President Harden, before you begin today's meeting, I would like to read a few announcements. Good morning. Welcome to the 10/30/2025 special board meeting. Before we start the meeting, I would like to share a few safety points and next meeting announcements. Please note that the primary exit and entrance to the boardroom is the door which you used to enter this morning. If you're leaving the room, please use this door. The restrooms are outside the boardrooms to your left. During the meeting, we ask that you keep all aisles and exits clear. If you need any assistance during the meeting, please wave the attention of one of
our security officers. Mark your calendars for the upcoming meetings. We will have a special board meeting that is scheduled for Tuesday, 11/04/2025 at 10:30AM. Note that the November and December meetings are consolidated and will be held in December. The next ARC meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, 12/03/2025 at 10:30AM. The next board meeting is scheduled for Thursday, 12/18/2025 at 10:30AM. The ARC and board meetings and special board meeting will be held at 42 West Madison Street Garden Level Boardroom.
For details on how to register to speak or observe at the meetings and to learn about the speaker lottery process, please visit the Chicago Board of Education website, cpsb0e.org. If you have any questions about registration or public public participation, please contact the board office for assistance. Thank you for joining us today. President Harden, we are now ready for you to begin the meeting. Good morning, everyone. Welcome to the Chicago Board of Education special meeting. Today is 10/30/2025. I'm president Sean b Harden. On behalf of my fellow board members, thank you for joining us today.
We're holding today's special meeting in the boardroom at CPS Loop office, 42 West Madison Street Garden Level. I'd like to note that the board members and senior leadership are physically present in the boardroom. Registered speakers may join us in person or virtually if they've opted to do so, and registered observers are joining us in person. A special board meeting of Thursday, 10/30/2025 is hereby by our call to order. Board secretary, please call the roll. Thank you. Member Smith? Present. Member Lopez? Present. Member Velez? Present. Member Boyle?
Here. Member Wallace? Present. Member Custer? Present. Member Pope? Here. Member Rosenfeld? Here. Member Rivas? Here. Member Brown? Here. Member Rio Sierra? Member Bannon? Present. Member Biggs? Present. Member Thodakura? Here. Member Blaze? Present. Member Zachor? Here. Member Lozano? President Harden? Present. We have 18 members present. We do have a quorum. I'd also like I'm sorry. Member Gutierrez who is joining virtually via Zoom?
Present. Thank you. 19 members present. We do have a quorum. I'd also like to recognize Libby Massey, managing deputy general counsel, and doctor Alfonso Carmona, chief education officer. The order of the meeting will be as follows. We'll begin with call session. We'll reconvene from call session. We'll recess. Reconvene from recess. Go into poll participation, discussion of public agenda items, vote on public agenda items, and then adjourn. We'll now move into executive session. Board member Blaise, do you have motion m o one? I sure do.
I move for the passage of motion number 25 dash ten thirty dash m o one and the commencement of a closed session to consider matters permitted under section two c of the Open Meetings Act, subsection one as specified in the motion. Is there a second? I second the motion. Thank you. I'll proceed with a roll call. Member Lozano? Yes. Member Smith? Aye. Member Lopez? Aye. Member Velez? Yes. Member Boyle? Yes. Member Wallace? Aye. Member Custer?
Aye. Member Pope? Yes. Member Rosenbaum? Yes. Member Rivas? Yes. Member Brown? Member Rios Sierra? Aye. Member Bannon? Aye. Member Gutierrez? Aye. Member Biggs? Yes. Member Thodakur? Yes. Member Blaise? Aye. Member Zachor? Yes. 18 ayes, zero nays. This motion is adopted by the board. This meeting will not go into closed session. Good afternoon. The special board meeting of the Board of Education has reconvened. Board secretary, please proceed. President Hardin Hardin, I would like to note for the record that there are no
items to vote on from executive session. Board member Custer, do you have a motion to withdraw recess? I do. I make a motion to withdraw the recess from the agenda. Is there a second? So second. Thank you. I'll proceed with a roll call. Member Lozano? Present. Is that an I or a yes to withdraw? I'm sorry. Yes. Thank you. Member Lopez? Aye. Member Velez? Yes. Member Boyle? Yes. Member Wallace? Aye. Member Custer? Aye. Member Pope? Yes. Member Rosenfeld? Yes. Member Rivas? Yes. Member Brown? Yes. Member Rio Sierra?
