CCSD21 Board Of Education Meeting - March 19, 2026

001Uh Carrie, would you please take attendance of the board members and student representatives? Yes. Jessica. I'm here. Debbie. Here. I am here. Arlene. Here. Iliana. Here. Bill. Here. And Galica. Here. Salma. Alex? And I believe Frida's going to be absent. We have a quorum. Wonderful. Would everyone please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance? I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. And to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you and welcome everyone to our regular Board of Education meeting. So much happening in March, and I'm not just talking about the weather. Uh though I hope everyone came through the wind, rain, cold, and snow in the last few days. I was narrowly averted being taken out by one of

002our neighbors' garbage cans, but I'm fine. Um I'd like to thank Glenn and his operations team for keeping our parking lots and our walkways cleared for our students and our staff. As always, we appreciate your team's efforts. Um if you haven't had a chance yet to take a look at our year in review publication, I encourage you to do so. It is available on our website. It is incredible, and it really it showcases the hard work and the excellence that we've become accustomed to every day here in District 21. Special kudos to Cass and Andy for and their team for all their hard work putting this together. This month we also bid farewell to Reverend Jesse Jackson, a true icon of civil rights and advancement of the black community. I had the honor of meeting

003Reverend Jackson on a few occasions in my professional capacity. My condolences to his family and those who continue his good works. A few weeks ago was the District 21 Coral Festival. Uh while I was not able to attend, I believe Arlene and Carrie attended. Um and I have heard from them and from staff and some parents, as usual, just an exceptionally beautiful concert. I want to express my gratitude to all the staff and the students who participated and the families that support them and our music program. Uh kudos to Kilmer for their cereal box challenge, not only for collecting so much cereal for the food pantry, uh but also for the domino setup that they created, uh which has apparently caught the attention of local and some national news affiliates. So that's an incredible representation

004of District 21. Um and London Middle School had 18 students selected for publication in a national anthology of scary 100 word stories. Um I have put in a request to hear or read those stories, and I certainly hope that we can do that. Um want to welcome Sue Stein from the Wheeling Park District and a former teacher here in District 21, uh and Ariel Lozner. Thank you for joining us as well from Wheeling Township Democrats and how many other community organizations? Okay, well thank you for coming tonight. Welcome. Any individual physically present at our meeting tonight wishing to address the board must complete a comment card and provide it to Ms. Del Real. Written public comments may also be submitted by emailing [email protected]. Um before we get further into the agenda, uh we have some

005individuals and achievements we'd like to recognize. Dr. Connelly? Uh thank you. Good evening, everybody. Um we have a number of uh announcements and celebrations and introductions to do this evening. Um so what I would like to do is start by introducing our new SRO over Cooper, and so I'm going to have Todd Rolling, um our director of safety, come up and introduce Officer Wolf. Uh good evening, board. Uh Dennis, if you could come forward, please. Um we were super impressed with Dennis when we had an opportunity to interview him. His commitment to the community is um a desire to make a difference with students. Uh Dennis is a a bit of a unicorn in law enforcement. Um we search for those individuals that can really connect with our community and have the ability he's fluent

006in both Russian and Ukrainian. And as we as a very diverse school district, we try to meet the kids where they're at, and his ability to um mentor students in their own language is invaluable to us. So um just his his connections, um his desire to um affect change in the building, he's already dealt with traffic issues, um he's helped with parent concerns. Um he's he's a very good communicator, and that's very important that um we get ahead of anything that's happening there. He helps parents out, and being able to speak in a native language is very important. So um we do have Hispanic speaking SROs, and now adding to this, um we can really serve our community in a fine fashion. Um with um you today is Ulana? Uh Alana. Alana, his wife, is

007out in the audience supporting him. Can never forget the spouses of our law enforcement officers who who give up a lot to support them while they're out doing their job as well. So we are very fortunate to have Dennis with us. Um again, it helps mirror our district, support our kids, meeting them where they're at, and his desire to help is phenomenal. Would you like to say anything, Dennis? >> Yes, I can. So thank you so much. So uh I was not the student of this district, but my younger brother, he was. And uh I know the potential of the district, how much you can achieve when you give it thought and you, you know, you pay attention. And uh also my sister, she's a student in the district, and how she grows within the

008district, how much support she gets. So I get that, and also I'm proud to be a part of that process where I can help and, you know, be also helpful to the kids and to admin. Thank you. Thank you. Welcome. >> Welcome. Thanks for coming, Officer. We appreciate it, and I know that he he's been with us for a couple months and is doing great making connections with kids and and just really happy to have him. So thanks very much for coming out tonight. Um we also wanted to take a moment to recognize our this year's grant awardees from the Steckling Educators Grant. Um the Donna Rae Steckling Educators Grant was established in 2021 by the Steckling family in memory of Donna who dedicated 25 years to District 21 as a library assistant at London

009and as a secretary in the curriculum department at the administrative center. Um Donna passed away in 2020. Um the grant was created to foster learning and invigorate a new generation of educators providing up to $1,000 per year to teachers within their first 3 years in the classroom and up to $3,000 awarded annually, and this marks the fifth year of the family's 7-year commitment. So I'm going to turn it over to Cass Young to take us through the rest of the introductions. And I'd like to invite Linda Collins, who is from the Steckling family, up to the podium to talk a little bit about the grant details. And I'd also like to invite some of the grant recipients who are here. So we have a little bit of a slideshow to go through um how they

010are using the funding. Okay. Yep. Good evening, and thank you to the board for putting time in your agenda to recognize the Donna Rae Steckling Memorial Grant and also the 2025 recipients. Um as you can see on the slide, our mom was worked with District 21 for 25 years, and she really had a love for learning. She also had a a fondness for District 21. There are I thought I'd introduce who's also here with me tonight. Not only Raelyn, my granddaughter, my mom's great-granddaughter, my sister Janet, her son Brandon, and my grandson Beto is also with us. And a fun fact, my mom had seven grandchildren or has seven grandchildren, and with those grandchildren and their spouses, there's 12 people, nine of which are somehow associated to education, either through being teachers, school counselors, studying

011to be a teacher, in roles in communications in different districts. In fact, here in District 21, I think many of you might know Andy Steckling. >> [laughter] >> And um also in other roles in the district, plus one of the grandchildren is in product marketing for educational materials that a lot of the teachers want to use in their classroom. So what a great legacy for education. And our mom would be so proud of her grandkids. We're very proud of the teachers and what they're doing in their classroom. And uh as we as says on the slide, this marks our fifth of 7 years. Over those 5 years, our family committee has reviewed 59 applications and awarded 49 educators with the grant, totaling over those 5 years $15,000. And this year there will be 11 recipients

012sharing in that $3,000 um award. And we are excited to hear tonight how they're using that award money. Thank you very much. So, as Linda said, there's 11 recipients and this chart shows the teachers, the schools, uh how they're using their money, and the range goes from $100 to $500. This is the first set. This is the second set. And then, um I asked these teachers to send me some pictures of what they purchased and how the students are using them. So, first of all, we have Maria Hodson. Come on up, Maria. Hello, I didn't know I was going to speak tonight. Um [laughter] but actually very poignant, we were able to take the sixth grade concert orchestra from London to the Elgin Symphony to No, yesterday. Literally on Wednesday, um which was such a

013fun experience. Um they put on this concert called the Ainsworth concert that it's especially for students grades like three through seven. So, it was very interactive. It was a great experience. Um I think the kids had a really fun time getting to see a professional orchestra, for some of them the very first time ever. So, I felt very lucky to receive this grant and be able to afford them that opportunity. Um And yeah, these are some of our photos. The big one is obviously the orchestra, and then we have some group photos on the right. And it was also a really uh impactful full circle moment for my co-worker Lauren Morgovsky because her middle school orchestra teacher was performing on the stage. So, some of our students got to meet their grand teacher, if you

014will. So, yeah, it was a wonderful experience and so thankful for the Steckling grant for this opportunity. Uh these slides are from Magna Schnitzer, and she wasn't able to make it, but she's a pre-K ELL teacher at Hawthorne. And she purchased a bunch of games and puzzles and books, puppets. I think I missed a slide here. Pete the Cat book, uh puppets, and um she wanted to say thank you, as well. Uh next we have Courtney Bowman. Hi there, I'm Courtney Bowman. I'm a second grade teacher at Whitman. Um I used the grant to get new books for our library and um new indoor recess games. And here's a few pictures of my students really enjoying their new books. They were super excited um and I'm very, very grateful for this opportunity. So, thank you.

