CCSD21 Board Of Education Meeting - December 11, 2025

001Evening everyone. The District 21 December 11th, 2025 regular board of education meeting is now called to order. Uh Carrie, would you please take attendance of the board members and student representatives? >> Yes. Jessica, >> I'm here. >> Debbie, >> here. >> I'm here. Arlin >> here. >> Iana here. Bill >> here. Angelica here. We have a quorum. >> Wonderful. If everyone would please rise. >> Oh my gosh, I'm so >> Selma is not here. >> Selma's not here. >> Is she okay? Uh, Alex and Fared. >> All right. Sorry. Go ahead. >> Thank you. Now, let's please rise for the pledge. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States and to the republic for it stands one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all. >> Thank you everyone. Welcome. Like to acknowledge

002our friend Sher Clump from the Wheeling Park District. Thank you again for joining us tonight. Um, any individual physically present tonight wishing to address the board must please complete a comment card and provide it to Miss Del Rail. Written public comments may also be submitted by emailing us at district21cccsd21.org. Let's move right along into announcements and celebrations. Uh before we get going on our list of announcements, I want to take a brief moment to thank Glenn Molini and his staff in the operations department for their ongoing efforts uh plowing our parking lots and our sidewalks so that our students and staff and family have clear walking paths. Looks like we might have a snowy winter ahead. So, I want to thank Glenn very much for him and his team and the work they're doing. Um

003I'll turn it over to you, Dr. Connelly. Thank you. >> Thank you. Good evening, everybody. Um we have a number of u of awards and celebrations and recognitions that we'd like to do this evening. Um so um starting off with uh something that has become kind of an annual tradition for District 21 over the last several years. Uh and that is inviting our students to submit um our designs uh for our holiday cards um that get distributed this time of year. And so wanted to take a moment to recognize um that we had over 80 entries um from students across the district of all grade levels. Um and from those 80 entries um three uh were picked from um each grade group. Uh so prek to two um 3 to 5 and then and sixth

004to 8th grade. Um and really just some really creative uh and and um just beautiful designs. Um and you can see the uh you know the examples coming through. Um so these have all been produced um into uh cards. Um I think we are sending out over 500 cards as a district um to you know uh our our partners and and elected officials and and um uh just a whole cross-section of of our supporters. So um they'll be getting those in in the mail in the in the coming days. Um, so we just really uh are impressed with the artistic ability of our students and wanted to to recognize and thank all of them for uh for submitting. We actually do have um one of our recognizes um uh for the cards in in the

005audience this evening. Um and that's Alexis D um from London. I think you're uh there's Alexis. Uh so thank you very much for for doing that. Very very nice design. Um, and uh, thanks again. Uh, we just a fun thing to do every year. So, uh, we're looking forward to being able to do this again next year. Um, next I would like, uh, to, uh, note that we have several of our, um, musicians, our young musicians, uh, in the audience. Um and we're incredibly proud of the 18 middle school students who qualified for this year's uh junior uh Illinois MEA um music educators association uh district 7 concert and jazz festivals. Um these festivals took place over two weekends in November and brought together some of the most talented young musicians in the region. Um

006from our group of 18, three students uh earned all states honors uh and we'll travel to Peoria. You know, if it plays well in Poria, it plays well everywhere. Anybody [laughter] under the age of 50 did not know what that was. Oh, do you got that? Okay, good. Good. Um, so, um, they will be traveling to Peoria in January to perform at the All State Festival. Uh, this is just really an outstanding um, accomplishment that reflects the dedication, countless hours and practice um, and support from our uh, our families, our music educators, and of course the dedication of our students. So, um, we have a few, uh, members of this team that are in the audience. Um, Sebastian M from Holmes. Sebastian, why don't you stand up? Uh, we have Cora W from Cooper. And

007um Ellie F from Holmes was not able to attend uh due to other commitments, but we wanted to give her a round of applause as well. And we have a number of our um music uh educators uh here with us this evening. Um we have Jennifer Stash, the choir director at Cooper. Jennifer, you here? Uh we have Jeremy Budro band over at Holmes. Uh Paras Chowri uh orchestra over at Holmes. So thank you for coming. Um we have Valerie Kalinowski and Nate Masa. Uh Valerie um and and Nate from London fan. Uh Lauraai Scyther choir over at London. Is Lauraai here? Yeah, they are. uh Maria Hodson uh orchestra at London. Um again, just really fantastic um to to see our uh young musicians excelling um and uh being able to represent our district um

008over the course of the uh the next coming weeks. Um and so if everybody that I just named, if you guys would come up, we'll grab a picture. Mike, Mike, >> I I just want to add I attended two of the concerts this week. I was at London with Carrie and I also was at uh Cooper and I just love our music program. You guys all do such an incredible job. It's such a joy to hear children growing over the course of the year. So, I want to thank you all personally for the job you do for our music program. Thank you so much. push it back to >> well we have I think from multiple schools as well. >> Okay. >> So we also had our students who went to the festival in November

009as well. Okay. >> These Yeah. So >> Oh, here we are. Okay. >> Even two slides back there. Yeah. So from London for fire, we have Samantha Lindberg Sullivan. Shall we have Lexi? >> No. [laughter] >> Can we get the other >> Yeah. >> regional performers, too? All right. Okay. All right. Thank you. Um tonight we'd also like to recognize o over the past um several months um we have uh across the district had u multiple family support initiatives. Um our schools and the district as a whole have really expanded our efforts to be supporting families in meaningful and tangible ways. Um recently um there the Field Elementary School uh launched the new food pantry uh kind of you know we've seen the the the little uh neighborhood libraries um Field has uh installed a

010a little neighborhood uh pantry um to increase access to resources uh for families. Um schools across the district also held several food drives um with just generous contributions from students, staff and community members. Um, we also wanted to highlight um and in person celebrate um Lauren Reynolds who led an initiative at Whitman Elementary School to assemble Halloween goodie bags for students. Um staff volunteered their lunch periods to put together 400 goodie bags um which were distributed uh to students as they left for the holiday. Um it was and a one a wonderful example of staff stepping up to create moments of joy for our kids. And and I think one of the most poignant things is that this was not a normal Halloween for many many many of our families in in our area. Um

011and so uh to have our staff um really understand that and want to do something about it um I think just again is a testament to um the people we have here uh at District 21 and how they care for um their students, their families, and our community at large. So um again, Lauren, are you here? Lauren, thank Lauren. Thank you so much. and to the entire staff at at Whitman that that uh put that together. That's just really fantastic and it um was I know deeply appreciated by uh by our our students and families. Um next we'd like to uh um recognize um that some of our outstanding leaders here in District 21. Um tonight we are celebrating two outstanding uh leaders that have been recognized by the Illinois Principles Association. First um we

012have Katherine Joy who was named the North Cook Region Elementary Principal of the Year. Katherine, [applause] that is uh just a testament um to the dedication um and and impact that Katherine has as principal at Frost Elementary School. um and as she has had in multiple roles in this district um uh for many years um and um and this is something that is recognized by colleagues, right? So uh of all of the of the districts in in North Cook um and and being recognized uh by them, I think there's 44 districts in North Cook, so think about how many elementary school principles that is. Um, so Katherine, congratulations and y >> Thank you. It's really um I can't believe that when I started in the district in 1994 as a teacher, I didn't aspire to

013be a principal, but I had so many wonderful principles that encouraged me as a teacher to keep working on teacher leadership. So it was really organic and um so I'm so grateful for so many principles that I worked with. Debbie Serban, Rick Harajan, Gwen Gage who really helped me see different models of leadership and um I'm so appreciative of everyone that supported me along the way. Thank you. >> Hold on, Catherine, because we'll get a picture, but just Yep. Um next, uh we'd like to recognize Anast Anastasia Netzel, our principal at London Middle School. Um, stand up, Anastasia. Um, Anastasia has um been awarded the North Cook Region Herman Graves Award uh from the Illinois uh IPA. Um that's honoring her exemplary service, contributions to the profession, and commitment to student success. Um so, um

014Anastasia, congratulations on this um recognition from IPA. [applause] Anastasia. Anastasia is also a past uh winner of the Illinois uh the North Cook Region Illinois Principal Association Middle School Principal of the Year. So, you're a you're a two-time uh awardee from North Cook IPA. Uh and extremely welld deserved. Um so, congratulations, Anastasia. And if I could just I can just throw out according to the IPA, the Herman Graves Award is [snorts] the highest award that they that they offer uh that they award. Uh if anyone in the room ever met Mr. Graves, he just absolutely embodied what it means to be a principal. And I have to say, Miss Netzel, this is a well-deserved honor. You embody everything that it means to be a principal. Miss Joy, you are a testament to your school and