Aye. Member Bannon? Aye. Vice president Bautista? Yes. Member Gutierrez? Aye. Member Biggs? Aye. Member Thodakura? Yes. Member Blaise? Aye. Member Zachar? Yes. Member Dee Berry? Aye. 19 ayes, zero nays. This motion is adopted by the board. We'll now proceed with today's public participation session. Thank you for joining to share your comments with the board in compliance with the owner open meetings act public participation. Sometimes referred to as public comment is the portion of the board meeting or hearing that grants district stakeholders the opportunity to address the board with their concerns and comments.
Note that public participation is the time for the board and CPS senior leadership to listen and hear from you rather than a time for dialogue with board members during or after your remarks. While we can't discuss personnel matters, co participation is a key component of transparent governance, and it provides us as board members as well as senior leadership an opportunity to listen to everyone who has signed to speak. The board takes equity of voice seriously. And while we may not address your comments directly during public participation, CPS leadership is
always present at our meetings and are able to address concerns as follow ups after the meeting. As a district and as a board, we also have many other spaces for authentic dialogue. For example, each and every one of the board members host board office hours so that we can have a conversation. Please use our website, cpsb0e.org, if you want to meet with a board member during office hours. We encourage you to take advantage of the opportunity to meet with board members outside of the board meeting. We thank you for your attention and consideration. And as a reminder, union representatives will be allotted five minutes to speak before public
participation, and any elected officials will be allotted five minutes to speak after the conclusion of public participation. Board secretary, please share the rules of public participation. Thank you, president Harden. Members of the public who registered to speak were given the option to attend attend in person or via an electronic format. For those who prefer to attend via an electronic format, they were given information to access this meeting by dialing a number and using their phone. We did this so that speakers with limited or no access to the Internet or who may have weak Internet connection could still participate using their phones.
Also, members of the public may submit written comments for Board of Education meetings via the written comments form on the board's website at cpsboe.org or mail to 42 West Madison Street Garden Level. Written comments received between the day the public agenda was posted through 5PM the day after the board of education meeting will be submitted to the board and published within five business days on our website at cpsboe.org. Speakers, please listen while I provide directions for public participation. I will call your name and number when it is your turn to speak. For speakers joining us virtually, as a reminder, to unmute, please enter Star 6.
Once you hear your name, please state your name for the record. I will then start the two minute timer. When there are thirty seconds remaining, I will inform you so that you can proceed to conclude your remarks to allow for the next speaker to begin. For anyone standing with the speaker, note that in order to comply with the city's fire code, please stand along the glass partitions on the marked spots to keep aisles clear. Thank you. And president Harden, before we begin calling speakers from the speakers list, we do have union reps who would like to address the board. We'll begin with Jen Conant, CTU charter division chair, who is here in person.
Good afternoon, members of the board. Today, you are being asked to vote on the closure of Epic Academy, and I'm providing additional support to ensure Epic can successfully finish the school year. You have heard me advocate repeatedly for additional support to ensure Epic has a successful end to the year, so I'm glad to see that reflected in the amended board report that's on the agenda today. However, there seems to be no proposal for how CPS might recoup the additional funds provided or on how to hold EPIC Academy responsible for their financial choices.
There is a clear way to do this. It is to ensure that any funds or profit from the sale of EPIC's additional school property go back to the district. CPS funds provided to EPIC were used to purchase that property and those funds and any additional profit should go back to the district and ideally would follow EPIC students. For example, if EPIC students and staff move to a new school together, those funds could provide additional resources to help with the transition and to ensure students have the support they need to succeed. This brings us to my second and even bigger concern.
The proposal before you today is asking you to close a school with no plan for the future of those students or their school community, and these are CPS students. There has been no engagement by CPS with the epic school community, and let's not pretend that engagement is impossible, because CPS has certainly engaged with families at Shai Arts on the other side of the city. Shai Arts parents received three emails in the last week, letting them know when the board would be voting on the future of the school and inviting them to a
town hall afterwards. Epic parents have received zero communication from CPS since September 12 when CPS sent a letter saying that the school was closing and might even close mid year. And saying that public comment during these board meetings is sufficient is laughable. Most parents at EPIC are working during this time and are not able to attend. And the ones who do have the ability to call in have not been chosen to speak, not last week nor today. So I'm calling on this board to either vote down or significantly amend the proposal on EPIC before you today.
Ensure that the EPIC community has a say in what happens next. And ensure that there is a plan that provides as much stability for the EPIC community as possible. Whether that's taking over management of the school or moving students and staff together as a community to another school. School closures are devastating and this board has an opportunity and a responsibility to mitigate the damage. Finally, I want to talk to you about Aspira. Aspira schools are facing significantly decreased enrollment over the last couple years and an operating
deficit for this year, and now Aspira is planning significant cuts into staffing in the middle of quarter two. These cuts will likely further destabilize these schools. We have lots of questions about how Espira got to this point. Like, if enrollment and budgets were down, why weren't their layoffs considered over the summer? Why were these specific educators cut? For example, two out of four paraprofessionals at a spirit of business and finance are being cut, meaning the school will no longer be able to provide all of the legally required services to students.
