gonna go with our next meeting. Get through that next one quickly. No, we got operation. You said operation. What in the world? [Music] Fortune history. [Music] There's like 164 right Right. And you can just practice that [Music] sh Yeah. [Music] What happened? [Music] That's what you do. [Music] Jesus name. [Music] Thank [Music] you.

118Don't kill me. [Music] Lord have mercy. Thank you, Jesus. [Music] Praise the people. [Music] I'm praying. So they got me coming to the open church. [Music] Yeah. You know, I I go to progressive now. So after [Music] church progressive uh uh personal nomination How's [Music] that? I didn't [Music] real young man He just got married when I met him. Brother [Music] No, you got [Music] Now, the other [Music] night that probably [Music] What [Music] about you? [Music] What do you want? [Music] You going to have enough room? [Music] Oh, okay. What kind of entertainment you want? [Music] I get ready. [Music] Did you try to hit it down? [Music] Turn right really [Music] You should have been ready. Well, that question asked, that's a dumb question I ask myself. All right, y'all. Oh, yeah, y'all.

119All right, y'all. Hey, that Mississippi come out every once in a while. I'd like to call to order the March 18th, 2025 Walkegan public school uh operations committee meeting. If I can operations services committee meeting, if I can have a roll call. Miss Gonzalez. Mr. Riddle. Mr. McBride. Yes. Miss Hannah. Yes. Miss Lensing. Miss Favian. And President Earing. Yeah. Yes. So we do have all the board members present with the exception of Lindsaying and Fabian for the record. Gonzalez. Uh Lindsay and Gonzalez for the record. Uh we have five which is a quorum. Uh 3A approval of meeting minutes for the February 18th 2025 OC meeting. Motion to approve with a couple amendments very minor and I will pass those over to the Motion to approve with technical amendments and corrections. Any comment? Any other?

120Uh do we got a second? Second. Second by Miss Fabian. Uh roll. All in favor signify by I. I. Any opposed? Nay. Minutes are approved. Uh we have these are all information and so the same as we talked about with the other um session. We going to go through them. I'll call the letter. If uh you have any questions, you can raise your hand and wait to be called on by the chair. Item 5A, facility use manual revision recommendation, funeral request. Uh Mr. Sbecki has a question. And I do too with that funeral. Good evening. I got you. Just talk right into it, Mr. Sebec. All right. Uh, so one thing re reading the recommendation, one thing I would like to see changed is it says if if you're a teacher and that within 5

121years, I'd like to see change. If someone dedicated their life, 30 years to this school district and they're expecting a big crowd and they dedicated their lives to the district and the children, that should be waved. It shouldn't matter how many years they've been in the district. I think that that part should be waved. I want to make sure I got you. Under 0.1, it says that uh at the time of the death or within 5 years, uh which one are you looking at? Um I don't you don't have it in front of you. It is that first one. year if you're and that's 5 years after they leave. What you're saying is you would want to remove it. Doesn't matter if like if they pass 10 years after they they they leave the district,

122you know, say 15 years, but they dedicated 30 years of their life to this district and they want to have a funeral here. Yeah. Right. We should be waving it. Fair. I just wanted to make sure that was the point so that's what that's what I'm talking about. And if I can get back on that while we're talking about it. Yes, ma'am. Right. But into the mic, please. The um Okay. When I was reading this, the first thing that came to my mind was um individual like um Larry Tempus and he was with in the school, uh prominent figure in Walkagan, uh driver, a whole whole thing. But in um but but here all of that stuff has been taken out and removed and I can't support it how it is written because you have

123basically wiped out the possibility of our community people being able to use uh the facility if need be. I mean they can of of course anybody can come and um uh apply for the usage the waiver. But if we approve this, you have basically um kind of taken away uh the possibility of person like Elanor Murphy who would maybe have over two 300 people at their at at their um uh final um ceremonies. So we we need to look at this again. Yeah, I think we want recommendations. I do want to remind the board while this is coming forward is because we had a funeral and the administration was tasked with coming with some suggestions. At the end of the day, if you disagree with anything that's on there, you can ask them to go