015the leadership that you provide. Your students adore you. I'm so proud that you're both in District 21. Meet me >> [laughter] >> Um, next we wanted to take a moment to just recognize and celebrate um just really an amazing um occurrence uh that has come out of a labor of love um over the last several years. Um recently uh again after working very closely um with our partners at Indian Trails uh public library um we were able to uh implement a program where our students um were able to get library cards um without having to um you know go and prove residency again and and kind of go through all of those procedural steps that are necessary to make sure that the services are being accessed by by um people who who live in the

016in the area. Um, but this was a a long-term project that our director of literacy, Amy Bryer, has been championing for many, many years. Um, and uh, we had over 1,400 library cards and applications um, for our students to receive uh, library cards. And so Amy, why don't you come up and you can give a little bit more detail and and also introduce our partners. Great. Um, thank you. Um, so as Dr. Connelly talked right, five years ago, um, we began a journey together, um, and, um, building that really strong partnership with the Indian Trails Public Library, um, to ensure that District 21 uh, um, every student in the district would be eligible to get a library card. Well, last year with the support of um Sarah Heimoth and Ryan Uden um and their partnership,

017we were able to do that. We started with a small pilot of three schools last year and were able to distribute about 300 cards to students. And this year um when I sent out the the application form in um in Parent Square, they just the applications just kept coming. And when we hit,00 I emailed Ryan. I was like, "Wow." I like get your team ready because they're coming. Um so um and her um Sarah and Ryan um were able to work and put together um partnerships with local libraries and ensure that students that even they if they lived in those boundaries were able to get a new library card for those districts as well. So your partnership in opening doors to our students um is forever grateful and we continue to look forward to working

018with you. While you're going up there, just uh to anybody in the room who hasn't been to a literacy night at Indian Trails, uh please make a point of getting there. It is amazing the number of families who turn out and make a point of getting there early because the parking lot fills up. Well, That was wonderful and super exciting. Um, I'm going to turn the mood down just a little bit and take a few minutes to celebrate the life of Bev Susman who passed recently. I just want to acknowledge the the deep chasm that is left by her passing. Um, I think Bev probably touched the lives of everyone in this room at one point or another and is just an absolute Buffalo Grove icon. uh from her days as a teacher in district

01996, being a Buffalo Grove trustee and a Buffalo Grove village president for many years, leading Buffalo Grove through much infrastructure development and through COVID and just she was just the kindest soul. Uh she always wanted to lend a hand, had an open ear. Uh and I wanted to extend my deepest condolences to her family and her husband Marty and may her memory be for a blessing. Thank you for allowing me to do that for a few minutes. Let's move on into staff communication. Uh superintendence report. Our first item is a recognition of numerous district 21 staff that have presented at state and national conferences. Dr. Connelly. >> Yeah. So, um I I think one of the things that um we don't always um take enough time to really recognize is the expertise that we have

020in our district and how we are uh willing to go out and share our expertise in the field. um as a professional field um we learn from each other and so to have the opportunity to um send our staff out to share their success uh and to share their knowledge um with uh our profession um is really giving back uh to our profession number one but it's also making sure that um that where we are finding success with with our students that others can replicate that because we're all ultimately in this role uh to try and build a quality education for all students. So, um, with that, um, I wanted to turn it over to Dr. Childress to introduce, um, those who will be presenting our presenters. You didn't know I was going to do

021that, did you? [laughter] >> I know better. I should be ready. >> U, first up, I'm going to call um Melissa Scalleta to the microphone to talk about where she presented and a little bit about that presentation. Awesome. Thank you. So, I um attend a director's conference three times a year in the area. Um it's typically held in Elgrove Village in the fall and in the spring and then in the winter we do it virtually because snow, ice, all the travel hazards. Um, and at every conference, someone is asked to speak on something that's relevant to preschool, something that others could take back and use. And Kathy Slatterie reached out to me over the summer, and she asked if I would come and present on the TPBA and how we use it here in District

02221. Um, and so at that I had a room of about 75 people that I didn't expect to be as large because directors brought their psychologists, they brought their coordinators, they brought all those individuals that are working on these teams to be able to see what it's like to actually run the TPBA and have that transition. Um, I will say the highlight was a parent from district 21 went through that process and was sitting in that room and was able to raise her hand and speak to the amazing process that it is for families. Um, so it was really nice to hear as I was going through it and I'm going through the motions that the parents are feeling that it's just as wonderful on their end. >> That's fantastic. Thank you. We have a

023a triad here this evening to present. I don't know who's going to start speaking, but if you don't mind coming to the podium. We've got Ann from Cooper and Alexander who's our language services uh coordinator and Alana who's one of our special ed coordinators. [laughter] >> I guess I I drew the short straw here. It's okay. Uh good evening. Um, I'm Anna Cordina from Cooper Middle School and I'm here with >> Alexander Alver's Jewel, language services coordinator, >> and Alana Lambert, student services coordinator. >> So, we we recently presented at um the Illinois Council for Exceptional Children, which is a small state conference um directed for uh educators with uh special education. and we thought that it was a great idea to show others how they can support their multilingual students who may have some

024other needs um that we need to be addressing. We specifically focused on our newcomer students since we have seen a great influx and a greater increase in need for supporting our students. Our presentation really focused on the process that we used and how we as three different people with three different lenses and expertise collaborated together to ensure that we were intentionally identifying our students and their needs where we were not over or under identifying their needs for additional supports. Um, and then our process led us to how do we ensure that we are honoring our students multilingualness and allowing them to assimilate to our schools, acquire language while simultaneously working on their learning. Did a great job. That was awesome. [laughter] >> Thank you. >> Great. Thank you. And and last but not least, we

025have Ana Figuoroa, our director of language services, who's going to talk about the couple of presentations that they did at the national conference. >> So yeah, thank you. Um good evening everyone. I'm Ana Figo, director of language services, and we had the amazing pleasure and privilege to be able to attend um and present two different uh two different sessions at the WEDA National Conference for English Language Learners. this year was at Seattle. Uh in Seattle there were about 25 thou uh 2500 educators from all over the country that attended. One day was a virtual um day for those attendees and um Elonor Nyvelt, Faith Milligan and myself um presented at the virtual conference and also an inerson um session and then um that session focused on um the our journey as a district as we

026welcome so many new to the country families in the last few years um and tackling some of the social emotional pieces that um they came with and how we had to um pivot maybe some programming pieces and really focus on the um support, the social emotional support through um sharing circles, native language support at the middle school level um for that uh group of of students and also their families. And I know I flipped the slides, I just realized that. Um but that um also was a very um telling piece in terms of the needs across the country. Uh we had over um 100 um attendees in in the two sessions. The online session was very large and then the um in-person session as well. We had over 120 participants um and no one le

027left during the session. We were always scared like oh my gosh are people going to walk out? and they didn't. So, it was very interactive, very um and we had a lot of people kind of reaching out to find out more about the supports. Um and then Marcela and Cynthia, Marcela Rodriguez and Cynthia Marcado, if you know Marcela and Cynthia, they ran a very dynamic, very engaging session u focusing on also support for our new to the country students um in the primary level with literacy um and language development. So, lots of practical strategies, a little bit of theory, um foundational pieces, which is also um was nice to see how much we've done as a district and how much there's still a lot of needs across the country. So, uh it was a nice

028space for them to connect with other educators um share our journey and share um our expertise. So, it was really a great experience. So, thank you. >> Thank you, Anna. As I said, it's just really nice to to kind of just get a snapshot of the work that that our staff is doing and how they're adding back um to our profession. So, thanks very much for coming tonight and and just sharing a little snapshot. Um and Seattle's a a really good town to uh to do a presentation in. So, hopefully uh others will be able to to enjoy that area. It's a good spot. So, thanks again for coming. Um, also tonight, uh, we wanted to, uh, provide the board with an update, uh, presentation. As, uh, the board knows, um, we implemented a new