So why were they cut? The only full time ESL teacher at ABF was originally slated to be cut as well. After we raised concerns about the school not being able to provide legally required ESL services, she was recalled. The haphazard nature of these cuts coming in the middle of a school year is very concerning. I also want to flag that the secretary of c two's charter division has been singled out for layoff despite being one of the most senior members at Espira and despite his role being essential. He is the credit recovery coordinator at Pentoha, an alternative high school.
Credit recovery at alternative schools is essential, but Espira plans to cut his role with no clear plan for how to provide services in the future. So let's call this what it is, retaliation for speaking out previously about concerns he had with how Espira was being managed. Given the destabilizing and haphazard nature of the cuts at Espira and given the potential cuts to critical legally required services, we are calling on this board and CPS to step in and provide additional support and oversight. Please intervene to ensure stability You have thirty second schools.
Communities and to ensure that these schools don't suffer more cuts that could lead to school closures. And again, I urge you today to be thoughtful about the board report on EPIC before you. Please stand up for the students and the educators in that building. Thank you. Thank you for your comments. The next union rep is Vicky Kurzillo, CTU recording secretary. Good afternoon. I am Vicky Krizidlow, special education teacher on leave, serving as the recording secretary for the Chicago Teachers Union. I'm back again today to speak with you on behalf of our 30,000 CTU members
and the students and families we all serve. These are critical times for those of us who are in position of public service in Chicago. Our city and our state are under attack by a federal administration determined to dehumanize and punish black led cities. Black and brown communities and all who believe in a multiracial democracy and our children and our entire school communities, parents, neighbors, and school staff are in the crosshairs. As I said at last week's meeting, we must and we can do more in
this moment. To address the multiple threats facing our students, whether it's school closures by charter operators, the pending loss of SNAP benefits, the trauma caused by ICE and federal agents terrorizing our communities, or the persistent refusal of some elected officials to fully fund our schools. We appreciate this week's engagement by the district and our other labor siblings on creating a more robust response to the impacts of the Trump administration's attacks on our neighborhoods
and school families, and we need to do more. More to connect with schools hurting and trauma traumatized from ICE attacks. More is required from us to survey the families most impacted and determine their educational needs. And now with SNAP benefits being cut, how to ensure all of our students who depend on school lunch and breakfast will now need additional help. We must coordinate with city agencies, labor, and community outreach to maximize mutual aid in
this moment, including, but not limited to, ensuring our students most impacted are getting access to door to door transit when needed. For our students and educators at EPIC, Espira, and Chai Arts Charter Schools, I was here last meeting to request that this board take responsibility, increase oversight, and take care of keeping these CPS communities whole. You have to decide whether you are going to allow those charters those charter operators
to close schools, lay off teachers, and make cuts to students with no input from parents, students, or educators. Today, you vote on EPIC. The district has the responsibility to see that EPIC students receive the best option and a voice for their community. You have a responsibility to make sure the private operators who've ignored your constituents are not let off the hook and not sent on their way with even more district funds while they leave our students on the side of the road.
You all heard from Alderman before the CPS budget vote that they would provide the largest TIF surplus possible. Now our mayor is helping them keep their promise. They need to hear from all of us in one voice that we need the city council to keep their commitment. The alternative is midyear cuts. It's inevitable. We all know that. That can't be allowed. We will be sending each of you a tool the union has developed that illustrates
how many students and how many positions would be lost in your district schools if we don't advocate successfully together so that you can see the impact of the districts that you represent. I was heartened to see board members stand up for our district yesterday in Springfield. I loved standing shoulder to shoulder with you. I hope we can do more of that partnership. Our future and our children's future depends on it. Are we gonna allow the billionaires and the wealthiest corporations to drive the direction of
our country and our state? You have thirty seconds remaining. Or are we going to work together to really lead in this moment and choose fully funded schools, parks, and libraries for our students, health care and transit for our families. Now is the time of crisis, but it doesn't have to be. Thank you. Thank you for your comments. The next union rep is Tremaine Reeves, SEIU local seventy three director for the CPS division. Good afternoon, president Harden, board members, doctor King.