015Um just a couple more. Natalia March, she is a bilingual teacher at Poe. And she purchased more library books, as well. Uh Nora Murphy is a Riley speech language pathologist, and she purchased some of these games that the students are playing with. And that is it. And I would um like to personally thank the Steckling family, as well, for their uh generosity to our teaching staff. And if they can go out with Andy and the teachers to the step and repeat outside and take a couple pictures, and then we'll move on to the next item. Thank you. >> [snorts] >> Thank you so much for that ongoing support, and um congratulations uh to all of the awardees. Um just uh an opportunity to just enhance um the classroom environments for those teachers. So, thanks very

016much. Um wanted to also uh take a moment this evening to recognize um our uh 2026 District 21 Spelling Bee. Um the District 21 Spelling Bee was revived 5 years ago uh to celebrate students' language skills and foster friendly academic competition across our schools. Um in recent years, the format has expanded uh to include top fourth and fifth grade um spellers alongside middle school um uh spellers, uh broadening participation and raising the level of of competition. Um students prepared using a study packet drawn from the Scripps school level uh competition list with periodic vocabulary rounds uh testing word knowledge before shifting in round eight to unstudied words um that put real language instincts to the test. This year's results carry a sense of déjà vu um and the treat the the top three finishers were

017identical uh to the 2025 Bee. Um so, we've got a little bit of a dynasty um that's being created here um with the same students earning the same top placements. So, um I'm going to put Mrs. Bryler on the spot here as our director of of literacy. Um if you wanted to come up and round any of the information out, and then also uh introduce those who will be introducing our winners. All right, so I am taking the place of Dr. Drury who runs the spelling bee, and hopefully I will be able to deliver the information as well as Rob could do it. Um so, um we did have a lot of déjà vu this year, and right, we were sitting there and during the bee, and the competition was going, and we were like,

018there's no way the same winners um came out as the we had last year. Um doesn't happen very often. Um but in first place this year was Ethan. Um Ethan T from um Cooper in eighth grade. And in second place was Advik um from Tarkington, who is a fifth grader. And we are very excited to see where Advik places next year. >> [laughter] >> Catch Advik. We're We're excited to see where you go. Um and third place um is Abby Leonard, and she's not able to be here today, but she's a seventh grader at London. Um so, the winning uh word was Pacific this year. Um and you know, Pacific is a pretty pretty easy word, but um Dr. Drury wanted me to inform you that there were lots of other harder words that the

019kids um had to spell. Um uh shin-yoon was one of the words. Um scalpel, substantially, prognosticate, citadel. As I sat there in the audience and thinking about as as he was pronouncing the words, right, and trying to beat the competition, I think I would have been out in round four. >> [laughter] >> So, um as we move on, so everyone's going to show you the winning moment um when when Ethan won. Um I and I see Pacific. That is correct. I had a little bit of a So, Ethan and Dr. Drury are not able to be here tonight um because tonight Ethan is participating. Um he competed after he won the District 21 Spelling Bee, he participated in the North Cook Regional Spelling Bee on February 25th, where he placed in a three-way tie um

020for second place. So, he advanced to the All Cook County Bee, um which is happening right now in Broadview, Illinois. Um if Ethan um wins the All right, the All Cook County Bee, he will advance to the National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. So, everybody think really good thoughts right now, right, for Ethan as as he proceeds um with that competition. We're really excited to see, right, where Ethan takes that. Um so, we're excited um right, to provide this competition for students. We have students that are musically talented. We have students that are academically talented. Um we have students, right, that are excellent spellers. So, we're excited to see what what next year brings, right, Advik? >> [laughter] >> No pressure. No pressure, Advik. You've got this. All right. The students are here, we'd like

021to take a picture with Dr. Conley and Jessica, our board president, and I will go and get uh Andy, right? There's a lot of chuckling going on up here. I have a little bit of a I can Perfect. I have fond memories of winning my sixth grade spelling bee with the word lethal. I still remember the word. I have unfond memories I have not fond memories of of uh nightmares of the sixth grade spelling bee, which I was forced to be part of, and um I'm still seeking counseling because of it. So, >> [laughter] >> it wasn't that bad. Um so uh uh also this evening wanted to uh take a moment to recognize uh three students who uh at District 21 who placed um to be invited to the Junior Illinois um Music Educators

022Association All-State um uh competition. So on January 29th and 30th, uh three of our students represented our district at the Junior um ILMEA All-State performances in Peoria. This year's event was particularly historic uh as it was only the second year that uh Illinois MEA has hosted an All-State Junior High Choir. Um and the first year the Junior High Band and Orchestra students have been included at the state level. Um only three student representatives were selected from a statewide pool of 10,000 students who auditioned um with only 1,750 uh chosen to participate. And so um at this point, what I'd like to do is ask um some of our our um music staff. I believe Jennifer Stash is here. And is Faraz here? I I don't know if Faraz was able to come. Jennifer, you want

023to come up? Um and um if would you mind introducing our our three individuals? Awesome. Thank you very much. Hi, thank you for having us. Uh my name is Jennifer Stash. I am the choir director at Cooper Middle School. And uh these students, I'll just mention they they missed a couple of days of school, but they had about 8 hours of rehearsal uh down in Peoria uh over 2 days, and then a big performance uh with the choir, the band, and the orchestra uh all at the Peoria Civic Center Arena. And uh it was a long couple of days, but I think it's such such a wonderful experience for them to be around such top-level musicians from around the whole state. Uh not only did they make some new friends and meet some people with

024similar interests and talents, but they learned a lot from the uh professional directors that they had there as well and and brought that back to our groups. So uh congratulations again. Uh we have Cora Wagner for the choir. Cora? And I believe Ellie is here from Holmes. And Ellie plays the cello. And then Sebastian, I don't think couldn't make it tonight. Um but he he does sing as well. He was in our choral festival a couple of weeks ago. Uh at the choral festival, not only did he sing, but he played violin with the choirs at the choral festival, and he played violin uh at the All-State Orchestra as well. >> [applause] >> Okay, um finally in in recognition tonight, I'm sorry. I wanted to add one thing. >> Yeah. Carrie and I were both

025at the at the choir festival, which was as said, spectacular. And Sebastian did the solo of a Ukrainian melody that I swear the violin was crying. It was so emotional. And um the just the entire evening, all the pieces that the staff put together was just spectacular. So I want to thank all of our staff for how hard they worked to make that evening a tremendous success. So thank you. Uh finally in terms of uh celebrations for this evening, uh we wanted to take a moment um to uh celebrate and recognize a number of our teaching assistants um who have been working um uh for some time on earning their um learning behavior specialist uh license uh teaching license. So um Mr. Roberts, do you want to uh introduce us to those? So first, I'll

026give a little background. So this came through the Teacher Vacancy Grant. So the Teacher Vacancy Grant is a 3-year state initiative that was launched in 2023. Uh we're in our last year. Word on the street is it may be extended, so fingers crossed. Um but uh it's designed to tackle chronic teacher shortages by directing significant significant financial resources to school districts. Um the good thing about this grant is that it's very flexible on how you can use it. So it's really up to districts how they use it. There's certain parameters, but then they give you a lot of uh leeway, which is not always the uh the story with grants. So we've been appreciative. Um so in District 60 63, whoa, I just had a flashback. District 21. Um Thinking about your next job? >>

027We um >> [laughter] >> Yeah. Um we have been using um this for one pipeline development. So paying the tuition fees for our TAs um to become fully licensed teachers, which is uh what we're going to celebrate tonight. Uh we've also been using it for retention support. So a lot of our mentors um that we have that work with our first-year teachers are paid through this grant. Um we're also using this grant to pay for some of our staff to go back and get their ESL endorsements. Um also this year we've used it for recruiting. Um so going out to colleges to recruit new staff um is another way we're using it. So this year the grants, we got just over $100,000. Um so it's been a a nice um funding source the last 3

028years, so we hope it does continue. So these six individuals um earned um their LBS1 from Lake Erie College. Uh so the program provides job-embedded coursework for candidates working in schools. The program offers candidates the instruction, coaching, and classroom experience needed to become effective teachers. So it was designed for educators to complete their bachelor's degree while working in a school as a para or long-term sub. Candidates who have an associate's degree can enroll in a degree completion program. Candidates who do not have an associate's degree can enroll in the full 120 credit hour degree and may earn up to 18 credit hours towards the full degree program through credit for prior learning and work. Um the the program typically takes about 2 to 3 years, depending on how long the candidate takes. Um so these

029individuals were all assigned mentor teachers in their schools. So essentially uh they had like a student teacher their their entire time doing this. So we have a few of them here tonight. I know we have Lori is here, Arya is here, Alex is here. And then Kayla, I don't know if you are here. And then Ann could not make it. Oh, you are here. Okay. All right. Those that are here, come on up. All right. So congratulations. I just want to thank you uh for the hard work that you put in. I know that it's the the coursework was a lot. I saw kind of the all the modules you had to complete along the way while working full-time. Um so we really appreciate the efforts that you put into that, and we look forward