029elementary math curriculum this year, uh, in, uh, amplified Desmos. Um, the first, uh, full-scale implementation of a elementary math curriculum in many years, um, in the district. Um and uh we wanted our director of teaching and learning for math, Carolyn Dro, to uh give the board an update on implementation and and some early um indicators of what we're seeing. So Carolyn, >> thank you. Thanks for having me. I'm very excited to share with you. We've been really busy since I last presented in April when we were considering the adoption. So um yeah, so we've got a lot going on. I'm very excited to fill you in on tonight. Um, one thing that I always prioritize whenever I'm working with admin or teachers is that when we're talking about math, we do a little bit of

030math together. I won't put you on the spot. You don't have to answer anything, but I at least want you to be thinking about some math because when we say math, it can always be it can be a little bit triggering for some people. Some people have some reactions or some preconceived notions of what math might be based on their own experiences. So I find it's always helpful to have kind of a common focal point for us to be considering that might be different than what some of us experienced as learners. So and maybe this looks a little familiar to some things you guys have seen in class. Let's see I do this right. Okay. So we're going to I'm going to show you a warm-up that comes from a third grade unit. Um this

031particular one is called a number talk. Um we did one in April. You might remember it was which one doesn't belong where we looked at four things and we said oh this one might not belong because of or this one might not be because of. The purpose of these is they're very divergent. They're intended to invite lots of ideas so that all kids are welcomed into the classroom to share their thinking because we know that math can shut kids down sometimes when there's only one right answer. So we want to start the class with something where everyone gets to participate. So in a number talk um so it's going to start with something like this. And again they always start ideally at a level where every student can have something to contribute. So everyone again

032is welcome to the playing field. So um so in this particular case we just have an expression and we're asking kids to think about all right 500US 475. How would you do that? It's very intentionally designed to be horizontal because when we line things up vertically kids think algorithms. We don't want them thinking algorithms. We want them thinking flexibly. This is about building number sense. So if we're thinking about 500 minus 475, usually they'll want kids to be maybe they put their hand to your chest to show their thinking and then when they have an idea they might put up a thumb and then if they have another idea. So this way they can kind of be engaging and showing without hands going up that might shut down other thinkers around them. So um a

033student might once we've all had a chance to think about it and process a student might say okay well I thought about it as um an addition a missing addend in an addition problem. So 475 plus what's missing it' be 25, right? Or um another student might say, "All right, 500 minus 400. I know that's 100." So then I know I just have 100 minus 75 to get me to the other 25. Again, both of them are based on understanding the size of the numbers, not place value alignment. Not that there isn't a time and place for place value alignment, but in this case, that'd be really inefficient. That's not what we'd want them doing, right? So then from there when we do number talks in Desmos there's going to be so the first one's

034going to be something where everyone can enter. So then we're going to have another one and this other one's going to you're going to see they scaffold from one another and so the hope is that all right we're making connections again it's a little more complicated but not much if we applied strategies to the first one those should carry over to the second one. So hopefully now again kids are thinking and then some of them are sharing ideas like well I knew 500 - 475 was 25. This is just four more so therefore the answer just has to be four more. So I'm getting at something like 29 or we're hoping that maybe some students are starting to visualize an open number line. This is a strategy that we use a lot. So thinking about

035well how far apart are they? I can picture it and I can picture it relative to some benchmarks, right? Like where's 480 and 500? And so thinking about the distances between those and picturing those distances. So then when we get to something that looks like this, 512 - 475. Again, a lot of us our initial instinct might be immediately to go to an algorithm where we'd want to line them up and subtract. What we want kids to be doing is not jumping to that right away because it's actually more efficient to think about it um with some of these other strategies. So again, if I were to have seen that strategy with the number line in the previous one, I could build off of that and I could say, well, you know what? I know

036where 500 is. And I know that 75 is 25 away and 512 is 12 away. So I just have to add those together. So that by the time I get to something that looks like this, I may not even have to draw a number line, but I'm hoping kids are just picturing, okay, well, I need 12 to get from 512 back to 500. I need another 50, and I need another one. And so my answer is 63. So there's an example, a very quick example with only my voice. There'd be a lot more voices in the room and more ideas. Um, what it would actually look like though is something kind of like that. Forgive my chicken scratch. I taught middle school. Um, and [laughter] so it would look something like that. And what's really

037cool about the platform is that the teacher can be taking notes on each one that kind of zooms in and then zooms out to to show the different problems as they're going. And then when I go on to the next slide, this writing stays. So I can flip back and forth between the slides and say, "Oh, wait a minute. This is just like that warm-up we did. Let's go back and look at that strategy again." And they can go back and they can see their work there, which is pretty cool. So anyway, so I just wanted you to have that as a reference point for um some of the things we're doing. This again would just be a warm-up. It would take the first 5 to 10 minutes of class. So what have we been

038busy doing since April? Um we had a super busy summer. um really really exciting summer. Um we partnered with between the math specialists and the language um service specialists. Um we offered altogether about 13 different sessions, grade level specific sessions um in June, July and August. And we had about 170 teachers who participated which only left about 15 or so that we didn't get to come who we just had to follow up with individually to make sure that they were prepared to launch their year. So that was awesome. And again, that was just like the initial training to make sure that they understood the resource. We dove into unit one so that they would feel like they were ready to launch their year. So then once the year got started, we tried to put lots

039of supports in place so that teachers could keep that momentum going. Um the team has presented at tons of staff meetings. They've been at team meetings and they've been doing lots and lots of modeling and co-planning and co-eing. I had them do a little tally. I was like about how many lessons do you think you've modeled or co-taught so far? And we were up to um I think about 125 lessons that they had done um with teachers in classrooms to support making sure that um because this this is a as as Dr. Connelly pointed out, it's been a little while since we've gone through math adoption. So our learning curve is steep. Um and so we're all in this boat together and learning together. Um additionally, we've offered virtual collaborative sessions. Um, one of the

040things we were hearing was, um, part of this learning curve is how do I manage all these materials? Um, what do I do with all this stuff? And so, we've had some virtual sessions where teachers could come together and talk about how what are their different strategies and show things from their classrooms. Well, here's the bins that I'm using. Here's the folders that I'm using. Here's how I'm storing this. So, that was really helpful. Um, so this I know that's super tiny, but you have it linked, so feel free to to check that out or I can just describe it briefly. Um this is a resource that we put together to support admin um and teachers with what does an ideal Desmos classroom look like. So keeping in mind that this is an ideal Desmos

041classroom and we are only a few months in. We are in no way expecting that this is what our Desmos classrooms look like yet. But we need to know what success looks like so we know what we're working towards. So this is what we put together as kind of a guidance document of best practices when you consider the different parts of the lesson. um what are examples and non-examples of each so that that way we get this in front of again teachers and we get this in front of admins so that we can be working together to figure out where are some areas of focus and how we can set some goals. Um, so we we're currently in the middle of um some half-day grade level trainings as followup to our summer PD and followup

042to all of our um work that we've been doing over the fall. And in preparation for I'll talk more about that PD in just a minute. But in preparation for that PD, um we did put out a survey mid November to get some feedback. How's it going? And so we put it out both quantitatively. So they um they rated these questions on a scale of 1 to 10 as well as we gave space for them to give us some um some narrative feedback as well. Um if these questions look familiar then I'm impressed you. Yes, we did use these same questions when we finished up our pilot um last year and they're also the same questions that we used um when we did our middle school pilot. Um, I did that intentionally so that we

043could kind of cross reference those results and see kind of how we were doing. So, we looked at how well the students engaged, how well the resource was developing conceptual understanding, procedural fluency, and problem solving skills. Um, what they felt the level of rigor was for the resource, um, how useful the differentiation tools are, as well as the language supports, how comfortable they felt with navigating the materials, and how well the program assesses what they want students to be learning. So that was what they were rating on a scale of 1 to 10. And again, the goal of that was to give us feedback before we dove into first to see how things are going, but then also to give us feedback before we did our PD session so we could use that to help

044support our planning. [snorts] So the overall average score, we had about a third of the teachers who responded to this. The overall average was 6.8, um, which I think is pretty strong. And what's interesting about that is it's the exact same average from the pilot. So that was kind of interesting to me. Um so here's kind of how that data fell. So the highest scores were for rigor and ease of use and um the effectiveness of the assessments. Right in the middle kind of around near the average or just below um were the differentiation, the building of procedural fluency, conceptual understanding and problem solving and then student engagement. And then the lowest rating went to um how useful they found the language supports. So that was one piece of information that we used and then

