001This is the December 9th, 2025 meeting education. Please rise for the pledge of allegiance to the flag in the back room of life. I alian to the flag of the United States of America and to the stands nation under God, indivisible, liberty and justice for all. Roll please. >> Dr. Bigwell >> here. >> Dr. Ferris. >> Mr. Gilmore >> here. >> Mr. Hadley >> here. >> Mr. Homo. >> Hi. >> Mr. Melli >> here. >> Mr. Pesy >> here. Okay. Agenda. Please say so. Now there's a personal on your desk whenever anybody is ready to just motion first material agenda motion to read and approve the consent agenda agenda including the December 9th 2015 personnel >> second motion by Mr. Gre second by Dr. Good. Roll call, please. >> Mr. Paresi, >> yes. >> Dr.
002Bidwell, >> yes. >> Mr. Huain, >> Mr. Henley, >> yes. >> Mr. Melli, >> yes. >> Mr. Gilmore, >> yes. >> Okay. We're joined by two outstanding staff members. So, Wednesday of education school district 200 wishes to recognize the contributions of these individuals and where district 200 has these accomplishments accomplishments. Now therefore we call the board of education which school district 200 hereby special recognition and certificate of achievement on behalf of the citizens of the district. Second motion by Mr. Gilmore, seconded by Dr. Bidwell. Roll call, please. >> Mr. Gilmore, >> yes. >> Dr. Bidwell, >> yes. >> Mr. Pesy, >> yes. >> Mr. Homo, >> yes. >> Mr. Headley, >> yes. >> Mr. Mulli, >> yes. All right. Tonight I'm here uh to join recognizing two of our amazing side staff members. So first
003I want to introduce and recognize one of our wonderful associates at Creekide, Miss Tony Sebastian. Doesn't take long to know Miss Tony has a gift for making everyone feel welcome. She's a person who always genuine smile every time she passes in the hallway. Miss is dedicated to our students. Staff is very flexible and does whatever is necessary to provide the crucial supports that our students need. So, thank you so much for your commitment, your positive energy and for being such aable and cherished member of our staff. I'm going to have siblings Josh and Rachel come up and share their thoughts on what makes Miss Tony such an amazing person. [clears throat] You are kind, you are smart, you help me with problem solving, you help me with science make it extra fun. Thank you for
004helping me. Miss Tony helps you with my book. [clears throat] She helps me. Miss Tony helps me. She added your green heart to my monster. Heat. Heat. >> [applause] >> introduced to you as a teacher here. She's deeply committed to our students in her own classroom. She also serves as a teacher leader staff. She's an expert in provides professional development on those strategies and most importantly she support strategies in our classrooms to her [clears throat] students. She's a professionally known as the mom to her care and dedication. She holds her success. Mrs. O school's commitment to excellence. So that students and janessa what makes Mrs. amazing. Heat. Heat. [music] Heat. Heat. Sure. Now usually support and Heat. Heat. >> [clears throat] >> Heat. Heat. [applause] >> [applause] >> Thank you. Congratulations. [applause] Okay. For those
005of you who are here primarily for the recognition, uh this is usually short for those people who don't want to stay out. You're welcome to stay. Thank you for coming. You're welcome. It is about understand some people don't really uh we'll start in just a minute or two. Uh for those of you who are inside, thank you so much for coming. Heat. Heat. >> [clears throat] >> Okay. Then the next item on our agenda is our communications. Communications require community members district to be an issue. There's a sign sheet on the phone to identify name address phone number organization representative and a brief description of topic to be addressed. Comments are generally limited to [clears throat] 3 minutes and board policy 2 colum 230 and otherwise covered by board policy 2 column 230. Do we
006have anybody who signed up? Is there anyone who wishes to address the board at this time? You sign up or not? Okay. Uh let's just quote comments and move on to that staff comments. Are there any staff comments? Comments. Mr. Py and I attended the collage concert last night for the high school here. Great time to see the kids all all semester and get ready to have a little holiday cheer uh through the high school. So, I'm sure those of you who have got kids involved are going to want to take advantage of those opportunities. So, they did a great job. We're very pleased with really enjoyments. Okay. super that's true about the school year for any service about really excited about Jerry first week last Next Monday to see something great at this year.