030to seeing where you go with it. So thank you. >> [applause] >> So uh that concludes our announcements and celebrations for the evening. Um we have some more introductions that will happen when we get to the business uh portion, our consent agenda, and and new business. Um but for now, um uh I just want to thank everybody for coming out and helping us um celebrate um for uh uh our March Board meeting. And and we're going to move on with the uh the rest of the program here. So Yeah, I I just want to take a brief minute to uh congratulate some of my colleagues here at the table. Uh through the Illinois Association of School Boards, which is our statewide organization, we're offered opportunities throughout the year to complete professional development as board members,

031network with our colleagues across the state. And as we complete more and more programs throughout the year and through our years of service, there's different levels of recognition that uh we can achieve. If anyone is interested, I have this wonderful little sheet here which explains all the different programs we can attend up to and including our our statewide conference in November. But [clears throat] in this past year, I have now reached the established board leader level of recognition and I get some bling. But I would also like to take a moment to recognize both Bill Harrison and Debbie Maggarty who are now merit recognition as distinguished board leaders. So if you could join me congratulating them. You you get bling as well. And I would also like to acknowledge Mr. Gould who has achieved merit

032recognition as a legacy board leader which not only includes professional development but also 25 years or more serving on a school board. So if you'll join me congratulating Mr. Gould for his extensive service. All right. Let's move on to the superintendent's report. Our first item under staff communication superintendent's report is a presentation on the joint committee on culture and climate report and recommendations. So as the board may recall at the beginning of the school year in conversation and consultation and cooperation with DEA, we formed a a joint task force on culture and climate in the district and really charged that task force to to take a look broadly at our culture and climate data and really engage with with staff across the district to really get a sense of where things were going well and

033where were opportunities for improvement. We know that you know culture is and climate within any organization is a key to positive culture and climate. Let me put it that way. Is really critical to any organizations ability to succeed and to improve. And we also know that we are in a uniquely challenging time as a profession. We've gone through a lot both in this district and and across our our the public education space and just broadly speaking in the world. It's it's tough out there, right? And that definitely is something that we just don't leave that at the door when we're walking in. And so you know, I think it's certainly something that we want to make sure that we continue to to be aware of and really be looking for those ways to have dialogue

034about how we can work together to really make it a great place for everybody to to be and to spend their professional life and and learn in as students and as family. So with that Lewis Roberts our our new executive director for human resources and Rachel Kuchera our one of our union leaders and a long time member of the faculty really took upon themselves to well, Lewis didn't have a choice. I told Lewis but but but Rachel took it upon herself to be co-chairs of of this effort. And so I'm going to turn it over to them to present their committee's recommendations that were presented to me earlier this week. So Lewis and Rachel. All right. Well, thank you. And I will say this is one of the more fun other duties as assigned jobs

035that I that I've had to do in my career. So I've enjoyed it. But we are here tonight to present the unified recommendations of the committee. This partnership represented 15 hours of collaboration between district leaders and union members. So tonight we are here with three recommendations. These recommendations were co-designed by people who do work every day to ensure the district's culture is as strong as our classrooms are. We like to recognize those that were on the committee. Many of them are here tonight. So if we call your name, please stand up to be recognized. Emily Carey. Kelly Genson Jensen. All right. Christie. Belinda. I always say it wrong. Sorry, Christie. Megan Grabby. Tina is not here. Anastasia Netsel. Naomi Reuben. Lee Shaver. And Melissa Sutton. Okay. So we had a very rigorous process. We started

036with the district wide Human X data to identify data points that the staff identified as low points in our fall survey. This survey was taken by 80% of our staff and included about 100 questions. So it was a very long and detailed survey. Once we identified the different data points, we categorized them and then created a storyboard for those categories based on our experiences. We then took these back to our buildings and we asked staff that we worked with, does this resonate? And we asked if they disagreed or disagreed with the stories that we had pulled together from the data. So once we had the stories and feedback from our staff, we looked at the different symptoms that the stories produced, potential problems that were caused and then engaged in a roots cause analysis. We

037used the five Y process to dig past service level symptoms to find the systemic root causes of each of our buckets. As a reminder from my presentation earlier this year about Human X, all questions were answered on a Likert scale from one to five. For analysis purposes, anything that was in the four to five range was considered areas of that we were we were doing well in and seen as strengths. Items in the three to four range were overall positives but certainly were areas that there were some mixed feelings, perspectives or experiences. So once we found the root, we didn't just look for a quick fix. We used a backwards design process. We started by asking if this root were healthy, what would it look like a year from now? So we defined that healthy

038future state first. Then the backwards work began. We identified current barriers preventing that health. We brainstormed ideas to nourish that root and categorized them. Some were building level fixes but we focused on ones that would produce systemic change across the district. Once we had those ideas, those systemic ideas, we kind of took those into the field and asked people not just in our districts but in other districts or in organizations if these ideas already existed in their organizations and if they were feasible. After we did that research and got feedback on our systemic ideas, we were then able to craft the recommendations that we're going to present to you now. So to ground our work, we made these storyboards. They represent the unhealthy roots that we found. So the storyboard on the left shows a

039story of staff in survival mode. On the right, staff felt that feedback they did not have enough adequate connections and time in order to receive quality feedback from their supervisors. And we're not just showing these to you. We actually our staff took these back to the buildings. This is what they they took back. They showed their colleagues. They got their perspectives on and their belief in regard to these stories. The story here was that ambiguity in the process was eroding trust. Staff felt the how and when of staffing changes were a mystery and moving forward we chose to focus specifically on items 77 and 82 from the storyboard. So this is our first recommendation. It's designed to nourish the root of trust. When we looked at the data for item seven and 76, we saw

040that staff are hesitant to recommend the district to others. We identified this as a systemic barrier regarding trust. By scheduling regular regular non-evaluative building support for administrators and consistent listening sessions, we remove the barriers of distance and open the doors of communication. This recommendation touches on five out of the eight pillars of David Horsager's eight pillars of trust. Those being compassion, commitment, connection, contribution and consistency. Now I want to acknowledge specifically our district administrators that are in the room tonight. Especially those from our Ed Services Department. Um And this is in regards to to number one. We know that this year you have been in our buildings more than ever. You have been subbing in classrooms, you've been working in lunch rooms, and you've supported our principals during some of their toughest days, and that

041work is seen and valued. The goal of this recommendation isn't to ask you to start being present, it's to protect and enhance that presence. By moving to enhanced building support, we're shifting to a model of scheduled partnership. We want to move toward a culture where your presence is a predictable, non-evaluative part of the school building's DNA. By strengthening that trust, we would hope to see an increase of staff selecting agree or strongly agree to the Humanex statement, I have encouraged someone to apply at our organization and I would recommend our organization to a friend as a great place to work by at least 5% in the next round of survey administration next year. For our next recommendation, in order to nourish the root of connection, we're recommending a co-designed professional development plan using our existing

042PLC structures. When we looked at the data for items 28 and 40, we realized that the problem with connection wasn't a lack of effort, it was a lack of focus. Our elementary teachers are being pulled in multiple different directions at once while our exploratory teachers and related service staff often feel as if they've been left off the map entirely. When everything is a priority, nothing is a priority. So, this disjointedness is a systemic barrier because it keeps our supervisors in a constant state of prioritization triage rather than coaching. By using our existing structures within PLC and SILT, we are looking to co-design one unified roadmap so that we aren't adding more PD, we're filtering it and focusing it. This ensures every staff member knows exactly what the North Star is for the year, which allows

043our supervisors to provide the consistent quality feedback that our staff deserves. This change would allow our supervisors and staff to spend meaningful time learning together and receive specific feedback aligned to this plan. If successful, it would lead to a reduction of staff responding strongly disagree and disagree in the Humanex survey by at least 5% in the statements referenced in the data. And then item 77 was one of our most telling data points. At 3.47, it was one of the lowest ones in the survey. It showed us that when staff don't understand how or why staffing moves are made, they begin to question the integrity of the system. We labeled this as a system- systemic barrier because the lack of a clear map for transfers makes the process feel like a mystery rather than a professional

044standard. To fix this, we're replacing that ambiguity with clarity and consistency. We'll be creating a formal internal transfer process so every employee knows exactly how to raise their hand for a new opportunity. By setting firm timelines for communication, we ensure that the who, what, and when come from the district first and not the rumor mill. This turns a confusing hurdle into a transparent system. If successful, this would lead to 60% of our staff responding agree or strongly agree to item 77, our organization selects the right people for the right job. So, these are our recommendations. And while they have been validated by staff, researched by viability, and we've really started to create detailed action plans of how to get started, we under- the committee understands that these are recommendations. Once we start working on them,