045I also broke it out by what did this look like in terms of grade level bands. I'm not at all surprised that this is how it shook out. Um so what we had been getting from our feedback and impressions was that third through fifth were feeling more comfortable than K2. So we intentionally started our half-day PDS with our K2 teachers. And as I said, we're kind of we're in the middle of that. We're actually almost done with all that. Um we'll be wrapping up our last second grade group next week and then our third through fifth grade sessions will be taking place in February. In addition, we've been making sure that we have a heavy emphasis on the language supports. We partnered with our language um service um uh instructional specialists as well to make

046sure that um they're providing that lens so that within the trainings we're not only looking at what the resource has to support the language supports but also what are some of the strategies that we're putting in place in all of our content areas um to support language so that we're being consistent. All right. So where are we feeling the shift the most? What does this feel? How does this feel different for our students and for our teachers? Um on the celebration side, um I I'm put this first one as breakthroughs. I see I I've described it to the team several times is I feel like it's like we're like a kettle of popcorn where I feel like there's just kernels popping all over the place where I I'm I'll get like a random text from

047a teacher like it finally feels like my math classroom again. Like I'm finally getting in a groove where we're we're get we're starting to kind of get that momentum where people are understanding like okay I see how the resource is built. I'm understanding what the lesson should feel like. I see how the unit is. And it takes a long time to get there. This is this has been a challenge for our teachers who again have been using the same resource for quite some time. So, we're having breakthroughs. We're we're getting into our stride. Um the level of classroom discourse. Um I've had the opportunity to visit um Ana and I have been visiting um classrooms to check out the Desmos and see what it's looking like in action. And to see the level of discourse

048in the classrooms is phenomenal. It's really amazing to see the strategies that teachers are putting in place to boost that discourse. And again, the program is just designed to be done collaboratively. So the amount of language the students are using in the math classroom is awesome. The digital lessons and the centers um are both just people have given super positive feedback about the digital lessons. There's about one to two per unit and um the kids have been finding them very engaging. the teachers have said they've responded really well to it. So, that's been very positive. The centers are typically games where they're um promoting those fluency skills. Those have been very positive. And I put rigor on here as a celebration because that is our goal to increase the rigor for our students. But I

049also put it over here on our challenges side because it is it is not easy. Um and it's an adjustment for all of us. Um, not just because we're getting used to the resource because but because the resource it does have a higher level of rigor than what we had before by nature because our previous resource um very much lent itself to here's how we do it and now let's practice which was kind of a um it almost fostered more like mimicking whereas this resource is much more let's see what you do with this and now based on that what is the math and how do we build from that. So turning that model around increases the rigor because you can't mimic problem solving. Kids have to do that themselves. So that is something that

050we're still adjusting to and that's going to take us a while both for our students and our teachers to feel more comfortable with that. So that that's a lift for us. The the bullet I put on there about on-ramping, that's that's just us adjusting to the way we have to use vocabulary differently. um the way we use different strategies and models, the fact that we're jumping in and the program is is expecting that the kids already have some of these things in place, but they don't because they didn't use the resource last year. So that's hard. That's hard because again, the kids aren't exactly where we would typically be if we were using this resource and the teachers aren't where they where they'd be because they don't know what's coming next. So So that on-ramping

051is a process. A year from now, this will be a different story. And then I specifically called out first and second grades unit 2 because um we found those to be a real hot spot for us. Both of those grades were very open about the challenges they had. Um both of those units were heavy into um number stories. And so that is something that we're regrouping on and figuring out how can we put in extra supports so that next year that's a smoother process. What can we do over the summer to dig into it more? Um, again, I think the second year will be easier for a lot of reasons, but it's not going to make that necessarily all just go away. So, we need to think about how can we more be more strategic

052with the supports that we're providing. So, some next steps, um, as I mentioned, we're in the midst of our halfday grade level PDS. um continuing with that co-planning, co-eing, coming alongside and providing the the individualized supports. We have time at our January institute to um pull the teachers together as well. And then um planning out a whole lot of summer work um where we'll dive more deeply into the mathematics of each grade level. Um the teachers have expressed they could use additional support with organizing their materials and um and we need to look into common assessments because we had them previously. we have taken a hiatus while we're transitioning to the resource. So, we need to get aligned to that as well. Um, just a little bit of information on what we've done so far

053so far with regard to parent communications. Um, we did make sure we provided slides um for teachers to be able to use um at their curriculum night as well as at their parent teacher conferences so they'd be able to speak to parents about the resource and make sure they knew where they could access additional supports. Um, we did put information in the September parent newsletter and um, I'm going to be joining Dr. Conny's um, PTO president uh, meeting in January to talk with them about the resource and then perhaps use that as a springboard to be able to access um, PTO meetings within the buildings as well. So, one last thing, it's not a Desmos thing, but you may have heard that the state um, released a draft of their Illinois comprehensive numeracy plan in

054midocctober. So, I wanted to just give you a super highle overview on this. Um, I have everything linked there if you feel like checking out the 95page document. Um, you don't have to though because I did. Um, and and so, um, my my highlevel overview is the entire time I read it. Um, every what just kept coming into my mind is our CCSD21 balanced math proficiency framework that we put together several years ago. it absolutely 100% intersects with it. Um this is a resource that we um created to guide mathematics in every program for every learner regardless of what resources being used, what language is being used. This is what we expect math to be experienced in district 21. And so it includes our the a focus on the math practice standards which are the

055habits of mind that students need to be mathematical thinkers. Well, I again I teachers will laugh because I often talk in triangles when I'm talking about math because of that um the proficiency triangle where we need to be making sure it's a balance of conceptual understanding um procedural skill development and then problem solving and then a slew of best practices that um the students should be engaging in and that the teachers should be engaging in. Um that in a nutshell is what the numeracy plan is about. I I I I drew triangles all over it as I was reading it. So So that's great news because that tells me that we're not going to be looking at any dramatic shifts. Um they're coming out with their second draft in February and then they're hoping to

056finalize it over the summer. So unless they totally shake things up, um I think we should be in good shape. So that is our story. What questions do you have? >> Anyone questions? >> Just a quick question. Um, you talked about feedback from teachers. Is it too early to be seeing any feedback from parents? >> I think it is too early again because of those growing pains. I feel like the dust isn't quite settled yet, but yes, that is something on the horizon. >> Thank you. >> I just have a question about the PD. When you guys are doing your PDS, who is leading those? Are you doing them inhouse or are you using Amplify? >> Great question. Um, I'm a little um controlling when it comes to that. So we actually do it all

057in house. So that has been again between the um math specialists and the language specialists. Um that's they've been taking the lead on that and doing all the planning and that way we can align it with what are the needs that we know that the teachers have. What is the past work we've already done? What are the priorities in our district? So yes, that's something that we've been doing. Okay. >> Well, you are incredibly well spoken about amplify. So sounds like you know what you're doing. >> Thank you. [laughter] So when will we be able to start measuring the results of the program? Is that a year away? Is that two years away? >> Great question. Um so I know research commonly tells us that it is it's very typical to see a slide when

058you first do an adoption. Um this is complicated by some of the shifts of our measures at the same time, right? between the shifts in some of the the way I AR is reporting data as well as um MAP just came out with new norms this summer. So we've got kind of a lot going on there. I would expect certainly within two years, you know, it this is our year of kind of getting our benchmark data and then from year from there we would be able to make some comparisons. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Um just a just a comment and I can't remember where I got the email from maybe at the beginning of the year that the parents got. Um, so as a parent who got the information to be able to click

059and look at the system and actually see the different levels that our children are going through, I think is really helpful because what you laid out today is not how I learned math. That when my son starts to come home and ask for, you know, can you help me with my homework, it's nice to be able to speak the same language and not try to teach them the way I did, which is, you know, reverse to what everybody's learning today. Um, so I just think it's great the resources that that they have for um for parents and I wouldou encourage more of the parents to kind of check it out that you know I I saw some of the worksheets that he brought home and I was like, "Oh, okay cool. Now I know you

060know what lessons you're in." So I think um it's a great resources from a parents perspective as well. >> Great. Thank you. >> And also to add on to that also from a parents perspective um my daughter is a third grader so a lot of those problems that you had up there I was doing with my daughter not too long ago. Um, and we do come home with um, packets and it's for the unit that she's doing and it's very in detail showing me exactly because again it's not how I learned math either. So, it's nice that I'm able to follow along with what she's doing. So, it's great resources. Thank you. I I'll echo that as a parent as well. Seeing the way my children have learned math as a concept and a conversation