124ahead and change it. The hour is late, so I'm going to remind the board of brevity. Uh, Mr. Riddle. Yes. Well, first off, I I do think this this whole policy needs to be looked at, the facilities use manual and the policy because um for instance um it any of these funeral services, the individuals do not fall under the rental categories. If you look on the you know it category, it's it's always talking about groups, you know, nonprofit or or taxing organizations. It does not talk about individuals at all. So it it there's no category. There's five categories here, but none of them uh speak to an individual. So I know we have approved funerals uh in the past. Um but that was recent of recent history. Um so this thing would have to be

125reworked. And then if we want to use that, somebody might ask the question, well your funerals, you're gonna you're gonna the use your building for funerals. What about for weddings? What about for kinsenaris? So I I mean I think you know you need to think about that you know and like but you first off have to add another category. You have five classifications. Classification one is school affiliations. This I think is going to be a larger conversation. Yeah. So you guys don't want to have that conversation tonight. I'm good with it. Like I said I'm I'm I'm great with it. I want Miss Fabian to get hers out. And I I just want to remind this we will. it was they were bringing it forward because the board asked for it and if they not

126didn't bring it forward, we say we didn't see it. So the I want to call out the administration being responsive to a request and us saying that all right, we don't want to we can't go into the detail with it tonight. I'm going to go to Miss Fabian and then I see it. And I would suggest that we do email those um to to you the suggestions um because I agree I think we need to look at um a career educator and a u a notable alumni because we also have alumni that contribute back and have donated back. Um and individuals are covered because it would be the regular fee. They wouldn't follow under fall under nonprofit. They wouldn't fall under those exceptions. So they would just have to pay the regular fee. what we

127would have to decide is that if they are an individual, would we qualify them to do uh the waiver and what would that look like? So, uh when we're doing our recommendations, I think that's what that's another thing that you just need to think through of what does that look like. Right. Right. Awesome. All right. So, so forward president, what you're asking is we can put our suggestions to yourself and and and the superintendent. Um, if you're comfortable with it, me and Leon, that I'm fine with that and can we'll just hold us and come back with it like you said, that sounds great because I think it's a bigger conversation. Yeah. I just uh I wanted to Lear's been working on this with his team and so to just make it a little bit

128easier so he can compile everything. Uh, go ahead. Uh, Mr. with just real brief, if you board members would actually talk to your constituents, talk to the people and see how the people feel about this, I think writing this up would be so much easier. Just getting out there, having these small town halls to see how the community feel about this thing. But the other thing is this. I hope when we talk about this that we're not waving it completely fees, right? because then the district have to cover some of that cost, right? And that's money we're taking away from these babies, y'all. Right. Along along with that, I'd asked previously in a meeting, and I don't know if that's available yet, but I asked that the board and I think the board concurred. Uh

129we have this very elaborate fee schedule. I How many organizations actually pay anything? Because it seems like we we wave everything except for the Lake County Community Concert. I and I remember asking the question, who besides them has paid anything? Um, and how much have we collected this past year in 12 months? How how much was collected? I I I think that we could What does that fall under, Miss Poke? I'm sorry. We don't see who pays. But I know it falls under operations, but is it it's not in one of these funds for the people that pay money that's collected? Understood. So, for those that didn't hear, for those that pay, everybody if they're not, and I'm sorry if we can have cross talk. Um, for everybody that does pay, that doesn't come before

130the board. They just show up, they pay the fees. So, to Mr. Riddle's point, if somebody did want to do a Kingston, they weren't asking for a facility rental use case and they went and they paid to use the facility. We have individuals that rent parking lots. We have people that pay us rent. And to Miss Pulk's point, that money is put into the education fund and it's there. It's just money that goes into it. And then we have because we wanted to streamline the process. And I always go back to it's two things that I have to say and then I promise I'm going to shut up. Uh sometimes when we try and be more transparent, we create more confusion where I tell everybody the everybody keeps saying, "Well, y'all keep expelling kids." No,