045how they play out in actuality, we know might change, might shift, but we do strongly believe that the root causes that we're trying to address and the action steps that we've laid out should make a big difference regarding these data points. Um we would are very excited as a committee about this work and we're excited to see what comes next. We believe these three shifts will move our Humanex scores and more importantly, the culture of partnership and strengthen the trust in our district. Thank you. So, I just wanted to to say um thank you to all of the committee members um that really did put a lot of time and energy and and thought uh and care into this work. Um uh Beatrice and I had the opportunity to to meet with uh with Lewis

046and Rachel earlier this week to really kind of go in depth um on these um recommendations. Um and I am accepting the recommendations um all of them um as they are as they are presented. Um so, again, the work of of of kind of the logistics, the implementation, the communication, all of that work will continue, that'll be ongoing and and and involve a lot of different people, not just this task force, um but in conversations with DEA, in conversations with our SILT teams, with our our school-based leadership. Um there's a lot of opportunity uh for refinement, for really figuring out how best um to kind of make these recommendations come alive or continue to take root um as as was noted. Um there are many areas where the work is already you know, in hand,

047is in you know, has begun with our Ed Services administrators in particular, really supporting in the buildings um constantly. I mean, every team every quite frankly, every time in the last 2 months I've been in a school, there's been an Ed Services director in the school as well, you know, supporting in some way, shape, or form. So, there has been um a great deal of of of work that has been done there. Um but to really continue that, to expand that, to deepen it. And also, one of the things we talked about is is, you know, and it's always been something that I've um struggled with a little bit, quite frankly, is uh I walk into a building, I walk into a classroom, everything stops. Right? That's not good, right? You know, I it's kind

048of makes me feel awkward, right? And then also, it's just like, you know, we we we really need to get to a place where it's like, oh, he's here. Okay, cool. Like, we're just going to keep going. Um so, uh I really think that that you know, this kind of of of um effort uh is going to really be helpful uh to to achieve that. Um also, um I think that just really to to give uh credit to Dr. Childress and and and her team and and the um amount of engagement that they have gone through in terms of listening sessions and really in you know, the advisory groups that have come together um and really the the opportunity for uh for Dr. Childress and I to then kind of go in twice a year

049um with each uh faculty and staff of each building and be able to kind of have that um kind of conversation, that kind of town hall, if you will, um opportunity, I think, is going to be very um uh helpful. And anytime we can strengthen our systems and strengthen our process um so that people do have a better understanding of what's happening and why it's happening um because there's a lot of things that happen, you're like, what why would they do that or how did they do that or what, you know, and and um nature abhors a vacuum. Uh and so, to really try and make sure that there is that information out there and it doesn't necessarily mean that everybody's going to be happy about it and everybody's going to agree with it, um

050but at the very least, there's an understanding of how and why. Um and so, uh and again, as we've talked about before, one of the things that I think we have come to understand is we don't necessarily always communicate um as clearly or as well and follow up um in in in clear communication, you know, we have done many things um at the suggestion of staff and faculty and then, you know, we're like, why, you know, why aren't we getting credit for that? Well, because we didn't tell them that that's what the reason that happened is because of the feedback that they gave us. Um so, uh really to try and make sure that that um you know, we are better at that. So, um so, I'm really excited uh and really grateful um for

051the work that that that the task force has done and that everybody is really doing um in the district uh irrespective of the task force. Um I really feel like each school uh really dug in uh on on kind of taking a look at those those um Humanex survey results um and um you know, I think we're in a strong place and we're only going to be continuing to get stronger. So, with that, happy to take any questions that the board might have. Um and uh I just want [snorts] to echo my thanks to the committee for all your hard work. Uh I think one of our greatest strengths as a district is that desire to do the introspection, to see where we can always do better, where we strive for progress, not perfection. Um

052and I'm just I'm pleased to hear that you're accepting the recommendations. We look forward to hearing how they play out throughout the next uh year or however long your time frame is, but um and I think we're grateful for the time that you all spent to help make our district better. Uh does anyone have any questions? Carrie, did you want to Yeah, I just want Yeah, the your presentation was very thorough, thank you. Um the amount of jargon that you included in that was really impressive. All the buzzwords, but are you guys still planning to give the Humanex survey again in the spring or will this hold off now for the till the fall because of the recommendations? Yeah, we it will go in the spring, right? We're um it's a it's another data point

053And then uh we'll look at next year um deciding if we're going to do it in the fall and spring or just do a a spring >> Yeah, we're talking about it. I you know, NSSEO can you remind me do they do it I know that they've done it now once a year and is it in the fall or the spring that they do it? >> We had done it twice a year and we have gone to just once a year and doing it only in the spring because in the fall everybody's happy to be back and everything's looking good and then they get going and that's when you hear about more problems. So we've just switched to the to the spring. >> Yeah, what I think kind of where my head is with it

054is that you know, we're going to do the the spring because that'll give us one you know, two data points over a unified school year and then I think doing that again next year would be helpful because I think a lot of times you know, when the when they first you know, did the survey in September that was like okay, this is new like what what what is this question mean, right? And so I we may see some difference in response just because people are thinking differently on the second time like when I answered this question before I was thinking in this way now I'm thinking in this way like I'm thinking more about closer to home than district, right? And so my answer might vary a little slight slightly. So there could be some

055some little noise in the data you know, which then I think having two more administrations in the following year helps to kind of level set and then from there I think we engage in conversation you know, between the district and and and DEA about where we think that goes best, right? Is it is it you know, we do it every spring or >> did it three years twice a year and then we've just now because we are so experienced in it we've been making the changes there's just once a year. Right. So that's kind of that year of validating and kind of making sure that we're we're in a on a good space before we start to alter it. And then I know this was district-wide but were they doing this level of analysis building

056based too? With the HumanEx data? So each in the fall HumanEx came out they met with each school building and their staff [clears throat] and their leaders and then they created a plan based on their own data. Did they go as deep as this? I would say probably not, right? I wasn't in each school but each school did create a plan to address one some of their data points that were a bit lower but also some of those ones that they were doing really well how do they make sure they keep doing really well. So that was kind of how those meetings went but those each of those schools did create an action plan and I know that they have been working on those plans. I think the other thing too is that also coinciding

057with the implementation of the the professional learning communities model and so having the SILT team the logistics team and the behavior team so that you know, kind of triangle of of of engagement in each of the buildings is going to only be more supportive of their ability to get more in-depth. Again, when we were doing this in the fall it was all new and and so I think you know, just their ability to continue to engage year over year is going to deepen their you know, their kind of knowledge and and comfort level with with you know, engaging in some of that kind of discussion. So Bill, you got a question? I did I think Harry partially asked it for me but in terms of evaluating our progress in meeting these recommendations is that going

058to be based on doing the next HumanEx surveys or will the task force be doing additional work beyond that? So I'm going to take this. So the task force initially was really to you know, they've accomplished their goal, right? Is well, it's not that they're necessarily done we can have that conversation but it wasn't envisioned that it was going to be something that that you know, would always be that, right? It was really trying to get some recommendations and then you know, as we implement really looking at at a lot of different ways of how we can kind of monitor and and and and that is going to be something that is going to be an ongoing collaborative discussion between you know, the district and and DEA you know, as we are in our different

059advisory kind of conversations and I think that in terms of source data there's a lot of different data points, right? HumanEx will be part of that but as so will our state mandated you know, culture and climate survey which is Panorama other districts using five essentials but you know, we use Panorama and then you know, there's the qualitative evidence and so I think really all of those different types of data streams will come in to to help inform our progress. I think the other piece of it is that our SILT teams our school improvement leadership teams is going to be a major piece of of their work, right? So not only is it going to be kind of at the district level but really each individual school is going to have those opportunities to really

060be measuring their own progress because that's really where the the major you know, kind of of culture and climate of the school is the primary driver because yeah yes, we're a district but you know, they're not necessarily spending their time up here. It's in their school community and yes, the district can influence some of what's going on there but in the final analysis the the people that are closest to the to the to the quote unquote problem are the ones who are going to be most effective in solving it too. So it really is school by school an opportunity for them to be kind of guardians of their own climate and culture which will then be supportive of the district overall. Any other questions, comments, Garland? Just a comment having run a couple of companies

061over my years I can think of no more important aspect of management than having the team speak truth to power and explain issues that are obvious to them but maybe not to anybody else. So I want to thank our team our teachers our entire entire staff principals and all willing to do this cuz it's not an easy thing to do and everybody I believe from the superintendent down deserves a great deal of credit for making it happen and I hope we do continue on this path because I think we'll all be better off for it. Thank you. Thank you Rachel. Thank you Lewis. Appreciate your all your hard work. All right, we're going to move on to public comment. The board will allow any individual present to share a public comment for up to 3