061and not just here's how you do the problem has given them just a much greater appreciation. And I think it has broken down so many of those like oh I can't do math. Math is scary. Like it's too hard. They know that they can approach any problem because they've been given so many tools and ways to come about that. they've taught me so much about, you know, things that I think I would have enjoyed math so much more had I learned in this more conceptual collaborative type environment. So, I thank you for taking us to this next step. Um, I'm really looking forward to your next update when you tell us how amazing our kids are doing because I think they're really they're really going to dig in and like said, it's it's it's going

062to help the parents come along as well and get more involved in their children's school work. So, thank you so much for this update. U, are there any other questions for Carolyn? Anyone? Okay. >> Thank you so much. >> Appreciate it. Thank you. Um, so, uh, thanks Carolyn. Appreciate it. Uh, just two quick updates that aren't on the agenda. Uh, first, uh, an introduction. Um, I just wanted to to introduce Marlin Rohouse, uh, who has joined us at the table. Uh, Marllin is u Dr. Schel's executive assistant. Um, has transitioned into that role u from, uh, her role in in uh, HR. uh and she is shadowing uh Leticia. Uh part of Marllin's role will be as a backup um to Leticia uh both uh from a board perspective um but then also uh supporting

063Freedom Information Act requests and so on and so forth. So um so Marllin is is joining us at the table um to learn how it's all done. So welcome to the table Marlin. >> Welcome. All right. Uh and finally tonight, um as the board knows, last week uh we put a uh survey out in the field. Um in a conversation that uh that Dr. Childris was having with her elementary um advisory uh council, um there was a question asked about um uh the district's um process as it relates to um either e-learning days or snow days or emergency days. Um and um so we decided um based on that conversation that we wanted to get some fresh data um some kind of uh concepts of where people were in their thinking around e-learning versus um

064emergency days or snow days or a school closure. Um and so we did put a both a parent survey and a staff survey out into the field. Um and just high level very quickly um our parent surveys um about a thousand um responses and that is split up between our English um Spanish, Russian and Ukrainian language um surveys and um just over 500 staff responses um which is over half of the staff um and um I I confess uh I was a little surprised um with uh some of the uh some of the results um and the survey is still open. It's going to be open until close of business tomorrow. We sent a kind of last call um for any responses earlier today. Uh but from the parent survey, it's about 60/40. 60 uh%

065in favor of continued e-learning days um and 40% um in favor of of uh traditional snow or school closure days. Um kind of a breakdown of those parental responses. uh just under 65% of the responses identified their children as being elementary age. Um about uh 21% um identified as being middle school and then just under 15% were both elementary and middle school. Um so we tried to capture the whole gamut there. Um, as far as our staff uh survey goes, again, just uh over 500 um 72% um to 28% uh 72% in favor of continuing e-learning days. Uh 28% um snow day uh or traditional closure. In terms of primary assignment, uh the breakdown there, 61% of the staff respondents were from the elementary level, um 33% from the middle school, and then 6% from

066our preschool staff. So um so again those are not final results. Um we still uh have more results to come in uh but then we will um kind of break it all down and and fully publish uh publicly all of the results um uh you know as we come back from from winter break. Um again uh this is really kind of useful information because and and as I said I was a little surprised because a lot of the narrative that I've been hearing is kind of more of a shift back to preferring a traditional snow day. Um and um it at least doesn't appear um as as if that that is the majority um kind of of viewpoint of of the staff and and of the parents who responded. So, you know, again, it's just

067good information to have. Um they're never usually clear-cut or easy decisions. Um you know, um but uh it it is uh good to have a little bit more of an update there. So, so anyway, >> can I excuse me? Um, quick comment. I think the reason why >> um people don't pick snow days anymore is because they realize that even a snow day isn't like an off day of school, it'll still be added at the end of the school year. True. >> So, just taking the e-learning day, it would just like >> instead of making school longer in some ways, it could just like end school like right on time. >> Yep, you're absolutely right. >> Astute observations. I was just going to shout out that I appreciated in the survey that you made it

068super explicit that snow days would mean we would have to add them to the calendar because I think people think we have days built in and that's a huge misconception that we can just take days and not make them up. >> Right. Y >> that was appreciated. >> And some districts do have days built in. Um 214 being one of them. But that's really that's a that's a contractual uh conversation because those are extra work days, right? It's and and that's, you know, so that's uh not something that we can just do. Um so, yep. >> Okay. And that concludes our staff communications. >> All right. Well, thank you again for doing that survey. It's it's always good to get input from our parents. Um okay, let's move on to public comment. Uh the board

069will allow any individual present to share a public comment for up to three minutes. Such comments should not include discussion of personnel matters which should be brought directly to the attention of the appropriate school official. During public comment, the board or administration will listen to comments but may not respond to the public. Uh Leticia has handed me a public comment card. Uh Ben, do you want to come on up? should probably be right on the the >> Thank you. Hello, my name is Ben Kulman and I am the current president of the District 21 Education Association which represents the teaching assistants, teachers, custodial staff, maintenance, school psychologists, occupational therapists, and administrative assistants who work for District 21. I'm happy to be speaking at the last meeting of the calendar year and I'm glad that we

070have no serious or pressing concerns at the moment. I wanted to mention two great things about my new teaching home at Cooper Middle School and then talk about an important District 21 benefit that has made a real difference in my career and in the careers of many other staff members. I guess this could be considered a Thanksgiving gratitude update part or maybe part two. I'm happy to report that I heard several positive comments from parents and students at the end of the first trimester about the new Project Lead the Way curriculum that I'm teaching medical detectives. I'm having a lot of fun. Excuse me. I'm having a lot of fun and it looks like more than a few of the students are too which is great. I hope that this program can be expanded to

071London and homes soon. Tomorrow the Cooper staff will be having a chili cookoff as well. We've done this at homes as well and I really enjoyed it. I'm not sure that everyone loves chili, but it's especially satisfying heading into a frigid weekend. For the record, I'm chili positive and I'm looking forward to trying everything tomorrow. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, I wanted to celebrate the tuition reimbursement program available to staff in district 21. I think, for example, the decision I made in my third year of teaching to pursue a masters in literacy instruction with a reading specialist endorsement was instrumental in my success as a reading and writing teacher at Holmes for so many years. That opportunity, partly funded by the tuition reimbursement program and partly by a teach grant, was an important moment in

072my development as a teacher. and I recommend that credent that credential to people all the time along with the ESL endorsement. The tuition reimbursement program isn't exorbitant, but it's enough to fund community college classes and content areas that can be helpful for subject area teachers as well. Happy holidays. Thank you for the chance to contribute and thank you for the work that you do in support of students and staff here in district 21. We are excited to be a partner in the decision-making process. >> Thank you, Ben. Uh Cass, any written public comment? Okay, very good. Um let's move right along into the consent agenda. Uh this month we received four Freedom of Information Act requests. Uh and there are board conference and travel expenses for us to approve in the amount of $1,87245. Uh

073I had an opportunity to sit down with Mike Zagger and go over the financial docs. uh and he was able to respond to my questions and requests for clarification. Thank you again, Mike, uh for the discussion uh and to Mike Francini and Glenn Molini for providing some explanations. Um does anyone need anything pulled from consent? Okay. Can I please get a motion to approve the consent agenda as presented? >> So moved. >> Second. >> All right. Jessica, >> yes. >> Debbie, >> yes. >> I vote yes. Arlland, >> yes. >> Ilana, >> yes. Bill, >> yes. >> Angelica, >> yes. >> Motion carries. >> Great. Thank you. All right, let's move on into new business. Uh, we have one item, the approval of the 2025 supplemental tax levy. Dr. Connelly. >> So, this is a

074routine item that the board undertakes every year um as we are finishing up our our lobby adoption process. Um the district issued limited tax um non-referendum bonds uh in three series uh in 2013, 2020, and also 2020. Um and so the associated annual debt service levies for these bonds um are capped um by the district's debt um service extension base or Dub um which was established at at the time of of um the tax caps uh going into law back in 1994. Um, and while the the DUB is adjusted annually for inflation, um, the district is required to direct the county um to increase the non-referendum bond levy to the full amount available under DUB um, every year. So, it's not an automatic process. Um, we have to make sure we're telling the county to