131these are kids that should have because of statute automatically come before the board and for whatever reason it wasn't. when it was brought to our attention and we looked at the language and I said these are mandatory expulsions it doesn't mean that they should be expelled but it means that they have to go through the process and it's the similar thing we've had people that were using our facilities at will showing up on fields and all of those things but they didn't have the proper insurance permits they didn't have what it was that they needed and so now that we say all right we just want to know that you're there people go we're doing too many of them we've been doing them. We just didn't have a process for tracking them. So, I want

132to make sure that as we do this, like we don't say, "Oh, it's too many." No, I think we give a a good amount of facility use waiverss. We do want to have some parameters and boundaries around it, but you're going to see them because if we have 50 sports teams, you know, that are coming forward, I wouldn't say that we shouldn't wave those fees. Now, maybe to your point, Mr. Riddle, you've been a big proponent of pay to staff, but I or like you know if we have to have janitors and things, but a lot of times they got to be there anyway, which is what uh Learon is saying. So, it's better for the building to be used as opposed to it for us to be paying it in the community not benefiting.

133So, um this is one of those funeral ones and I see you um Mr. U Edwards that I don't mind it, but I understand why some taxpayers may not. Um and that'll be up to the next board to decide how they want to treat it. Go ahead. I'm glad you said insurance and something to put on y'all plate. So like you do a community event and we rent the facility, you're requiring me to have insurance. I get that. But if I am hiring a vendor Mhm. so to speak, like the Junth event we did, that vendor have insurance. And if that vendor is going to be on the ground the entire time I'm there, why am I'm being requested to have insurance also if my vendor have it? It's the same thing. Something you guys

134need to look at because when I had spoke to Learon me and him spoke about this before and he said that I would need insurance. I said but my vendor will have insurance who will be on the grounds from the time the event start from setup until we leave. And and that may be just an explanation is what type of insurance because to your point is if like what we do is we ask for a certificate of insurance that has us listed as uh additional additional insured and so if you when asked for that produce it it's going to go to Lear and they're going to view it to make sure that it's the listed the right way. But that would be your insurance that you're submitting for the organization. But just because BCU to

135your point has insurance, if I just show up and although we have business insurance and I'm operating on the grounds, you couldn't use my insurance unless the the school was listed as an additional insured. So I have to do that a lot. Even with BCU when I do community events to like workforce development, when I have them come on our site, I have to amend my insurance paperwork in order to have them cover it. So that's something that we can make sure that we do a better job of explaining because I think sometimes it's who's the person requesting it and then who is the entity that's putting on the event. So like when we go for the city with Junth that's all under the England manor so it's using her EIN is her insurance all

136of that is through her just as an example and just for a FYI so all of you guys to know this most of the vendors with the bouncy houses it's a small fee to have someone add it on most of the times it's $50 to $100 and then it will put the entity on the insurance for the year instead of just that event it'll be for the here. Thank you, Miss. Is your hand up, sir? M. Yeah, just real quick because I know it came out before and and to Mr. Riddle's point is we only see the waiverss. We don't approve when they're actually paying. So maybe I think I thought it was Mr. Riddle that asked for a presentation to have if we could have a total for the year of what income was

137generated from rentals. And I think that will kind of help clear up the confusion that we're not waving everybody that comes through. We just don't see them here at the presented at the board. Mhm. Yeah. All right. Item B, attendance at the 2025 uh National Association of Social Work Conference. The individuals are listed. Uh C, purchase of operations fleet vehicles. Question on answer. Go ahead, Mr. Riddle. Okay. I know we have some new um or newer uh transit vehicles that are used for our um food service um operation stuff, but but here we're getting three new Ford Transits. Could I just ask clarification as to what those are going to be used for? Just use the mic back there, Tim. Let me see if it works. It works. It's good. Those the the transits that

138we're asking for are going to be used for the trades, the plumbers, the HVAC. Okay, correct. That explains it. Thank you, sir. And what's going to happen with the old vehicles? We will still have them on the fleet. Uh I asked, what are we going to do with the other uh vehicles that we already have? Sure, we're going to still keep them on the fleet. There are three right now that we uh potentially are going to put on auction because they're the older vehicles that we currently have, the oldest vehicles that we currently have. Everybody good? Uh all right. The network technology innovations payment for High Park Elementary main entrance project. That's my question. That's your question? Oh, no. Not high park. Washington campus retaining wall replacement supplemental architect fees. Yeah. Go ahead, M. Mr.