062minutes. Such comments should not include the discussion of personnel matters which should be brought directly to the attention of the appropriate school official. During public comment the board and administration listen to comments. Thank you. But may not respond to the public. Leticia has just handed me several public comment cards. So let's just take them in the order in which I received them. Cindy Holst Louisy did I pronounce that correctly? Going once, going twice. Okay, I think that's a first. If she comes in while we're still in public comment we can come back to her. Leslie Cammen Caymen If you want to come up to the table. >> [clears throat] >> Hello, I'm Leslie Caymen and um First I want to tell you I have a real compassion for teaching and the students at your district

063really really loved me. I have a 45 years of experience as a teacher and I'm a senior now as you probably all can tell but I still have a desire and compassion for educating our youth our future generation. And uh I am disabled. I'm the first to admit it. I have doctors that I see all the time and I have disabilities but I can still function and do the job reliably and ethically and conscientiously. Uh what happened to me in my uh substitute teaching experience here is that um I I did not know who to go to until I finally said go to uh Lewis Roberts and tell him you need some accommodations. You can still do the job but you need some accommodations. And um when I uh tried to get him and when

064I ever I tried to get through to through to him they just passed me by and he even said, well, if you can't go to the second floor I just take jobs on the first floor. Well in all practicality there's not that many jobs on the first floor and you only have one school with a you know, first floor uh first floor ranch type style building. So I um I did I did everything. I worked hard. I I took every assignment I could find. But um Yeah, you know, I I just needed the support of of of the uh uh administration here and I didn't get it. I didn't get it. I just got turned over, looked, ignored. Oh, you know, that's her problem and it's not. When you're disabled, you have to ask right

065up front for accommodations. And my requests were not that difficult to um to to give me. Um you know, um the principal at Poe Elementary, I have to can >> [clears throat] >> say thank you so much for understanding. She walked me up to the second floor. She made sure I got to the second floor. She made sure I got into the room safely. She stayed a while and then she supported me. That's what all I was looking for is sub, you know, people who care, who really care about substitute teachers. We have a very hard role here. It is not easy. It is not easy at all. Um you know, coming in to a classroom of 20 to 20 30 kids, not knowing who their names are even or who they are. And believe

066me, my classroom management is down to a T after doing substitute teaching for 45 years. I have it down packed and the kids love me. I was I was given a lot of compliments by uh some of the um staff here. But then again, the negative came when I couldn't It was frustrating for me. I couldn't get human resources, Luis Roberts, to just talk to me and let me explain what my uh disabilities are and let me just you know, meet me halfway even. But I felt like I was just thrown into classrooms and there was um no even though I successfully got through them and I asked, I even called to say, "How did I do? How did I do?" to the teacher the next day and they said, "Fine. Everything went fine. The

067kids loved you. Don't worry about it." And so I'm very conscientious. Um I just needed to be provided with accommodations. >> But thank you so much for your public comment. >> I'm sorry. I didn't realize the time. >> That's okay. Thank you for your comment. I appreciate it. And I would just like you to go look into this because uh uh some of these uh accusations are false. And um an individual has a right to cancel up to 8:00 a.m. on the sub line. >> your your 3 minutes have expired. >> like to be reconsidered because I know I I'm an excellent teacher and I do a very fine successful job here. Thank you. Thank you for your comment. Uh Ben Coleman from the DEA. >> [clears throat] >> Hello. My name is Ben Coleman

068and I'm the president of the District 21 Education Association. We represent the custodians, maintenance people, teachers, social workers, school psychologists, school nurses, teaching assistants, administrative assistants, occupational therapists, speech language pathologists, and pretty much everyone else who works in District 21. We're happy that we're 1 day away from spring break. We hope the parents, staff, and students have big plans for the upcoming week off because the last 3 months feel like they've actually lasted about 12 years. I'm happy to report that my son is crazy. He's spending a year studying abroad in Barcelona studying architecture and part of his program includes travel breaks. He's currently in Bukhara, Uzbekistan with plans to visit Kazakhstan. I FaceTimed with him on the other side of the planet and we talked about the remaining breaks he has coming up. He

069said he has two more trips planned before he comes back to Chicago, one of which will be in the former Soviet Republic of Georgia, which happens to be on the Black Sea near Russia and Ukraine and also near Iran. So yeah, he's crazy. I'm also happy to report that I'll be getting married this weekend and spending part of my spring break celebrating with my fiance's fiance's family and another part in Cleveland celebrating with my parents and as many of my siblings as we can round up. It'll be a lot of fun. My daughter and I will also be visiting U-High at some point. It looks like my other kid will be attending in the fall, which is wonderfully convenient. She is on her way to senior prom soon and will be graduating from Prospect in

070in the uh in the spring. I put in the fall. Sorry. So I have a lot of wonderful things going on. I'm also happy to report that it looks like Illinois has a good chance to go deep into the March Madness tournament. I'm hoping we can watch Illinois make the Final Four at least. We had several D21 Association members attend the Illinois Education Association Representative Assembly in Rosemont last week along with more than 1,200 other educators. We reelected a new president, updated several of our bylaws, talked a lot about our budget and our state, and ran late into Saturday afternoon. I'm an optimist. I'm happy to report that despite the dire straight state of affairs in the country and the world, people are motivated and they're stepping up. Maybe we have enough energy building to

071bring lasting change. Maybe this could be like the Chicago Fire of 1871, a horrible disaster for so many people that helped make Chicago a modern city that could host the Columbian Exposition just 20 years later. Thank you for the opportunity to speak and thank you for all that you do for District 21 family, staff, and students. We look forward to building a great future for the district with you. Thanks, Ben, and congratulations on your >> Congratulations, yeah. upcoming nuptials. Um Ariel Lozner. Good evening, everyone. Uh my name is Ariel Lozner and as President Redick stated earlier, I'm part of a number of community, civic, and political organizations in the greater Wheeling area including Hands off Wheeling as well as the Young Democrats of Wheeling Township. But who I am really doesn't matter as much as

072all of you guys. So I just want to give a quick shout-out to the District 21 board, Superintendent Mike Connolly, and all the staff and teachers who are here today along with our wonderful student representatives who are doing a great job as evidenced by the last few meetings. And uh I just want to give a shout-out to District 21 regarding the most recent primary election that was on Tuesday and by my count, so Wheeling Township has 51 different polling places at least at least according to the last election and District 21 had 11 polling places including Frost, Cooper, Tarkington, Twain, Kilmer, Field, London, Whitman, Poe, Riley, and Longfellow. So all of those facilities were used as polling places during the most recent primary election and uh that matters a lot and I appreciate that as

073someone who cares a lot about our democracy especially during this time and especially with the recent proposed changes that are ongoing in Congress regarding the SAVE Act. So now more than ever it matters to vote and and it matters that we're protecting the right to vote. So thank you all for the work that you do and uh I appreciate uh that we have such readily available facilities and polling places in Wheeling. And also just as a note for me, at the last board meeting, I think I lost my charger. So if anyone knows where that is, >> [laughter] >> please let me know. I don't know if we have like a lost and found in here. So let me know. Thanks so much, everyone, and have a great night. Thanks, Ariel. Don't think anyone's ever

074used public comment to report a lost charger, but there's a first time for everything. >> [laughter] >> Um one last call for Cindy Holst Luisy. Okay. Well, thank you for completing the comment card. Um we'll go ahead and move on to our consent agenda. Uh we received four Freedom of Information Act requests this month. There is board conference and travel expenses for us to approve, excuse me, in the amount of $199 for me to attend the 2026 IASB Board Presidents Academy in June. Um I reviewed the financials with Mike Zager. Uh happy to report all was fine. He answered all my questions satisfactorily. Um and we had some discussion about the impact of rising special ed costs especially for our students that have the most needs. Um does anyone need anything pulled from consent? Nope.