075do that. Um, so again, that's the action that the board will be taking this evening. >> Does anyone have any questions about this? Okay, great. Can I get a motion, please? >> So moved. >> Second. >> All right. Jessica, >> yes. >> Debbie, >> yes. >> I vote yes. Arlland, >> Yes. Bill, >> yes. >> Angelica, >> yes. >> Motion carries. >> Great. Thank you. All right, let's move on into board communication. We have a couple fun things tonight. Um, our first item is a recap of the 2025 joint annual conference um that we all attended right before. for Thanksgiving. Um, I honestly thought this is one of the best triple eye conferences that I've attended. Um, not just in terms of the professional development content that was provided, but you know, when you attend

076the same conference year after year, you start to notice all the extra little things that they add that just sort of ease your ability to participate. And I thought they really did a great job this year. Um, and the the first keynote speaker who was Verice Flygirl Armor, the first black female combat helicopter marine pilot. I think I got all the adjectives in there, but there were a lot. She was incredible. Um, but, uh, board members, I wanted us each to just take a couple of minutes to, uh, go through and share any comments or feedback uh, from our experience. Um, we'll just go around the table. Arlland if you want to kick us off. >> Surely thank you. So uh I I attended a number of workshops obviously um [clears throat] one which Debbie

077and I attended which was a excuse me unmitigated disaster that was uh fierce conversations. But on the other hand uh I did enjoy all the special speakers the uh general sessions. I enjoyed the time that we all had to be together and collaborate. Um, one of the good workshops that I attended was leading schools in a highly polarized world. I thought that was better. And introduction to collective bargaining, which I thought was pretty good. Um, I thought that the um, Fierce Conversations actually was was probably the best. I've got an extra copy of that and I could give it to anybody. But it was really worthwhile listening to because I think we're in a time that I've never seen before in my life when people's comments go way beyond what needs to be said in

078a certain situation and how and we do I think a very nice job. One of the other workshops that I attended that I thought was worthwhile was what would you do? I don't know if anybody ever watches the TV show what would you do which I think is pretty neat show and they duplicated that here where they school districts talked about the issues that they have and how would you not how they reacted how would you react as a fellow board member and I thought the situations were interesting and intriguing and different and certainly different than anything we've experienced at this board level thankfully but uh the kinds of crosshairs that people get themselves into on a board or it never ceases to amaze me. But so I want to thank everybody for being there

079and and and having time together as well. >> Thanks Aron Debbie. >> Okay. Thank you. Um on Thursday I attended the equity immersion session. Um it's something that was added just a couple of years ago. This year's attention was on storytelling from the perspective of the narrator. I personally experienced a lot of personal growth after this session. Um, which was kind of surprising to me. I just I wasn't I wasn't expecting that much internal growth on it. Um, what I appreciated the most was the way in which the books were compiled. These are paperback books usually um written by the perspective of trauma survivors. uh somebody who hurricane Katrina, there was another one on Hurricane Maria. There's um immigrants coming from South America. They're all separate books. Um these survivors were interviewed and then the

080narrator had the full then the interviewer would compile everything and then the narrator would get the book back and have full control. If they didn't like the word 'the' there, they wanted a it was changed. I mean, it was full control. Um, I do intend to order all of the books so that I can read them because they were just fantastic. Um, I should be getting them over the weekend. Uh, here is the paper from them. I'd like to I'll get send this over to Beatatric. Um, the it was the the power of us storytelling for just and joyful schools. And it was just just phenomenal. the speaker was one of the people who was writing the books. They had someone who was one of the narrators there. It was just fantastic. Um on Friday

081I attended two workshops. The first one I had high hopes for the leading in a highly polarized world which sounded like it would be fantastic and it was the worst session I have ever attended. Um I have told everyone at IASB how bad it was. I know several of us told us during the meet, during the session, how bad it was. Um, my afternoon session, I will have to say, was not very memorable either. At least it was not memorable, not memorable in a bad way. Um, Saturday was the delegate assembly, which I took lots of notes on. Um, there were 444 attendees out of over 800 districts in the state. So just over half sent a delegate. Um and it was that was only slightly over prior years. Usually it is right around like

082420. So it was only slightly increased. Um the consent agenda items for the uh constitutional amendments, four of them were pulled um for discussion, which made no sense because a lot of it they all passed with like 60 people voting no and 350 voting yes. So it was all passed with significant margin. As for the election of officers, Tracy Ser was elected from the Two Rivers Division with a vote, excuse [clears throat] me, a vote of 368 to 22. Um, she was our past vice president. Now she's up to president. And our very own Alva Kitzer, who was from is from district 214, was elected as vice president with a vote of 277 to 113. There was a nomination from the floor. It was the same person who nominated themselves in the floor last year

083with an almost identical number of votes. I think it was last year 114 votes. Um lastly was a new resolution regarding bus safety and that also passed resoundingly 344 to 10. Um one note about for next year for the delegate assembly. One of the constitutional amendments that passed had to do with instead of having two one-year terms as an officer, they have moved it to a single two-year term, so we will not have officer elections next year. Um hopefully it will make it a little bit quicker. I am not so sure. So other than that, I was wonderful meeting up with all of our people from other districts and just networking and getting all the information from all over the state. It was wonderful. Thank you. >> Thank you, Debbie. >> Being that it was

084uh my first conference, it was also my best, so I can [laughter] um but on Friday, I attended the uh the superintendent evaluation, which I thought was um it was really great to get an overview and they had a really nice calendar on how to kind of approach it for an entire calendar year and you know, things that we should be doing as opposed to just taking it as like a one-time thing at the you know, at the end of the year. And after that, they also me mentioned board evaluations. So, I went to the board evaluation. Um, I'll say I wasn't as impressed with that session as I was um with the superintendent evaluation. Um, but it was interesting to hear the different services that they offer for like self-evaluation workshops for the board,

085which is like step one and then like a board governance review. So, I know we discussed that we haven't done that in a while that that might be something that we want to um look into doing, you know, as as a board given that we have so many new people here. Um, Bill and I attended the follow me um social media um breakout, which was interesting to see how um different districts are handling social media. One of the interesting things that I that I heard was that some people have decided to turn off their comments since they know that there's different ways for the community um to communicate, you know, with the board specifically. That that I thought that was interesting. I'd be curious to see what, you know, everybody else's, you know, opinion on

086on something like that is or how big of an issue or how much time it takes for people to actually um respond to comments, but I thought that was interesting. Um I think one of my favorite um ones was on AI, just all the interesting things that are going on with AI and some of the notes that I took that um some of the other districts were using. There's a notebook LM which is a Google AI tool that they actually can do video briefings and podcast and all these thing and like a premeating briefing that like all the agenda items that we have instead of of course we're all reading through all the all the attachments and documents but to see like a you know a short podcast that can kind of give you a

087recap I thought that was um really cool that I never knew that type of technology existed and it sounds like some other districts are using that so I thought that was um very cool. That's what I What was the name of the >> LM LM? >> Notebook LM. They said it's a Google AI tool. >> It was cool. >> Thank you, >> okay, so it was also my first um hopefully have better ones. I ended up getting sick halfway through the conference, but that's okay. Um, so I did attend the board scenarios for new board members with Carrie and then I also did one called trust the key to successful educational leadership. Um, that one was really interesting. It was also a lot of like self-reflection um type of stuff. So I've attended conferences with

088BPAC before and I always leave these things very motivated and um empowered to like just be the best version of myself. So, I love um attending things like this. Very educational um a lot of good information and it was also very nice to be able to connect with board members from the entire state. Um and also makes me really appreciate our board because we uh were hearing some scenarios um you know from other boards across the state and yeah I'm very grateful for this board. [laughter] So, um I also did attend the AI and education. Maybe not so obsessed with it, but I'm uh more of like the old school. I'm not into the whole technology stuff. So, um but it was interesting. I kept an open mind. Um yeah, can't wait for next year.