139Molton. This is another change. And I pulled it up cuz I was Go ahead. This is another change order. Which one was the change order? Cuz I know about that wall. It was about the wall and um the architect fees that were not added into the original specs. Was that Abbott? It's the retaining wall. Yeah. So, Miss Hannah, if we could clarify, Mr. Burner can back me up. So, we brought forward change orders one and two for this project. This is not a change order. After the last discussion, we went back through all of the uh pending summer 2024 projects. We did identify on the change orders that were recently approved. There was a percentage associated with architect fees for them to draw the documents to support that construction. So, that's what this this is.

140How come it wasn't put in on the original? That's what I'm asking. How come it was not put in in the original um the original cost because I mean there had to be a architect. Yes. And you knew why why was the architect the last to be put uh put in. They they kind of they do the designs and all of that. And so I just don't understand how this was um th this was an oversight. Sure. Is this cons is this related to the concern that was brought to the board in close session with some of these change orders? It it is related and we thought we had it at the February board meeting, February 11th board meeting, but Miss Hannah, if I could help clarify. So, the architect has been part of this

141project from day one. Their percentage fee is identified here as 9% of the construction cost. So based on the base bid, we budgeted as part of that project the 9% on the bid price that we originally bought to the board to approve. When we came back with the change orders, they had to recreate construction documents for the contractor to do the work. So the additional change order amount of around $101,000, we being charged a percentage on that as well. and we failed to bring that forward with the change order information in February. So this is for the percentage architect fee on the additional construction work, not the base work. So they got paid twice. It's additional for the additional work the district they did for the district. Now you know that I'll be knowing what

142I'm talking about, right? And so I just don't it it's it's not piecing together. Okay. The the the specifications. All of that is laid out. Okay. And so now we did we had two change orders for this project. Okay. That's problematic to me. Um anyway, because that that was something that that should have been in the original and so because for whatever reason it didn't get there, we you all are asking us to to pay more money and and and that's kind of the bottom line. all of the dynamics and all of that stuff. Y'all deal with that. I'm talking about we are now having to pay more money. So, Miss Hannah, Miss Pulk would like to make a comment, but before she does, I would like to to remind the board that part of

143this additional scope is not necessarily an oversight by the architect. Some of it was requested by the district as additional work to the bid amount. So go ahead, Miss F. What normally happen a board president, board members, superintendent, colleagues, community, what normally happens because we have authority at a a particular financial level, we cannot pay it uh even if it comes in a little uh over. it has a contingency, but if it comes over uh we cannot pay it until we get the additional board authority. And so we're tracking that very closely and we're bringing back uh those board agenda items, not as though it's overpayments or anything like that, but we're bringing it back even if it's $1,000 because we do not have the authority to pay it. Right. I understand that. And but

144your microphone uh uh you you you all are understanding what I'm saying, Mr. Motton. You're understanding what I'm saying, right? So I I understand where you're coming from, Miss Hannah, but I think that there's still a little bit of a disconnect. Um so I just want to restate what I said earlier. We bid this project. associated with the project is a percentage that goes to the architect, right? The the district engaged in conversations with the architect to add scope to the work. So when they created drawings, you know, uh drawings for the contractor to do the additional work, there is an additional percentage associated with that. We brought for additional percentage for the architect. We brought forward the change orders that the contractors and the work they did, but we failed to bring back as

145we identified upon further review that additional percentage fee for the architect for them to do that additional design work. That's all I'm saying. And this now puts us above the authority as Miss Pulk mentioned. So, we're coming to the board and this will close out this project. So, go ahead, M. Just to clarify, the price went up, so the percentage due goes up, but we just it was on us that it wasn't or on the an admin staff that did not bring it, but everything has been completed and this is the last I hope that we we can bury this now. Yes, the team has reviewed this just to make sure that we don't Miss Pulk and her team later and we went we went back through multiple projects and this is one that we