You know, kinda wanna start off talking about the current climate, which is very, very awful with what's going on and how our communities are being terrorized. But one of the bright spots in that is how the district is handling it within their scope of what they are able to do in keeping the school safe. Grateful for the district to listening to the suggestion of creating an additional guideline of safety protocols when transitioning students from the buses to the schools and vice versa. But realizing that there's only so much that the district can do, but there is
a need to do more. One suggestion that we have for you is to take a look at the school code where there's currently a prohibition on firearms within so many feet of school grounds. Look at that language, and we're asking for the district to create a policy to kinda mimic that and restricting the presence of ICE also within that, you know, square foot or however distance from school grounds. That could be an additional way of providing protection for the students of the district. Another thing we wanna speak on, we know that there's discussion on going to remote
learning for the district. While we are sensitive to this current climate and things that's going on, we ask that you just be just kinda more thoughtful. Don't be so reactive. We're asking that the district survey the parents to see how they would be impacted, see what kind of buy in that they have, what support do they need, do they agree with that, does it need to be a thing where only a certain percentage of the population needs to have the option, or does it need to be everyone? But before you make that decision, we ask that parents be surveyed in that.
And the final thing I wanna speak to is the IGA, with the city. We're just asking that before any decisions are made, that you just ask questions, that you think things through, think about the long term impact. Many of you are coming into some inherited problems based on decisions that were made, and I believe everybody in your panel has the best of intentions. And so also think about the decisions that you make. You don't want someone coming behind you saying, oh, now we inherited this.
So just kinda ask questions on what precedent does it set if currently the law calls for whenever a TIF surplus is declared that Chicago Public Schools gets 52% of that of that surplus, before signing anything, what precedent are you now setting that could set up future restrictions for the quality of education of students. Also, provide some answers to the public on these things on the impact that it has, before making such decisions.
You guys have not walked into an easy task at all. This is and talking with our members, this has been the craziest school year so so far with so much happening at one time. But just know that, you know, you have a partner in SEIU Local seventy three, and we encourage you to think things through. Don't be reactive even if you have the best of intentions. Communicate with parents. Communicate with staff. Communicate with your labor partners. Make this a collaborative effort. But thank you all for all that you do. Thank you for your comments.
President Harden, we are now ready to call speakers from the speakers list, and we will begin with eight cell UR number eight who's joining us virtually. Please enter star six to unmute. Good afternoon, doctors and board members. I'm so sorry that Inter American community must must once again return to you with the same concern, but please tell us what else can we do. We consider we consider ourselves partners with you in supporting our students. And and for over a year, we have respectfully and consistently asking the the removal
of principal Juan Carlos Reyes. This this request has not been made lightly. We have taken every step required by CPS protocols, an LSC vote of no confidence, a formal charges, and a month of waiting for resolution. Yet here we are, still in a limbo, astonished by the ongoing inaction from CBS. Now as as our as our city faces unprecedented unpredictable emergency, our school community remains without leadership it urgently needs. Families and students do not feel safe.
CPS continues to say that schools are the safest places for children, but how can that be true when our school leader refuses to meet with the sanctuary team or commute communicate with families during crisis? We have no doubt that CPS we have no doubt the CPS legal department has already found charges the charges be valid. Nope. No parent would devote their time month after month to raise false allegations. We are simply asking the CPS to act on the evidence gather or already gathered.
Please do not allow this situation to continue. Our students and families are paying a high price every day. This leader remains in place. Thank you, doctor, oh, doctor King. The invest doctor King for many. The the investigation concludes months ago. Unacceptable unacceptable solution persists because this is not the right leader for our school. We urge you to make the recommendation to remove principal Juan Carlos Saez from Inter American and provide our community with leadership that can be restored safely, trust, and stability.
Thank you. Thank you for your comments. The next speaker is, Tomas Castrehan, speaker number three. Good afternoon, members. My name is Tomas Casa Jerone, and I'm an ESL teacher at Spirit Early College High School. Just alone this year, I have one student in a detention center, a student seeking help to find their uncle who has been kidnapped over this weekend, another student who boarded a bus to Mexico on Monday because their father was kidnapped as well, and countless students who fear leaving their homes due to the current climate in Chicago. Today, my students have their schedules changed, and I had to explain layoffs and fiscal
responsibility because my students fear another charter closure due to association. These layoffs have not stopped the Aspire Early College body from being active. An An early college student started a petition to keep their counselor so they have a point of contact when applying to colleges and scholarships for the first time in a new country and a new language. As for myself, I've had to make new connections to help my students navigate the broken immigration system. Miss Coronado and I created ICE protocols, and miss Bondi and I canvass our neighborhoods to distribute recruitment flyers to increase enrollment. This is what teachers do because we care for every student.