007Thank you. Thank you. Okay, next item is our monitor report which is social and emotionally emotional state. >> So Ryan and I are going to dive in um on one specific aspect of social emotional and it's that sense of belonging. We've really done a lot of work I would say over the last couple of school years on making sure that our students are feeling connected uh with staff members, friends, peers. And so the first part of there I just kind of talk a little bit about what is student learning when we're talking about and in terms of the school environment. Um so it's really that sense of connection, acceptance and inclusion that they feel with their teacher, their peers, other staff that are in the building. We want them to feel valued and respected and
008supported by those teachers and peers in the school community. And I thought this was interesting when I was kind of researching this topic. Um in 2023 there was a release of um an advisory saying that we're kind of in this crisis of people feeling more isolated and um having a lack of connection. And so kind of again we've just been really focusing on this in the last two years. And so um I wanted to share a little bit about what we're doing to increase that level of connectivity and sense of belonging amongst our students and our staff in the district. So we're going to kind of dive into this as far in terms of our three levels. So we're going to start with our elementary level. And so one of the things that uh we
009started actually started first at Prairwood and the deans kind of taken it on and so they've got this up and running. But we have a house leader system. And so in this house leader system we have students who apply to be a house leader and then they're typically like fourth and fifth graders. And then they are in charge of then a group a smaller group of five or six students and they're part of a house. And so you can see here the picture at the bottom. These are both dean and you can see we have five different houses. Their shirts are in Spanish. Um and so all students in the building then are part of one house and they're led by um several students that are part of a specific group. But they go over,
010you know, they talk a lot about building positive relationships. they go over character traits throughout the year. Um, but this has been a really nice connection for some students across those two buildings and we're looking at possibly expanding that to other buildings that we have that we have up and running. And then another thing we've done at the elementary level, um, this is our second year, but we've had principal advisory groups that meet monthly with our principles. Um again they're really it's it's a time where those students can provide their student voice to the principles on what what are the school culture and things that they want to do within the school building. Um we've had school building survey students on the climate culture and then focus on how do we make them feel safe
011supported and connected at school. And so that's been another a really great thing. just taken on different directions at different buildings, but it's been a really meaningful thing that we incorporated for the last um Brian's going to dive in a little bit about what we're doing at the middle school. >> Yeah, at the middle school um the key point like our goal is really that student voice and hearing from the kids cuz they're at that age where you know their voice is important and and mean something. So, one of the big things that we offer sixth grade coming to Creek and Northwood is our web program. I know we shared a lot about that over the last year or so. That's really just been a huge piece of making sure students feel like they belong
012and feel like they're welcome both at that side. Um we've also focused on moments of genuine connection and these are just purposeful little moments for our teachers um that they keep track of making sure that they're trying to make a connection with a student, every student in their classes. So they actually keep track of that um just a class roster and they just so no one falls through the cracks. um where they just say, "Hey, what'd you do this weekend?" Right? It's it's a quick 10-second um little pit to build that rapport. Um and then, you know, the biggest thing over the last couple years is the long survey. So, in the fall, late winter, early spring, we have a student take a survey. Also, they have action, they have a staff action. Um so,
013one of the big pieces of data really interesting um is that you know students this sixth grade you know 70% of them fall and then fall 19% and we look at it and we identify students action and for our problem solving process we identify those kids and we assign a teacher to them to try to build that connection and and again um again the other piece is the sense of belonging that we ask kids on a scale of 1 to four how they feel like they belong in school absolute I feel like I belong and one being that you know we do not we started this back in May of 2024 so this is our current eighth grade group and again you can see that you know we went from 3% which actually wasn't a
014bad start in the first place all the way to less than 1% feeling like they belong um and all the way up to 53% feeling like they have something belong. So the numbers are trending in the right direction and again we're just being a lot more purposeful about making sure that we're building that rapport with kids so that they feel and I know you're also familiar with the link group but a couple of things that they've incorporated this year that are new. um you know sometimes it's hard to get high school students who want to go do things right and and be involved in different things with school but they had a great fall fest with over half of the freshman class participating in that and it was led by the link leader league crew