075Uh may I please have a motion to approve the consent agenda. So moved. Second. Okay. All right. Jessica? Yep. Debbie? Yes. >> I vote yes. Arlen? I. Iliana? Yes. Bill? Yes. Ingalica? Yes. Motion carries. Wonderful. Thank you. Um Dr. Connolly, I think you have some introductions. >> Uh we do. Um so uh the board has just taken action on several personnel items and so I'm going to turn it over to Dr. Childress uh who will be introducing some um individuals who are now moving into some key roles in the district. >> [clears throat] >> Of course. Good evening, everyone. So we have um some introductions. The first Well, really everybody except one are current district employees that are taking on new roles for next year. Um, and I just want to give a little bit

076of a background. So, for about the last year, we've heard about the need for coaches, mentoring, and support um in our elementary schools. And that's come through listening sessions, joint advisories, meetings with a variety of stakeholders and our building admin. I do want to uh give a moment and of thanks to our DEA membership for all of those listening sessions and joint advisories. There are members of DEA that partner with me on those. So, I know sometimes you hear Dr. Childers, Dr. Childers. I want to say that they partner with me and they do a lot of work on those as well, sometimes gathering feedback ahead of time um and things so that we have a focused narrow conversation on what's most important to the membership. So, I just want to make sure that I

077acknowledge um while I'm the administrator that supports that, there are a lot of DEA members that are um alongside me doing that work. And it's I much I really really appreciate all of that. Part of um what we heard this evening was about a a need for a narrowed focus on professional development. And so, part of what we're looking at doing um with our reorganization for next year is to reduce the number of district-level specialists um in order to leverage those FTE into instructional coach roles in the elementary buildings. I will tell you that this was a very challenging thing. Our work is about people, it's about relationships. The district specialists that we have in place right now have been doing phenomenal work in supporting our teachers, our staff um building leaders, and of course

078our our directors. And so, making decisions about narrowing those number of folks down at the district level was not It was not a It was a very challenging task to do that because again, our work is about relationships and they've done such great work. But, in honoring um the desire to narrow the focus and also put some more support into the buildings we are um as part of the reorg, right, lowering the number of district specialists. So, this evening I have the pleasure to introduce some of our new district specialists that will be in roles for next year. We're so fortunate, right, in our district that we have so many talented and knowledge of knowledge knowledgeable teachers in our district. And one of the things too, right, that was highlighted in the culture climate presentation

079was our organization selects the right people for the right job, right? And so, I think I feel really confident about the the individuals that you have just approved for these roles this evening. Um and a couple of things that we really looked at is our student demographics to make sure that we have representation um in areas of expertise where we need it. Um and then all of these individuals also hold ESL endorsements, which you've heard me say many times, over half of our population um are English learners. And so, that was a really important piece that we made sure that all of the new specialists have that endorsement. We're going to start with Katie Eckelman. Can you stand, please? So, Katie has proudly served our district since uh 2024 as a literacy instructional specialist. She

080brings 15 years of experience in education across classroom teaching and district specialist experience. She has extensive experience in supporting students, staff, school teams through literacy instruction and coaching. I believe it was last month that we heard, right, that she's going to be our new District 21 Letters Facilitator. Um and also was a newly appointed board member of the Reading League of Illinois. So, that those are of course you know, very high um things to hold. Uh she holds a professional education educator license K through nine with an ESL endorsement. Katie. Thank you. Next we have Elizabeth Reyes um who has proudly served in our district since 2014 supporting multilingual learners, families, and school teams. She brings 16-plus years of experience and she currently serves as the language services specialist in our district. Of course, she

081brings strong expertise in bilingual education, instructional coaching, data analysis and um right, keeping in mind that we have about 20 2,500 students who are uh from Spanish-speaking households in our district, um that's an important piece that she's a Spanish speaker. Um and so, she holds a license in bilingual education with ESL endorsement as well. I'm going to speak tripping here, sorry. Seemed like a good idea at one moment. >> [laughter] >> Next up, we have um Emily Ford. Emily has proudly served in our district um since 2008 supporting students, staff and school teams. She brings over 17 years of experience in education. She currently serves as our math instructional specialist supporting curriculum, professional learning, data literacy expertise, and instructional growth across schools. She holds a PEL with endorsements in general science, social science, language arts,

082and um ESL K8. Emily. Next up, we have Claudia Alvarado. She is. Okay. >> [laughter] >> Claudia Claudia actually is a District 21 alumni. She attended Frost and Holmes schools. She's been serving in our district as a teacher since 2020. She brings a strong expertise in special education, bilingual education, data-driven teaching behavior supports, inclusive practices pre-K through eighth grade. She currently serves as a structured teaching program teacher at Holmes Middle School supporting students with diverse academic, behavioral, and functional needs. She holds a PEL with a LBS1, ESL, and and also the bilingual endorsement. Um and so, we are really excited about her taking a district-level specialist position to be able to support those various areas of students in our district. All really big areas to cover there. This is you know, Todd stole my phrase

083that I always say, like a unicorn, right? Claudia, I would say is the unicorn with a rainbow tail and sparkled hooves. >> [laughter] >> And just when you think that's the the the most desired unicorn I have for you this evening. It's not a competition, sorry. I just made it sound like it's a competition. It's not, but we have Tatiana Rudskaya here this evening um who has proudly served as an educator in District 21 since 2000. So, of the current uh specialist, she is the most veteran. Um she is currently a Russian bilingual literacy and SEL interventionist supporting students, staff, and school teams. She has a strong background in bilingual and multilingual education supporting learners and families. So, here's where she gets, right, the sparkles and [laughter] and and. She is fluent in Russian, which

084we have 700 over 700 students in our district whose are Russian speakers. Ukrainian, which we have nearly 300 of those in our district. Polish, which is it's a declining population, but it's still there, 145-ish students in the district. And then of course, a few other languages, but right? We can stop at there because Russian, Ukrainian, and Polish are the top three behind Spanish, right? So, she represents those and will help us support district-wide. She's been at Kilmer and doing a great job there, but bringing her to the district level will allow us to support students and staff at all buildings, which we have students of those languages at all of our buildings. She holds a PEL license with endorsements in ESL, secondary education, elementary education, English, and bilingual education Russian. Again I'm making it sound

085like it's a competition. It's not. >> [laughter] >> But, we still want to recognize the folks that we have. So, next we have uh our reorganized coordinator roles. So right, again, what we heard was we needed more support in the buildings. So, we have lowered the number of administrators that we have on our special ed or our student services side, and we have um changed those roles to line up with the directors' titles. And so, um Jen Foraker is actually currently one of our student services coordinator. Her new title will be special education coordinator. Um and she has served in our district since 1999. So, she beats Tatiana. >> [laughter] >> But it's not a competition. >> Jen brings 25-plus years of experience as a special education resource teacher, instructional specialist. She currently serves, as

086I mentioned, as the student services coordinator. She has strong expertise in special education leadership, IEP compliance, staff development, and inclusive programming. I just want to also say right? It's been a It's been a year, right? And Jen has really rolled with the punches. As she said, we are going to have bumps in the road, Beatrice. Oh, oh, okay, yeah. So, [laughter] um but she um we're really excited about her continuing on our team um here in District 21 as a coordinator. She holds a co um with special education and ESL endorsements. The other one is new business. Oh. Okay. Oh, wait. Okay, I'm sorry. No. We have Tracy is not here this evening. That's my fault. I'm sorry. President Redick, that's my [laughter] fault fault. Oh, oh, oh, wait. Tracy is not here to join

087us this evening, but um I will share a little bit about her. She is also going into one of our newly reorganized roles as a student services coordinator. She's currently an assistant principal at Longfellow. Um she brings 10-plus years of experience as a social worker, MTSS behavior coach, school leader with a strong background in student support and student systems. She holds a professional educator license with endorsements in social work and administration. Um and in her new role, she will be overseeing our social emotional learning programming to make sure that we have uh that we tighten up our systems in support of our schools um at all levels at all tier levels. So, tier one, two, and three. Um and we're really excited about her um taking on this new role in our district because it's

088a much-needed role. >> [applause] >> Congratulations all of you on your new roles. Really really thrilled to hear everyone that's moving up. It's going to be great. Um but let's let's move on to new business then. Um Scroll too far. Uh we have one item, the approval of an employment agreement for the director of special education. Dr. Connelly? Dr. Childers? >> [laughter] >> So, we have um thank you for um that. We have this evening that I'm presenting to you uh the recommendation for our new director of special education, Kate Flanagan. Want to stand? Yeah. So, I'm saying that Kate is a new face, except she's kind of not because she is a an also an alum. So, we have two alums now. Um and uh was I had attended Mark Twain Elementary and Holmes

089um middle school. She brings 14 years of experience in special education supporting students and families and school teams. She currently serves as the director of special special education in Wisconsin. She previously has worked as a special education case manager, program support teacher, a diagnostician, and a special education teacher. Um I will tell you when I called her references, all three references raved about um Kate. And some of the things that they shared, I want to share with you because um I was just really so happy to hear. And we were very impressed with her through the interview process, but calling the references just kind of put that final um the final sparkle on another unicorn, I will say, that we we found here. Um and I when I asked, "What will Kate's impact be on