089>> Great. Great. Bill, >> given that I've got my yellow legal pad in front of me, I think you might know what I think of AI, but um I did not attend that seminar. Um I was able to attend a pre-conference workshop on leveraging everyday interactions into growing the culture of the community. The interesting part of that is we had an opportunity they had invited a number of high school students there and one of the questions we asked the high school students was is is there something you would like to tell the board that you think that they don't know and the answer was they don't think we realize how tired they are physically tired due to all the demands on them not only from school but from everything else that they're doing. So, I

090thought that was just I was expecting something completely different and that's what came out. Um, yes, I did uh go to the uh social media presentation with Angelica. Yes, Main 207 has turned off all the commenting on their social media sites. Apparently, it was a brief brief flurry of uh concern about it and because there are so many other methods to communicate, it's turned out to be not that big of a deal. um heard presentations on collective bargaining and also on uh federal advocacy and Sunday morning I attended my first meeting of the IASB board of directors. >> Congratulations again on your new role there. >> Thank you. >> Um all right. I had an incredibly positive experience at conference. Um I think the takeaways as an educator and as a board member kind of

091balanced each other out. I thought it was great. Um I attended the new member scenarios with Ilana which was um very helpful. Again like talking with other districts and some of the challenges that they're encountering definitely you know brings things into perspective and makes you appreciate some of the wonderful things that we have. So that was great. Um my favorite session was that first day on Friday was the dollars and decisions. Um finances is def definitely my biggest area of growth. So that presentation was outstanding. so well organized, super fast-paced. I learned tons. So, that was great. Um, I attended collective bargaining. Um, the AI one, I'm with Angelica. I loved it. Um, the the focus was how districts are leaning into AI. So all of the presenters, you know, one was very board specific,

092one was more student specific, one was talking about how they've kind of put together committees and how they're trying to bring AI in a healthy way, prepare teachers to kind of use it professionally before they introduce it to students. I thought it was great. Um, a lot of great takeaways. Um, overall the entire vibe of the weekend just super positive, lots of great networking. I thought all the keynotes note speakers were very optimistic and um just a great experience overall. So, thanks for the opportunity to go. >> I'm I'm so glad the three of you I mean barring your illness of course uh you had a great first conference and hopefully many more to come. >> Um I too had a great conference. um not just the time that we spend together over meals uh

093just socializing with each other but um I attended a pre-conference class on Friday about the board presidency. Uh we reviewed the open meetings act FOYA and Robert's rules for orderly and efficient meetings. We take a very relaxed approach to Robert's which is certainly our choice. Um but it was clear from some of the other attendees that they need the structure. Um, Saturday I attended an incredible course on recruiting, hiring, and retaining diverse leaders of color. Uh, Dr. Childress and Lewis, I took lots of notes I'd like to go over with you just areas I think that, you know, we can improve on to ensure um, you know, our our staff and our workforce is diverse and welcoming and supportive. Um, and then Bill, I think you and I attended the same program with Round Lake

094School District about their journey from state oversight to stronger fiscal health. >> Um, and then like many of us, I attended the AI program. Um, I found it incredibly frightening. Um, [clears throat] and maybe that just shows my age, but when they showed the video of the self-driving semi on the highway, um, I was like, I would look for the nearest exit. >> Um, >> that was multiple years ago, that video. >> Yeah. And that was even >> like the scariest part when she told us the video was like from three years ago. I was like no thank you >> Terminator. Um Sunday uh in past years I've attended the session on uh being a board member and a parent. Uh but this year I transitioned over to the board president's roundt uh discussion which

095is a table discussion format just some really candid discussions with other presidents from other districts. Uh Debbie, you were there as well representing NSSO and it just, you know, these these roundt discussions, what I always take away is it seems no matter where we are in Illinois or what size district, you know, the the representative comes from, we all face so many of the same issues that it really it helps us connect. It helps us provide, you know, solutions, guidance, a shoulder to cry on if need be. Um, but it was just overall it was a great weekend to connect with all of you and our our friends from around the state. Um, and if you haven't already, please make sure that you complete the postconference survey from IASB. I know they do uh take

096that very seriously. Um, but great, I think, you know, we all had a great time and we'll look forward to next year. >> Um, >> say one additional thing. Oh yeah. uh that if with our presentation on our staff that were presenting at events, Dr. Connelly did omitted the fact that he presented. >> Yes, that's right. Our very own Dr. Connelly. [laughter] >> Well, yeah. I mean, so we uh it was a joint presentation. >> Yeah. >> Uh it was a joint presentation between um District 21 and District 59. um and kind of recapping our year of of of well 18 months of of learning and as we shared services uh with our director of security uh and now since both districts have really um decided that it was a full-time role in both places

097um just kind of recounting um our journey there and and um it was a was a good session. So yeah, for sure. >> All right, let's move on to board champion updates. Uh just so anyone who doesn't know already um each of the five goals of the strategic plan were assigned to a board member. Uh that board member is referred to as the board champion. Um I was assigned the goal of social emotional growth. I recently met with Dr. Connelly and Sher Massa uh who provided me with her plan for the remainder of this school year and the next two years of the strategic plan uh addressing the concepts of discipline, our health center sustainability and our SEAL curriculum. Um just 30,000 foot overview uh under the discipline tab. Um Sherry is working has has

098created a representative group across the district of the elementarymentaries and the middles uh with the goal of creating a cohesive uniform district framework which should lead to more consistency in expectations of behavior consequences communications and data reporting. working with principles on reporting processes so that we have better data and planning district-wide professional development taught by our own uh behavioral specialists. Um, and I just I want to shout out to Sher because she's here uh for taking these steps to help identify what I think we can agree are some shortcomings in our approach to discipline um and working directly to address them. Uh, in fact, earlier today, I attended uh I think that was the second meeting of the district-wide behavioral committee uh just as an observer to see what was going on. And um you

099know, I was I was I was really impressed with the the smoothness, the fluidity, and just the amount of material that the the committee uh went through and I'm really looking forward to seeing how this plays out as our our process evolves. Um Sher and I also discussed uh her plans to improve our health center offerings uh and experiences including um some of the flu vaccine days that were added last year offering more of those for students and staff. And just final bit that the curriculum is set to be reviewed in the third year of our strategic plan. So stay tuned more on that to come. Um, and I think Iana, you had your meeting with your director today with Anya. Um, could you provide a brief overview of of where you are in the

100goal? >> I met with um Ana and Dr. Connelly right before this meeting. Um, we I was assigned to the meeting the unique needs of learners. Um so she kind of just did an overview um of what has been done and coming uh for winter of 2026. Um and then there's also going to be some more stuff that is going to get implemented in the within the next two years as well. Um, one of the things that we did discuss was just conducting a comprehensive um, evaluation of the preschool program. Um, and just kind of uh, making sure that all buildings are, you know, um, following same uh, thing and then also um, ESL and bilingual services programs. Um, so yeah, >> great. Thank you. And to the other members that are our champions, um

101I believe you'll be getting those initial meetings together in January. >> Yeah. So, uh Leticia has been uh working hard and uh confirming those dates. Uh so, yeah, after the first of the year, we'll we'll round them out. Yeah, >> sounds good. We'll look forward to that in January then. Um Debbie, could you give us an update from NSSO? >> Certainly. I am pleased to say that once again we had our clean audit. The auditor came in and presented to us. Uh there were a couple of things that needed that were brought to our attention but it was more accounting changes that had been made um at the state level. So it was just changing things that way. Um I am ecstatic to say that the articles of agreement have passed and so beginning in

102January we will have we will be operating under a two board system. The governing board which is the elected representatives and all the superintendents I've been attending the past three of the superintendent council meetings which will now be considered an operating board. Um so on January 2nd that's when that takes effect. Um the governing board will continue to operate with just as we have. The only difference is we've decided that a January meeting is not necessary. So I will not have um a governing board update. Um we had our meeting last week and then we have two weeks and then we have winter break and then so not much gets accomplished during that time. Um, this is how we've handled uh July for the past several years. Uh, so what they do is they will

103send us the expenses that need to be paid and we'll look them over and approve them and then just we'll go back into doing everything in February. Um, their first the operations board will have their first meeting in January. I will still be attending those. Those are OMA meetings. So now anyone will be able to attend them. They will also be recorded and you'll be able to get them off of the website reviewing if you want to. Before our meeting, we had a policy committee meeting where we move forward with all but two of the policies. Uh 440 has to do with issuing bonds and NSSO cannot issue bonds. So, we just are not doing that one at all. And the other one was 7190 specifically stated about reporting if guns were seen and we

104believe that that should be changed to just weapons because kids have been bringing things other than guns to schools. Um and we are reviewing with this with our attorney and we will proceed accordingly. We be in negotiations and that's pretty much all we can say on that. They haven't done that much. They've only had one meeting. Um, what was amazing is all of the schools at NSSO are already over projected enrollment and we don't usually hit that point until after the first of the year when we even get to projected enrollment because there's normally that's when we get a lot more kids. Um, but it's seems like we're going to have some issues with that. Um, we will be getting more students at the beginning of 2026, but just so everyone's aware for board members