015leaders and so they led that they put it on so again another great leadership opportunity for our lead crew leaders um but it was just that opportunity for them to make connections they had all kinds of volleyball soccer they did uh pumpkin decorating uh face painting um And then one other thing that they've incorporated this year, they've started doing academic support sessions. And so there's a variety, the topics are chosen by a committee of 11th and 12th graders. Those topics can vary based on the need, but it might be something around peer pressure or um time management, study tips. And so we've been utilizing those half days that we have throughout the year for professional or for teachers. So in the morning they're using those half leaves to kind of push into classrooms and provide
016different information and again another support and helping them to feel connected but at the same time giving us valuable information to certain high school years. So those are these are two things that we've um done at the high school level this year a couple times just 15 there was really great for sure. Does anybody have any questions or comments for Ke? >> I think it's great that the freshman crew is involved in the planning of that event, too. I think that's what he's doing. He gets more eye there. student schools are not doing anything other schools or >> Well, everybody's doing their principal advisory groups, but the it started at Curry when I was like 3 years ago, maybe four years ago. and then being caught on and then you know they're having more discussions
017about possibly moving that to other schools but that's where it lives right now I think for one of the things that happens is that you know we have a baseball festival and kids all get involved you know here our I mean the course of the school year and more things get more and more active but that these kind of tend to be great we just don't have the they're not being maintained or maintain the connections and so forth. very truth to that. Uh very far, you know, try and clean a little bit and bring all that, you know, anything back for sure. Um yeah, same people. And same thing with web. Um, we do one first semester where the sixth graders come with their web leaders and we did donuts and games and things in
018a movie in the cafeteria. We're going to be doing one next week too as well. So, just to keep those sixth graders connected. I say the other thing is we have so many opportunities at middle school and high school to be involved in clubs, beer, music like you saw last night, sports, right? So kids really trying to tap into those different, you know, clubs and and resources that we have in the baseball, you know, people do a good job of connecting to one single of interest, right? And that goes back to teachers really knowing students saying, hey, we have this club that we should join that. So we do a good job of really offering a wide range of things to really gather, you know, kids and their different questions or comments or any thoughts
019on what's on social emotional. >> Thank you. It's really good to hear about the intentional identification and outreach for the kids who are feeling families. Yeah. Heat. and in the fall like hey so put down all staff if there's nothing else thank you for the presentation and thank you for the hard work you guys put in Okay. So, this is the first is the approval of resolution approving the 2025 tax. >> All right. I just wanted to bring this back to your attention part of our budget process and our revenue. So, a couple of the key things I just wanted to remind you of. Um, again, we're still estimating that our EAB will increase about 9%. And the good thing is is that the EAB increases, the tax rate goes down. It's a it's an
020inverse relationship. So, that helps us with this. But um couple things that are really important that we're that we've worked hard to make happen. We're actually asking for or levying less than we did last year by about 639,000. That's that's a big it's that's a really important factor. Um we're also bringing the tax rate down in the district uh to 499 as opposed to it's actually going down499 from 5.4473 to 4.9474. It's a it's a really good thing to be able to do for our taxpayers at this point in time. So, those are just a couple things. Nothing has really changed since we spoke in November. The only thing you have to keep in mind that although it hasn't changed, there's also these are estimates. So, we'll get final numbers from the county in the
021spring, but I don't anticipate them changing much. But those are the really big key things that are happening with this levy. There's one more thing that I want to bring to your attention. It's on the very last page of the levy package. if he requires us to kind of do a a kind of litmus test on our fund balances. And what they ask is that you take the last three years, you take the average of the last three years for your main operating funds and then you multiply that by 2 and 12% or by two and a half times. If your total fund balance for those three operating funds is greater than that, you essentially have to enter into some kind of a reduction. We're not anywhere near that. So, there's no issue for us.
022And actually, our fund balances will decrease on on January 15th because we're going to make a big debt payment. So, um, just something that I wanted to bring to your attention. So, if you have any questions and I know we've gone through we've gone through the levy packet and we've talked about it frequently, but do you have any questions related to that? I mean, the big big talking points are the fact that we're reducing what we're asking for, which is kind of unheard of these days. So, it's it's a good thing while reducing our rate. Any questions on that? Does anybody have any questions regarding the approval of resolution approving the 2025 tax for comments? Okay. If not, there's a suggested motion on 86 materials. Move to wave the reading and approve the resolution authorizing