090our district culture?" As you know, that's one of our critical priorities and and that's one of the questions that we have in our reference checks. And her superintendent, Dr. King, said, "She will be incredible. She is positive, powerful, deliberate in supporting students and staff. Her impact is big." She's has incredibly strong relationships, and you cannot go wrong [clears throat] with her. One of her colleagues um that I called, which who was the director of curriculum, said that she's passionate about what she does. She identifies where there's a problem and figures it out. She is the hardest worker I know, and I don't know what we'll do without her. And then I also spoke with the principal, cuz of course, right? This is an important role that also supports our principals. And the principal that I

091spoke with said that he she's he said that Kate transformed our district special ed programs, and it will be a big loss to our district. So, welcome, Kate. I am happy to take you from them. >> [laughter] >> Kate's going to speak? Yep. You Yeah, if you want to take the vote and then she Hey, don't give her anything until we vote on it. >> [laughter] >> It's not a done deal yet. >> Thank you, sir. Let's take a second. Uh may I please have a motion to approve the proposed resolution? So moved. Second. All right. Jessica? >> Yes. Debbie? Yes. I vote yes. Arlene? Iliana? Yes. Bill? Yes. Ingalica? Yes. Motion carries. Wonderful. Welcome. Welcome aboard. Welcome back. Just wrote a quick something. I try not to be too long-winded. Um thank you for

092having me. It truly means so much to be back here in this district, District 21. Um this has been a place for me that's always been defined by acceptance and a sense of belonging and genuine care for our neighbors. Um and this isn't just a district to me I'm that I'm joining. It's it's a community that's helped shape who I am. Um when I think about growing up here, I think about a lot of things. I think about um the people and experiences that made this place feel like home. Think about block parties in my neighborhood and all these beautiful, rich, diverse cultures coming together and becoming one and and sharing time and music, food, and place um all together. That's been a really special and trying not to get emotional. Um a really special

093place. I think about summer nights, fireworks at Heritage Park behind Wicks. Um and uh late-night Wappaghetti's pizza for all occasions. Um I think about those giant freeze pops that you could only get at Wheeling Park District in the '90s. They were like this big. That was before online ordering was a thing. And I swear you could only get them at at the Wheeling Park District. When I think about being a student in District 21, I think about how I struggled with pre-algebra. And Miss Bielski always made time for me um during lunch uh to to help me learn my skills. I think about Mr. Fry, um who was the PE teacher at Holmes who would come out in his 70s like full white bedazzled outfit singing "Stayin' Alive" when we'd enter the gym um for

094roller skating unit. Um I think about Mr. [laughter] Peterson who made history class fun because he always had a joke after every unit um that kept us really focused and going. I see Andy over there shaking his head. Um I think about Miss Ryan who knew that I struggled uh with breaks and coming back from school, and she always let me come in and um help her set up her class over the summer. I think about uh Mr. Roll who um had us do a math assignment on a number. We got to pick a number, and I picked 22. And I made this horrendous mobile. It was lime green and neon yellow. And she hung it on top of her desk all year. And that made me feel so valued um as glitter would fall

095on her desk um all year. I think about um Miss Engelkins Bardwash who um was my first coach, and she rooted my love for sports and connection in athletics. Um and the list could go on. And I should give a shout-out to Miss Stein, who was my brother's favorite teacher, who's here in uh in the audience. And um you know, coming back now in this role feels just incredibly meaningful um being back in this district. Uh I'm excited to uh have the opportunity to partner with staff and students and family and continue to build environments where every child feels seen, supported, and valued like I did when I was in this district. So, I really appreciate um you guys bringing me on to the team, and I'm excited to get started. So, thank you. I

096I was going to share the fun fact about Carolyn being her um Kate's teacher. And she came for her first round interview. She was and we were going back to the elevator and going downstairs. She said, "I was really hoping Miss Roll would be here." And I said, "Oh, don't worry. Don't you worry. She will be back for round two." Um and also fun fact, the other when when Kate was back for round two, and I had asked Andy to come up and and take a Or no, that was for these other interviews. Sorry. Then we had her come back. And uh Andy came up, and he goes, "Kate!" And I'm like, >> [laughter] >> I never get that kind of welcome. Not realizing that they were classmates. So, okay, Andy. >> [laughter] >> Thank

097you, Board of Education, for your support um, and patience as we have worked through trying to reorganize some of the roles in our Ed Services Department. Um, again, our our work is about relationships, and it's it's challenging, and it's been a a challenging couple of weeks, right? We kind of navigating through this, but I do think that um, it's going to serve our buildings well, and I I'm really excited about the team that we're building so far. We've got a few more roles to fill, but um, I'm excited about the path that we're on. Thank you so much for your support. Thank you, Dr. Childress. Um, let's move on into Board Communication. Um, prior to tonight's regular meeting, we held a Finance and Operations Committee meeting. Uh, the items we discussed include uh, included uh,

098some discussion with Todd Rolwing and Glenn Glenn Michaelini about some modified ideas for reconfiguration of the London parking lot ingress and egress. Uh, Mike Zager took us through the revenue projections. Excuse me, for FY '27, '28, and '29. Um, and while we did not have a presentation uh, from Baker Tilly of our annual financial FY '25 financial audit, uh, we do have the report, and it was uh, stellar. Um, also, I attended a mini conference on Monday called The Future of Work hosted by Representative Grassi and District 214, uh, which brought together speakers and panelists from business analytics and industry, DCEO, District 214, Endeavor Health, and a local Chamber of Commerce, who discussed how they expect AI to affect current future current and future jobs, work, and employees, uh, questioning whether all of the billion-dollar

099investments in AI have any actual business return on investment. They don't. Um, and how we and our high schools in District 214 can best prepare our students to meet a very uncertain future, but one in which we are confident will require competency in human interaction skills. Dr. Childress talked a lot about the relationships that we build. I think they will be more important than ever. Uh, it was a thorough and fascinating discussion. If anyone wants to know more, um, happy to talk to you. Uh, Bill, you also attended the conference. >> Yes. Was there anything you wanted to add or any thoughts? Just quickly, I they pointed out that we now and our kids now all have these things, which have more knowledge than we would teach in school, and it's not really so much

100a matter of teaching knowledge anymore, but rather thinking, collaboration, and communication, and uh, to think about work and not jobs. But there's a difference. Absolutely. Um, I also attended Wheeling's Village Board meeting on Monday. Arlyn was there as well. Uh, we were there to support Cass in her presentation to the Village Board about the District 21 Student-Based Health Center and the June Golf Outing fundraiser that is scheduled to benefit the Health Center. Um, as I am more suited to the mini golf course, I am signing up for the dinner only portion. Uh, for those of you who enjoy golf, I encourage you to consider signing up and supporting our efforts to keep the Health Center self-funded so that we can continue to provide free health care to our students and staff. Registration is currently open

101for this event. >> [clears throat and cough] >> Um, let's move on into Board Champion updates. Um, I'll start us off. My area is social emotional growth. The District Behavior Committee met again this afternoon. We've been meeting monthly. Uh, we had some discussion about the plan to move forward with PBIS strategies, and we prepared for the April meeting where parents will be in attendance, uh, and will engage in some discussion about existing board policies and practices under the topics of bullying, behavior, discipline, exclusionary discipline, and bus conduct. Um, Iliana, I believe you have a Board Champion update as well. Um, yes, but really quickly, I just wanted to say it warms my heart, truly, to see so many alumni come back and be part of the district. It's one of the main reasons why I've

102stayed here, um, as well. I think it speaks high volumes of our district and the true impact that it makes on the community. So, just wanted to point that out there. Um, so yeah, I did I did meet with Anya, who is the Director of Language Services, and my portion is meeting the needs of unique learners in strategic plan. There are two main areas of focus, or two main goals, I should say, um, within this, and it the first one is to conduct an evaluation of current programs and practices used to meet the needs of ESL and bilingual students and make recommendations. There's a couple of steps that have been taken within the past couple of months since the last that we met. This includes um, learning walks, which is across multiple schools, multiple grade

103levels, and um, content areas. Um, and then also a mid-year department meeting with several different staff, including ESL or I'm sorry, EL resource teachers, bilingual dual teachers, preschool, and sheltered instruction teachers. Some uh, key needs that were identified in that was professional development and opportunities for that, um, collaboration cross district, and also assessment and progress monitoring. Um, the second goal that is also part of this part of the strategic plan is to conduct an evaluation of the MTSS model with and the gifted and talented program and make recommendations on improvement. Um, sorry, really quick. And then also um, just kind of going into that, there's um, a part of it that's really focusing on the transitions and articulation planning. So, this is really um, working with strengthening student transition in grades to grade, like preschool