105and the audience, any student that we recommend go to NSSO, NSSO will take because we are a member district, they will automatically take it. Um, we NSSO does accept students from non-member districts. However, those districts do pay a premium for their tuition and if there's not room, we will say no until we can get room. So, it's member districts first. That's one of the definite benefits for being a member district. Um, and lastly, the annual institute day. They do a joint an institute day is on January 5th. Uh, this is the second year that they're holding it out at Harper. And as of our meeting on the 3rd, they already had 1,181 registered for the sessions that they have out there. And over 200 people were already weightlisted. Now, they had initially they set up

106their rooms they have these sessions in smaller. So, all they had to do was expand it out and they would have room for everybody, but they didn't want to have all the room in this room that not many people wanted. So, they booked it that way. Um, everybody will be able to attend. And anyone that's familiar with Harper, we are taking over buildings WD and E. So, NSSO is taking over three full buildings out at Harper. Um, [sighs and gasps] wish, pick a god and pray, whatever, for good weather because they have a lot of speakers coming in from out of state >> and so we want to make sure that they can get there and all of our staff can get there. And this is not just NSSO staff. This is for all of

107the member districts and this is something that is offered free of charge. So this is this is an off a awesome opportunity. Um so that's it for NSSO. >> Great. Thank you Debbie. Um Bill Ed. >> Thank you Jessica. Um Ed held its monthly meeting last week. There was an interesting presentation from Chapman and Cutler. They're a school law firm and bonding firm on the different types of short-term borrowing available to school districts in consideration of the late collection of property taxes this year. Um that includes tax anticipation warrants, lines of credit, and something I didn't realize, which is you could borrow from a more flush school district. Fortunately, it appears that we will not need to cross that bridge this year. There is one hot bill that Ed Reddd is tracking. Senate Bill 1873

108is another cell phone ban or limitation bill that in its current form offers less flexibility to school districts than last session's bill proposal had. As cell phones in schools and limiting them is a governor's initiative, this bill does bear watching. Finally, a reminder, Ed's annual legislative dinner will be held on Monday, January 26th at Stevenson High School. Registration information should be emailed to you shortly. And that's it for Red. >> Great. You want to do ISB? >> Here we go. Um, ISB had an online kickoff for the advocacy ambassadors program. Member advocacy is becoming a point of emphasis for the organization. IASB's legislative priorities for the year include continued focus on curriculum and instructional mandate relief and educational funding primarily in the proper funding of mandated categoricals. Upcoming events for UASB January 16th, February 20th,

109and March 20th, there'll be additional advocacy ambassador webinars. On March 24th, there will be a state advocacy day in Springfield sponsored by IASB. Watch more information on that coming in your email. And for those of you who like to travel, September 21st to 23rd, um there's a co there will be COSBA federal advocacy days in Washington DC. And that's it. >> All right. Very good. Um Arlin, any North Cook updates? >> Uh nothing new. We have our holiday party next week. Um, and we have a meeting in January. I would expect I'll hear more. I've heard nothing on the development of the new building, new facility. I do have one other thing though, very exciting to report if I might, Madame President, and that is that uh Wheeling Township and the 708 board approved finally

110after four years of fighting, but the new boards approved a million5 of new funding for mental health and disabilities in Wheeling Township. It's an enormous day. I'm so proud to have been part of that and so proud of the team that put it together and the new boards that have approved it. 24 different grants have been uh looked at. I'll get you a list of the organizations in our community that are receiving grants uh from the 708 board. So very very exciting day. >> All right. Thank you. >> Um [clears throat] any members have updates for local government or liaison updates? Uh please remember to send those in next month for inclusion in the January agenda. Um and then our last item under board communication is the student representatives to the board. >> Yeah. So

111um tonight uh we've asked our student representatives um to talk with the board uh about um some activity that uh they took part in as long along with the entire superintendent student advisory council um on our school lunch program. Um, and so, um, without any further setup, I'm going to turn it over to Alex. >> So, for the December updates for Cooper, um, cheer and basketball have had a great season so far, but are sadly coming to an end this month. The wrestling season has officially started, and it's off to a great start. The second map test of the school year has come to an end. And lastly, winter break will be starting soon, causing excitement in all grade levels. For the food service update, many students have mixed ideas or feelings about food. Some

112students love the food while others do not. And there are very mixed feedback about wanting healthier options, but also wanting options that are tasty. Lastly, kids had good ideas for improving lunchroom efficiency for the food service slides and updates. We had a superintendent advisory meeting where we learned about some of the options we can use for entre and we will be exploring food tasting through some student tasting and sample groups. Thank you. >> Good good evening everyone. Um so last week we went uh to the we had a superintendent advisory meeting and we discussed noise level in the cafeterias. Much much of this rests on students to support this challenge and we also brainstormed ideas like finding alternate areas to eat besides just the cafeteria. So many of these solutions will need both students and

113staff support in brainstorming. We also sent out a food survey and a lot of the students said that cleanliness was a big challenge at all of the schools between lunch periods and noise was also brought up a lot. Some students say it was too loud. We'll need to discuss this more at each building about solutions and updates from London. London boys basketball for 8th grade is doing amazing. The eighth grade team is currently first seed, meaning that they're the best team in the league. And tonight we played Cooper and sorry Alex, but we beat them. [laughter] And then wrestling that started. And then vol girls volleyball triyouts will begin after winter break. And then we had an orchestra concert on Monday which I played in and it went amazing. >> Great. >> Uh Selma wasn't

114able to join us this evening, but I do have her update um as well. Um some of reports from homes that um they just finished up their basketball season um with Palms and now starting the wrestling season and volleyball. Um they're having their variety show on December 17th. Um they had their band concert last evening uh on December 10th. Um and they'll be having auditions for their musical uh coming up after winter break. Um as uh it um relates to the food uh survey update um and the advisory meeting. uh some reports back that um learned many um students want more restaurant type foods um and then also uh in that meeting learned why many of those foods would not work um for a school uh breakfast or lunch. Um uh someone reports that she

115was very surprised um to learn that the National School Lunch Program of which we are a part has 302 pages of rules um that need to be followed. Um the uh she also reports that during the the superintendent advisory meeting um that those assembled played a game um where they um did some learning around what makes up a full meal um according to the National School Lunch Program. Um and um we're given an opportunity to kind of take a look at some some pictures of of lunch trays and determine whether or not those constituted a full meal or not. Um they had buzzers that they could go up and and uh ring in on. Um and that activity was was put together by um by Chris Leatino and um our um food service directors from

116Organic Life. Um really was a great um afternoon presentation. a lot of learning going on. Um it really did blow some minds um when they saw that 300 pages of regulations. Um and also that the Pop-Tarts that they have, even though they're called Pop-Tarts, aren't the same Pop-Tarts that they get in the stores. Um and that was um specifically um shaking up a member of the London group who lamented, "Is my entire life a lie?" um which I had to laugh at and say yes. Yes, it is. Um but it was actually a great afternoon and and uh a lot of fun. So >> that's awesome. >> Um okay. Well, thank you both for your input on that. I know breakfast and lunch is a huge part, especially lunch can be a make or break

117for your day. So your input is incredibly valuable. Um all right. Um, our next regular meeting of the board of education um is scheduled for January Thursday, January 15, 2026 at 7 p.m. Um, I'd like to wish everyone a safe, warm, and happy holidays and a restful winter break. We are going to go into close session next and we'll adjourn from closed. We will not be returning to open session to take any action. So, thank you all for coming and we will see you all next year. Um, be it resolved, the board of education approves to recess the district 21, December 11th, 2025 regular board of education meeting and convene in close session to discuss the appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance, or dismissal of specific employees, specific individuals who serve as an independent contractor in

118a park, recreational, or educational setting, or specific volunteers of the public body or legal council 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 and to discuss the purchase or lease of real property for the use of the public body, including meetings held for the purpose of discussing whether a particular parcel should be acquired. May I have a second, please? >> Second. >> All right, Jessica, >> yes. >> Debbie, >> yes. >> I vote yes. Arllen, >> Yes. Bill, >> yes. >> Angelica, >> yes. >> Motion carries. >> Thank you. The board will now go

119into close session. Again, we will not be returning to open session. Thank you very much. Have a good night.