As a CPS graduate of immigrant parents, I stand in front of my students to say Unfortunately, these words are no longer possible when Espira is inbred and cannot assure my students what their safe haven may exist in the future. This coupled with three Espira board meetings where not enough members have attended to have a quorum or simply canceled make me question their dedication to Espiro. My ask for you is to have more oversight over Espiro to ensure transparency when dealing with our school's future because our students see our schools as a safe haven,
not just a school. Thank you. Thank you for your comments. The next speaker is Claude Holmes, speaker number 10. Good afternoon to the board. We, the Aspira educators and parents, are here today because we are deeply concerned about upcoming mid quarter layoffs and the serious impact that they will have on our schools. Cutting staff during the middle of the semester not only disrupts instruction, but leaves some big unanswered questions, like who will teach ESL to newcomer students once their teacher is gone? Or like my role as credit recovery coordinator, which is essential to Pantoja's high school
graduation rate and credit attainment, how will students make up their credits once I am gone? Azpira is moving forward without a clear plan and thereby risks its students' ability to graduate. Now instead of waiting until the end of semester one, giving time to improve student recruitment efforts, and allowing staff to complete their curriculum, Azpira has chosen to cut now. This shortsighted decision will likely hurt student outcomes and drive enrollment even lower. And to make matters worse, we've been told that there may be even more layoffs ahead with no transparent timeline.
Now let's be clear. We are in this position because of a failure of leadership. Espira must have known that there were budget and enrollment concerns this summer, but they waited until weeks into the school year to make those cuts, creating more harm, not less. A spear has also not implemented an effective recruiting or fundraising plan, and we do not have confidence in the current network strategy. Now I know that all schools, charter and district alike, need more funding. And And just yesterday, I attended lobby day with my union siblings. You have thirty seconds for fantastic opportunity to reach out to politicians in an effort
to fight for such funding. And I do encourage more people to take part in it as it was a pleasure a pleasure to see a few board members do so as well. Now position aside, though I'm appreciative of as to what I've accomplished during my fourteen years of tenure with Aspira, I feel that there is much more needed to do, especially given the federal, climate that we're going through. And our educators at Aspira love our schools. We We want our schools and students to have a stable and secure future. But Espira seems unable to do that on their own, which is why we're asking the CPS board to step in and to provide additional support and oversight.
And whether or not my plan is recalled with the Espira network, I intend to commit my time to making sure that doctor Antonio Pantoja's dream of creating educational and economic opportunities for the Puerto Rican community, the city of Chicago, and beyond is fulfilled. And I mean just that. Thank you. Thank you for your comments. The next speaker is Iola Shawala, speaker number five. Good afternoon, members of the board. My name is Ayowa Chiwala, and I have proudly served as a diverse learner teacher
for over fifteen years. In that time, I've worked with hundreds of students who have overcome challenges and achieved success because of the supports, structure, and commitment provided by their teachers. And Epic Academy stands as a shining example of that dedication. At Epic Academy, my colleagues and I strived every single day to create a safe, nurturing, and inclusive environment where students not only feel supported, but generally valued. Our classrooms are built on trust, consistency, and high expectations.
The foundation our students need to reach their potential. Many of our graduates return to the school, not because they have to, but because they want to. They come back to thank their teachers, to say that encouragement, that patience, and belief we had in them all made the difference in their success. These moments are living proof that the work being done at Epic Academy is transforming lives. Our diverse learner population is making progress because of the specialized services, individualized instruction, and
emotional support we provide on a daily basis. These students are meeting goals, and in some cases, they're even exceeding seconds remaining. Preparing for college, careers, and life beyond high school. To discontinue to discontinue funding for Epic Academy would mean disrupting a safe space and has sorry. Disrupting a safe space that has proven results and deeply impact student growth. I urge you to continue funding Epic Academy through the twenty twenty five, twenty six school year so we can continue to provide high quality education, compassion, and consistency that
our students and communities deserve. Thank you for your time and consideration and your vote to keep EPIC Academy open for the remainder of the year. Thank you. Thank you for your comments. The last speaker is Andrew Escalante, speaker number nine. Good afternoon. My name is Andrew Escalante. I'm a social studies teacher and boys soccer coach at Epic Academy. Epic is a community. It's seeing fellow staff pull into the lot at 7AM. It's our principal greeting students as they walk through the doors. It's the soccer team stopping by your class in between periods just to annoy you
and to show they care. It's staff bringing in donuts for each other. It's students anxious about a math test and excited for the weekend. We are people. And as people, we deserve honesty, stability, and a voice in what happens to us. Since the email that went out on September 12, the EPIC community has heard nothing from CPS. No follow-up, no plan, no conversation. The silence has been maddening. We're trying to teach, to coach, to hold our school together, and at the same time, we cannot tell families with a 100% certainty that we'll make it to the
end of the year. I'm grateful that CPS is at least proposing committing the resources needed to ensure we finish the school year because closing midyear would be devastating. Our seniors deserve to cross the stage surrounded by the people that help them get there. But currently, CPS is proposing no plan for students, no plan for families, no plan for staff, no effort to keep the community together. And it's frustrating to see other schools like Shirets be included in conversations about their future while EPIC families You have thirty seconds remaining. Have been left out completely.