146needed to bring back. And that's the thing is that I I want to be clear it wasn't the original bid. It was that we asked for additional scope. Yes, that's correct. All right. And and if I'm correct, part of that was the fact that as they uncovered more, there was more to do. You know, you don't necessarily know when you start a project what you're going to run into, especially with old buildings. That that is a good excuse. But look, that the Yes. You can't hear Miss Hannah, your mic. I'm all right. Uh A security camera and equipment upgrade. Washington campus security installation request, Mr. uh Sebeki. So, I'm just going to group both of these together just for an example when we talk about this for the community because we can only see so

147much. So, me looking at this for I'm going to use Brookside or sorry, Washington campus where I look at it says one axis camera $2,130. Now you flip over to Brookside, it says one axis camera, $5,256. Me as a community member looking at that because obviously I don't get the brand and everything. It's concerning because to me that's the same camera. Why is there a $3,000 difference, you know, and I talked to uh Mr. Wilson is like when we present this cuz the public isn't given this information. I ain't asking for brands and stuff. It's just to be clarified. These are different totally different cameras. multi-function or you know different uses for the community's sake because looking at that as a community member is like to me that's the same camera is the way I'm

148reading it but it's $3,000 difference and then the other one on there under Brookside campus also these all say they're replacement cameras and I like to see like the conduit material the equipment and structured cabling it's all grouped together with one price it should be separated because obviously if they're replacement cameras the conduit and that's already there. If you're replacing, you're pulling the old wire out and running the new cat wire through the same conduit. You know, if there's going to be some additional conduit, it should be broken down to different categories to show the actual pricing of those categories because that that that's that's vague. Reading that again as a community member, it looks like all the conduits being redone and there's nothing wrong with it. It's they're replacement cameras. They're going in the

149same spots. So, I'd like to see that broken down and separated. afraid somebody's is cheating. You know, they're afraid they're not doing a good job. Next up is the That was the Brookside. So, does anybody have any questions about Brookside? I know Mrs. Becky talked about both. All right. And we got I the architect record request, the statement of qualifications and statement of interest. When is that that that when is that going to start? I mean, Mike Vana, when are you um advertising um for this uh for the architect of record? So, Miss Hannah, our tenative dates for this would be March 24th to April 21st. And so are you going to hold a um anformational for potential um architects? Yes, ma'am. So there would be a um so this would be consistent with what's

150been done in the district about seven years ago and eight years ago in 2017. Uh we would have a non-mandatory information session. Um the last time the district went through this we we invited 22 but we had it posted for the public and we received proposals from 14 which we narrowed that down ultimately to three. So we would have the same type of engagement and um even though it's not mandatory for those to come out to theformational session we would hope they would come out particularly if they've never worked in our district before. Absolutely. All right. Uh I got Mr. Vivvision and I come to you Mr. Riddle. My first question is uh how many architects or architectural firms are working for the school district at this time or over the last couple of years?

151Joseph, currently the district has three architects of record. That's W Architects, STR Partners, and um Archon Associates. because I mean I I remember last year that the school board uh paid a $60,000 settlement to a local architect that I don't ever remember the board voting on which is kind of strange and he's deceased now but uh you know I don't know where that came from but uh if you hire somebody I I certainly hope that they're going to be aware of Illinois laws and that kind of thing because I've brought to this board's attention and just at the last meeting and the board president just told me that there's going to be some uh changes there at the Brookside campus that there were installation of uh gates that are against the city of Walkegan code

152but they were still put up uh when that parking lot was built at that same location. Uh, it took an individual, me, to file a complaint because you didn't have handicap parking spaces there. Architect, somebody should have known that when they designed it. Mhm. Uh, High Park Elementary School, you put a new driveway in there and a bus turnaround, which was sorely needed, but the second day of school, the buses are going over the the curb on the sidewalk that had just been poured because it was too tight, and they had to come back in and and rebuild it. Is that the architect? You know, somebody needs to be held accountable for it. Now, you know, I I keep hearing that the schools aren't uh don't have to follow city code and that kind of