104to kindergarten, um, fifth through sixth, um, yeah. And we also are trying to meet monthly, so I'll be back with more. Great. Great. Uh, did anyone else have a Board Champion update or any questions? Okay. Um, let's move ahead with NSSEO. Debbie, would you provide an update, please? Well, certainly, and the nice good thing is it's nice and short. Um, we had a very brief meeting. We uh, just took care of the major business, uh, consent agenda, announcements. We had a brief discussion uh, regarding the ice signage, and we're getting all of the input from all of the dis- the member districts, and we will be discussing that more next month. Um, I know that the Operations Board is also discussing that um, next week when they meet. Um, but most of our discussion was

105in close session, and it was regarding negotiations. So, not much progress is being made, but that's about all I can say. Very good. Thank you. Um, Ed-Red, Bill? Thank you. I will use Debbie's excess time. Uh, Ed-Red's March monthly meeting featured Tony Sanders, the State Superintendent of Education. His remarks focused on cut score reform and the quote, "mislabeling of schools." There was also a legislative update discussing mandate reform, school funding with a focus on the flat funding of MCATS, charter school oversight reform, cell phone policy, and Illinois' position on the federal voucher plan. For more detail, a recording of the meeting should be available on the Ed-Red website. The April meeting will be held Friday, April 3rd at 1:30. This will be a hybrid event that could either be attended in person, right here, or

106virtually via Zoom. Registration information should be emailed to you shortly. And yet another reminder to save the date, Thursday, June 11th for the third annual Ed-Red mini summit. More information should follow closer to the date. And that's it for Ed-Red. Great. Thank you. Uh, IASB? Okay, 1 second. Let me get to that. Okay. I attended my first full meeting the IASB Board of Directors. Highlights included a newbie orientation meeting, Mhm. a presentation from the Iowa Association of School Boards on the Iowa Lighthouse Study on characteristics of highly effective school boards and the school boards' role in creating school districts where all students can can succeed. And if anybody's interested, I actually have the Lighthouse report, and I'd be happy to share it once I'm done reading it, which might take a while. Um, additionally, uh,

107discussion uh, at the Board of Directors meeting included uh, a discussion on CASBO resolutions, which are similar to the resolutions we have for the Joint Annual Conference, as well as a very, very preliminary discussion on progress as to the strategic plan. Uh, more on that will come later this summer. Additionally, one quick update for everyone on the Joint Annual Conference. Um, in the past, there's been an equity immersion event that is held on Thursday that will get the input from some of the people who have been involved in the event, they're moving it from a stand-alone Thursday event to a Friday focused seminar. Okay, so that will now be held on Fridays. There will be a cap on the total number of enrollees. So, if you are interested, make sure you apply as soon as

108it opens up. Um, Anne Galkin and I will be attending the IASB Advocacy Day in Springfield next week to discuss current issues with our representatives and how they affect District 21. I am hoping to talk about MCAT funding, a proposal to extend unemployment insurance, tier two fixes, and the proposed bell to bell cell phone legislation that is currently currently being discussed down there. We will let you know how that goes. And that is it. Very good. Very good. Um North Cook, Arlen? Yes, thank you. Um you've been receiving updates as I've received them uh from our superintendent. The latest glitch is that um zoning board is considering us as a school and that creates another barrier in terms of getting our final approval. They're going before that organization um that's the Mount Prospect zoning board.

109I believe it's next week and um hopefully they will understand that we're much more than a school, we're a program. We do lots of service work. None of that was considered in their original ruling. So, we're still working at it. We don't have final approval yet to begin uh construction. All right. Well, good luck. Thank you. Uh if any members have updates for local government or liaison updates, please remember to send those along for next month for inclusion in the April agenda. Uh and let's move into the uh student representatives report. So, uh this month um we asked our student representatives to uh do a little bit of a report back. Um last month uh right um was that at the end of February? Um we had our um winter uh superintendent student advisory council

110meeting of which all of our our uh board representatives uh are part. Uh and we had a number of topics um that we engaged in conversation and kind of got some feedback and ideas um from students on. So, um Alex, why don't you go ahead and start off um with uh kind of your report and uh your um takeaways from the the meeting. So, some of the updates from March at Cooper is that our musical is taking place on May 8th. Um girls and boys volleyball is coming to an end. Spring break is coming up. And two eighth grade wrestlers from Cooper made it to state. So, at the superintendent advisory council one of the topics that we talked about was pros and cons for changing for PE. And we saw that most people liked

111you could wear any clothes you wanted without them getting dirty and that it saves time and makes makes class less awkward. One good idea that didn't come up that I thought was important is that um they should allow kids to wear long sleeve clothing underneath their uniforms if it's cold. Um someone, do you want to give your report? Uh something that we talked about at our meeting that we brainstormed was ways that students could come to school and one of the ways was students making new friends and then encouraging encouraging them to actually come to school. And some of the updates were wrestling and girls volleyball has come to an end while track and field and boys volleyball is starting. Also, with the spring musical still going on. And Holmes had a some guests come

112this past few weeks to the nest. We had the Jesse White Tumblers perform for the school and an author who made the book Is It Night or Day talk and she talked to our eighth graders. Today, the Holmes seventh graders got to go on a bus to Chicago and got to go to the Science and Industry Museum. >> [snorts] >> Um pretty sure that's it. I also wanted to say I'm going to ask my gym teachers about the roller skating unit Holmes will have. >> [laughter] >> I'm right there with you. Uh Fred uh was not able to join us this evening um but um his report um one of the other topics that we had a conversation about um uh during the advisory council was uh getting some feedback on the the hallway the

113e-hallway pass um uh pilots that that have been going on. Um and uh we engaged in some convers- they don't like them. Which was not necessarily surprising, right? Um but we did have some conversation as to maybe some of the reasons why we've you know, we're looking at them. Um they they did say uh or Fred says that um the process overall uh from both um trial systems seems to have been helping um with with some of the issues that we had identified um and that um students you know, understand why we're why we're trying them. Um they may not like them, but uh they do understand the the reasons behind them. So, um obviously the the uh pilots are are ongoing. Are we wrapping up um where are we with that, Mike? >> Yeah,

114we have about two more weeks left in the second application, so we're getting getting close. Yep. And so then we'll have the ability uh staff at the middle schools will be have an ability to kind of of um you know, get some feedback and conversation and and decide if this is something that we want to pursue um as a as a new permanent addition to our at the middle school. So. Um and that's uh all we have. Is the assumption that one of the two systems will be selected or is it an option to I mean, it's always an option to not. I will be very honest, it would be my preference um that we move in that direction, one of the two systems. We have issues um that and this is supportive of being

115able to try and resolve some of those issues. Uh a one issue that we do have is that we have students that will you know, uh ask for a hallway pass in every single class period. And there's no way to really know of that um unless teachers are are able to communicate with each other. Um I think that there so there is also issues that we have encountered um of uh students who maybe you don't want to be interacting with each other outside of a controlled environment who are able to say, "I'm going to get a pass at 10:00 and you're going to get a pass at 10:00 and we're going to meet up here." And generally not good decisions are made there. Um these systems have the opportunity to be able to flag um

116you know, and so it will a teacher will see, "Nope, you can't go right now." because obviously somebody who you're not supposed to be meeting up with is also. Um so, when it comes to safety, security, um the ability to really kind of of ensure that there is some student accountability in when they are taking advantage of the privilege and the opportunity to go um outside of of of their classroom environment, um you know, I think that that there is a compelling reason um to be implementing that system. It will not necessarily be popular um for everybody. Um parents and or students may not agree, um but I do think it is a necessary thing that we need to be looking at. Yep. Thank you, students. We appreciate your candid responses. But I would also

117love to see roller skating in gym. Um all right, our next regular meeting of the Board of Education of District 21 is scheduled for Thursday, April 16th, 2026 at 7:00 p.m. Uh we're going to move into closed session, but I'd like to wish all of our staff and students and families a safe and restful spring break. Uh we're going to like I said, we're going to move into closed session. Uh we will not be returning to open session. We won't take any action after it. We'll adjourn directly from closed. Um so, be it resolved the Board of Education approves to re- recess the District 21 March 19th, 2026 regular Board of Education meeting and convene in closed session to discuss the appointment, compensation, discipline, performance, or dismissal of specific employees, specific individuals who serve as

118independent contractors in a park, recreational, or educational setting, or specific volunteers of the public body or legal counsel for the public body, including hearing testimony on a complaint lodged against an employee, a specific individual who serves as an independent contractor in a park, recreational, or educational setting, or a volunteer of the public body, or against legal counsel for the public body to determine its validity. Uh may I please have a second? Second. All right. Jessica? Yes. Debbie? Yes. I vote yes. Arlen? Yes. Iliana? Yes. Bill? Yes. >> Angelica? Yes. Motion carries. Wonderful. Thank you, everyone, for attending tonight. Have a wonderful spring break.