We haven't received a single email. We haven't heard from the chief portfolio officer or the board member who represents our district asking us what we want to have happen next. I'm not asking you to not approve the language CPS is proposing today. Instead, I'm asking you to demand more. Demand a plan that protects this community, whether that means CPS take over management or allows our students and staff to move together as one. Because our students deserve more than just CPS cosigning on the closure of the school. Because EPIC isn't just a school building, it's people. It's relationships, it's families, and families deserve a future.
Thank you. Thank you for your comments. President Harden, this concludes public participation. And I do wanna note for the record that Elizabeth Barton, acting general counsel, doctor Alfonso Carmona, acting chief education officer, and Charles Mayfield, chief operating officer, all join the meeting at 03:45PM. Think we're ready to proceed with the vote on the public agenda item unless there are some questions or comments. Oh. Board secretary, please proceed. Oh, I have a You do? Yeah. I have a comment. Please. I just wanna make a few comments around the IGA and our decision to sign
an IGA right now because I wanted to be clear that this IGA is not around is not without real sacrifices. Sacrifices that directly will affect our students. It absolutely takes dollars away from the classrooms and school communities who need our support now more than ever. In recent months, we have heard from families and educators across our district. Families from Acero, EPIC, Shy Arts have come to us and pleaded to keep their schools open. Custodial staff have asked us to preserve their jobs after positions were cut.
Parents have asked us to restore ESL tutoring programs for their children. And families across the city have called for more safe passage support as immigration enforcement and custom border patrol activities have left many afraid to even go to school. We've also heard fears about crossing guard positions that were eliminated, positions that are critical to student safety. I am concerned that we're doing this without having a concrete plan from the city detailing how we'll disentangle its operations from Chicago Public Schools moving forward.
So while I'll support this agreement to honor the commitments made, I want the record to reflect that I am doing this at a time when our students and our families need every possible dollar of support. Member Lopez. Thank you, board president. I also just wanna confirm for the record that I am understanding correctly what I'm voting on. This agreement, it just applies for this fiscal year. Correct? That is correct. Okay. And, also, if CPS does not receive the $8,000,000 from the federal government, then that
can be subtracted if we were to receive more than $3.79 from the city. Can you restate that again? So if CPS does not receive the 8,000,000 in federal magnet school assistance programs, we can reduce the reimbursement to the city by the same amount. That's correct. Okay. And then, just to be clear, the reduction only applies to the magnet school program funding. So if CPS were to experience any other reductions in the federal programs, for for example, title one, English learners, or special education, this will not apply and will not
decrease the reimbursement. That is also correct. Okay. I also wanna state, you know, this is something that, as a board, we voted on, and it's important that we keep our word, since we voted on this budget, that this is for this year. But we need to have a longer conversation with among all of us in the board and also with the city to see what the long term plan is regarding the reimbursement moving forward after this year. And the other is also as a board and board, board president Sean Harden has mentioned this, how do we, are able to keep and add more sustainable long term
funding for our district. Thank you to all those board members that have engaged in conversations, whether it be locally with their city council members, but also they have gone to Springfield to advocate. And as we are being faced with our pretty much the entire city being under attack and needing more support, it's a conversation that even now we it's more important than ever that we ask for that support. And thank you to doctor King, her team, who have already engaged in those conversations with the mayor's office. Thank you. Amber Blaise. I just wanna underscore once again my appreciation to, mayor Brandon Johnson for, giving us
a record or proposing a record TIF surplus. Previous administrations have given CPS $90,000,000, a $100,000,000, but with a billion dollars in TIF surplus, CPS is is set up to fill the budget gap that we had for at least $379,000,000. And to board member Lopez's point, during our negotiations, we brought up that the magnet
school, money could become an issue, and, the mayor's office and his team were very receptive to helping us fill that hole. So I I've said it before and I'll say it again. I think this IGA goes to us being good partners. We have a partner that wants to work with us. We have a partner who's willing to listen to us. We have a partner who is willing, to set his whole budget based on making
sure that we have what we need. And so I'm proud of us. The folks that went and had a conversation. I'm proud of us, the folks that went down the state, and we're asking for money, because we're all we're trying to be good partners across the board. We're trying to make friends. We're try, we're trying to make sure that we bring home the bacon for CPS. We're trying to listen to community and incorporate them in the conversation, and this is an important step. As we all know, the past couple of years, the previous administration promised to give
the city back money, and they haven't. That's the only reason we have to do an IGA now because, we have shown ourselves to be a little a little bit funky in our path. So I'm hoping that this reaffirms the commitment and the partnership between the city and CPS, and I hope that we can go forward together and and, talk to the state. And that when if we do get, additional cuts from the federal government, that we
can reach out to our partners and that we'll have established a relationship that makes sure that we're all taken care of. So thank you. Member Pohl. Yes. I'd like to address the, EPIC, situation. And my concern is, of course, we have to give Epic money now. We cannot have schools closing and children tossed out midyear. Of course, we have to do that. I feel that it's very important, though, for us to go beyond just giving Epic stopgap money for this year.