153thing. Let me read something here to you. In 2013, Crystal Lake Lake High School built new large bleachers without city permission leading to a lawsuit from homeowners who claimed the the bleachers violated local zoning. The uh Illinois Supreme Court ordered that those bleachers be torn down. So you guys better hire somebody that's going to protect you because at some point you're going to have a citizens lawsuit on one of these projects and it's going to cost everybody. That's right. Thank you, Mr. Mr. Riddle. Um ju just a quick technical thing, but I just want to make sure that the uh the letter that's going to be sent out the uh request for qualifications dated March 24th um where uh second paragraph down where it says school district background. It lists um five middle schools and

154it identifies Webster and Jefferson. Could we change the names to Lewis and and Edith Smith? Yes, we'll do that. Mr. Riddle. Um, this this proposal is is still what's currently being used by Illinois districts. We did use this in 2017. This is a draft. We'll be making some additional tweaks to it before it's released, but we did want to share the information so you can see the scope of what the architects will be reviewing. All right, that all right. I have two things. Um, one, we talk about these architects, we pay them to do a job in that, too. And we need to make sure if you guys don't remember earlier this year or it might have been last year when we had the problem over at Brookside when all the hoods in the kitchens

155were done and they were not up to code. They were supposed to have access panels cut into them and that. So these architects that we're paying for a job, someone needs to make sure that the work's being done correctly and it is up to code. And the second thing uh on Ray Vukovich's things also against city code is all these 40 and 60 and 80 foot storage containers that we have all over the district that we hang banners and that from over at um Weissfield and that that's also all against city code to have those on the properties without permits. Uh just because you hang a banner from them don't mean they're legit. There's even sign ordinances within the city. We need to make sure all those are being followed to the incoming board. Something

156that I attempted and failed intergovernmental um not just agreement but actually uh or you know whether it be two alternative board members, the city staff and the board. But there should be consistent communication and although we are two distinct taxing bodies, uh most of our taxpayers pays taxes to both the city and the school district. Notice I did not say all and that has been a point of contention with the current administration. Um but Walkegan has over 7 15 16,000 students who attend Walkegan public schools. The vast majority of the majority awards um do go to Walkegan public schools. So it is important. So uh to both of your points, I do acknowledge them. And while there is, uh onus on the school district, there also has to be communication at city hall. Um and

157as seen even with the SRO conversation, sometimes um communication, and I'm saying that the administration's not, so I won't be here. uh sometimes the current administration has not uh um always seen um themselves as a partner in that way. So um with that we have spring break meal distribution. Thank you to all those who help organize it. Um and then we have the treasurer support. Are there any questions there? student activity and convenience account bank reconciliation. Then hold tight uh for the schedule of investments. The economy is going crazy. So I'm sure we are in consistent uh contact and communication with our uh investment fund provider. Yeah. And I and I would like to ask Mr. President just a quick question. um are the um the the well you call it volatility right the volatility

158of the market how has that impacted our investments you don't have to I mean if you want to answer right now or you could just kind of give us a report and uh uh it's it's in this schedule of investment so if you click in the the the list um it kind of speaks to it. But if you want to give a general just very general um by statute we have to invest in secure um in uh instruments. And so if you notice on that report uh we're locked in at certain percentages as long as we don't cash it in, right? And so you'll notice that the current value is lower than what we've invested, lower than the 10 million, but we've often uh shared with the board that this money that we have there,

159we haven't had to use it. Right. So we have no intentions on pulling it before it matures. Right. Right. And so it but my question is does it fluctuate up and down with the market? It does, but it only impacts us if we pull it out early. Yeah. And we have no intentions on doing that. Okay. Let us sit. All right. With that, a motion to adjourn. So motion by Mr. Riddle, seconded by Mr. McBride. All in favor signify with I. I. Any opposed? Name is adjourned.