023the final tax levy for the year 2025. >> Second motion by Mr. Henley. Second by Mr. Holman. Roll call, please. >> Mr. Headley. Yes, >> Mr. Homo. >> Yes, >> Mr. Curtis. >> Yes, >> Dr. Bog. >> Yes, >> Mr. Melli. >> Yes, >> Mr. Gilmore. >> Yes. >> Okay, the next item is the approval of budget development parameters and substance for the 2026 2027 budget. >> Okay, we're starting to talk about the 2627 budget, which falls right in line with the levy because that's a big piece of our revenue in the budget. But the other thing is we start looking at what kind of parameters we're going to or assumptions we're going to utilize in building the budget. So, it's very early on because we won't bring you a final budget till September of
0242026. So, granted, this will change and we're kind of putting together our best estimate or our best guess as far as what we anticipate things to look like at that point in time. But, as you'll notice, number 10 in this list of parameters and assumptions is budget parameters and assumptions will change. Yes, they will. But at least, you know, it gives us a starting point as far as what we're going to try and do and what we'll incorporate as we go through this process. Throughout each one of these items, I've stayed really conservative with it. Just slight increases on the revenue side, slight increases on the expense side, just because there's a couple big things that have changed for us. We're not we've been moved to a tier 2 district, which means we get a
025little bit less EBS funds, but not a significant change for us. And also, some of our uh revenues that we've received in the past, like from state revenues have have kind of flattened out a little bit. So, in that regard, just kind of trying to stay on the conservative side with these parameters. But, as I mentioned a couple minutes ago, it will change. It's it's a starting point. Actually, I'll probably start building the budget over Christmas break. So, it just gives you an idea as far as what we're thinking assumption wise so we're not way out there and you know, it will change as we go forward. >> Any questions? >> Any other questions? 2026 2027 budget consumption. If not, there's a suggested motion on page one of our materials move to approve the budget
026development parameters and assumptions for use in appropriation of the 2026 2027 tens budget. >> Second by Mr. Py second by Mr. Roll call, please. >> Mr. Paresy. Yes, >> Mr. Melli. >> Yes, >> Mr. Homo. >> Yes, >> Dr. Biglock. >> Yes, >> Mr. Hedley. >> Yes, >> Mr. Gilmore. >> Yes. >> Okay. And the last item on our agenda is the approval of the Mary Andress Elementary School chiller system replacement. For a new chiller essentially for essentially your chiller is it's an air conditioning unit. It's not a you know a walk-in freezer or anything. There's there's the name sometimes can be confusing, but we it was really nice. We had five different uh companies actually submit their bids and we worked with our architects W and associate and uh we luckily had a really
027nice low bid from a company that has done work around here in the past and is reputable. So, uh we're bringing that to you for your approval. Anybody have any questions or comments regarding the approval of the Mary Andrew's charter? I guess I was surprised by how low that's relative to the other substantially and there's no concerns there. We you said reputable so how do we know that? >> Yeah, actually um we worked with our architects to vet this vendor and also they have also done work for other school districts in the area. So we were able to at least contact them and see if they had any issue with them. So that we've been really cautious about that because we've been burned in the past couple years by a vendor that was the lowest
028bidder. But uh >> this is everybody 20% lower the next. >> Well, the one that we really expected, we were hoping for was Jensen's, but they have since changed hands and um not the same. So um but otherwise, I think I think we're feeling pretty comfortable with this vendor. So >> yeah, I know I was a little concerned by it. happily hold it. >> I I can also say we have worked with Esatelli many of times our office has and what we see is when a common big player in the in any practice uh kind of leaves a district for any given reason, you'll see competitive desire to get in right away. Right? So this is just a textbook. Hey, we want our name in the district now so that as we move forward that
029you already know who they are. They want to work with you guys. And again, we've worked with them in the past. They've done great work. They've been on budget. They've been on schedule. So, we felt pretty comfortable moving forward with them. >> I'm just concerned about the quality. I think it's wonderful. >> Oh, yeah. I just want to make sure we have reputable places, >> of course. And and another ad too was was the uh acceptance of uh alternate one for the uh surf pumps. So, we got two circulation pumps that will be included in that package as well. And we'll still be under budget. So, thank you. >> Thank you. >> Thanks. Do you have any other comments or concerns? No, this is just a motion on page 103 to award contract for spring
030uh summer 2026 children replacement at Mary Andress Elementary School to C as he for a total bid price of 48,000. >> Second motion by Mr. Bley roll please >> Mr. >> Yes. Mr. Hadley. >> Yes. >> Mr. Melli, >> yes. >> Mr. Paresi, >> yes. >> Dr. Pedwell, >> yes. >> Mr. Gilmore, >> yes. Next item is our committee reports. Any committees have any reports since our last meeting? All right. There no more committee reports. Uh, I'd like to thank you all for a great 2009. Looking forward to 2025. Looking forward to seeing you all in 2026. But thank you all for your efforts this last year and happy holiday you and your families. Um, and look forward to seeing you in 2026. With that motion, second roll. >> Mr. Homo. >> Yes. >> Dr.
031Bidwell. >> Yes. >> Mr. Paresi. >> Yes. >> Mr. Melli. >> Yes. >> Mr. Headley. >> Yes. >> Mr. Gilmore. >> Yes.