We need to work with the parents, work with the community, develop a plan for the students at EPIC. I've heard things about possible transition to South Shore, various things, but we should be having something in and we should be holding meetings with these parents and with the community to see what is actually going to work out rather than just voting on a bailout. Thank you. As we move to approve the interim governmental agreement between CPS and the city, I
just wanna take a moment to highlight a couple of important points for the record. I wanna highlight the fact that we're standing by the commitment that we made when we passed CPS's budget in August. This agreement codifies that we will provide additional funding that we receive over the 379,000,000 back to the City of Chicago if the city council approves the 1,000,000,000 in tariff surplus. I can't emphasize enough that we're making this decision in an incredibly difficult environment when there are countless programs and supports that our families need, many of which we've heard
about today and could be supported with the money that we'll give back to the city. I've heard statements that the state owes PS over a billion dollars and still we're being asked to transfer $175,000,000 back to the city of Chicago. Not to help balance their budget, but as stated in recent budget hearings, to allow the city to maintain a surplus. We as board members have a fiduciary responsibility to the taxpayers to ensure CPS's budget is balanced. Our duty is to our students, our staff, and our schools. And so while I'll vote in line with this commitment I made when voting to
pass the budget in August, I'll also do that with really significant concern that we are not able to use these funds to support the myriad of things that our students and our schools so rightfully deserve. I'd like to give a opportunity for chief Carmona to respond to some of the, epic comments specifically. Thank you, president Harden. And, first, I wanted to clarify a couple of pieces. There were, three letters that were sent to CHI Arts regarding a town hall meeting that is coming up, and there may be a discrepancy with the letters that we
sent to Epic. We send more letters to CHI Arts because the date for the vote was changed. So we needed to ensure families were aware that the date of the vote was changed as well as the date of the town hall. So that's the reason why the families received three letters. When it comes to child, the families received a letter on October 20. It seems to me, and we gave these letters to the EPIC leadership to pass those letters to the staff, but if the staff did not receive those letters, I'm going to apologize and you will receive those letters before this meeting ends.
When it comes to, a town hall meeting, we have a scheduled town hall meeting with EPIC families on November 4 in which we have all of the options available. We have looked at all of the options. We included the option of South Shore. We have, 168 students, I believe, that will have to transition, from EPIC, moving of course all of the twelfth graders that we expect to graduate. And we have plenty of seats available in many of our schools. There's eight schools attending the high school fair, and we have plenty of seats available,
in our schools for students to transition, to those schools. Thank you, chief. Maybe we can, as we talked about before, post some of this some of these updates on our website. Denver Brown. Thank you, president Harden. I'm concerned about a school closing where, I know that there you know, the University of Chicago, many years ago, said that every time a school closes, the child loses six months to a year in academic growth. Despite that, this district went on a manic school closing frenzy, and we know that
there are a few thousand young people that we still can't find today. So I think that if we are different, then there needs to be guarantees that children and families are gonna be made whole. Arnie Duncan introduced the turnaround schools as a response to the fight back against school closings. But then research showed that the the turnarounds were also a closing because if you replace the staff, the young people still have to adjust to that new staff.
So we have to stop hustling with our children around these school closing issues. And I think what my concern I I know I'm not prepared to support a proposal. And I you know, I have some language I like to propose, but there needs to be a guarantee that these children and families are made whole, that educators to the best degree possible can follow those children, and then also that this charter operator cannot run off with the money. I just think it's this responsible for us to have that position, and we can't
say that it won't happen because it's happened before. And I I do think there's intent here to do right, so I I I would I'm just really concerned about that in regards to the impact that it has on communities. So I just want to offer that. That was it. Thank you. Now proceed with the vote on public agenda item. Board secretary, please proceed. Thank you, president Harden. I will proceed with the items on the public agenda. Read the board report number and title. These items do require a vote. E x one, e x one, amend renewal of the Epic Academy Charter High School
agreement with condition. President Hardin, this amendment is necessary for the termination of the charter at the end of the 2526 school year as the school will cease operations and voluntarily return to return its charter on 07/01/2026 with 1,400,000 in additional f y twenty six funding allocated to ensure a successful wind down and completion of the academic year. Additionally, for the record, this item was posted as a draft on agenda, and the item had an administrative error on page two in the renewal terms section, third sentence,
which should read, the charter for the school shall be returned to the board effective as of 07/01/2026. The final report will be included in the agenda of action. This item does require a vote. Is there a motion? So moved. So we have our amendment. Point of order. I'm I'm not I'm sorry. Can the motion be repeated? Because I didn't follow it. It's been motioned and seconded. I'm I'm sorry. The proposal, can it be repeated? The amendment to the, report that's being voted on? Is that what you wanna report repeat it? Okay. This amendment is necessary for the termination of the charter at the end of the
2526 school year as the school will cease operations and voluntarily return its charter on 07/01/2026 with 1,400,000 in additional f y twenty six funding allocated to ensure a successful wind down and completion of the academic year. Additionally, for the record, this item was posted as draft on agenda, and the item had an administrative error on page two in the renewal terms section third sentence, which should read, the charter for this school shall be returned to the board effective as of 07/01/2026.
The final report will be included in the agenda of action, and this item does require a vote. Chad, I wanna, move to make an amendment to the proposal. Did a board member move the motion I moved. For the item? So board member Rivas moved for the item, and the second was board member six. And there's still space for discussion after the second. Is that accurate? You said you wanted to make a a motion to amend the report as it was posted? Yes.
Is that my understanding? Yes. So you're doing an intervening motion. Yes. So board member Brown is motioning to amend the language by You gotta say what you're I'm sorry. Say that again? You're making a motion to amend the language. And what is the amended language? To insert language. You wanted to insert language. And so what is the language? Yes, ma'am. At the conclusion of the where it says at the Charter Renewal Proposal after it
says 07/01/2026, I would like to add the chief portfolio officer of the Office of Portfolio Management will prepare the wind down plan in consultation with EPIC students, families, and staff. The wind down plan will provide an opportunity to maximize stability and continuity of the school community to EPIC families and qualified EPIC staff, including, but not limited to, offers
of enrollment to EPIC students at a high performing district run school and corresponding offers of employment to qualified EPIC staff to follow the EPIC students to such a receiving school. The wind down plan will be presented with the chief executive officer's recommendation to the board of education for consideration no later than 12/03/2025. And then I would also like to add language to the financial off to the financial section. After the language, all required activities for the twenty five twenty six academic year.
I would like to add, provided Epic Academy shall be required by 12/31/2026 to repay the district from sources including, but not limited to, any proceeds from the sale of EPIC Academy properties for the additional funding provided and all charter agreements between the date of this amendment in 07/01/2026 or the repayment of the additional funds provided, whichever is
later. The district shall monitor the financial operations of Epic Academy, including, but not limited to, twice monthly reports from Epic Academy to the chief portfolio officer or their designee of all revenues and expenses. And that would be the totality of the amendment. So, I did not get all that as you read through it. I'm assuming I'm assuming. I'm sorry. Assistant secretary speed rider, speed typer has caught it all. Oh, gratitude. Gratitude.
Let me Salute. If you give us a minute, we're cleaning it up so that we can read it into record. Absolutely. Yeah. Can can, can the Do you have a copy of it? Wrote this. I actually just send it around so we all see it. Do you have it electronically, or do you have a hard copy of it? They do. Board member Brown? I have it. Yes, ma'am. Okay. So we can make copies of it. Right. Can you take it off of this? Oh, absolutely. Yes. Okay. Okay. While we wait, I did had a question of something was brought up in the public comment. I'm not sure if someone will have, be able to provide a response.
Someone suggested regarding the epic, building if it gets sold. I'm now curious to hear more about that possibility. What does it look like? Can the district receive that money? Are there restrictions in place that prevent the district from receiving money from those sales? It's already in the agreement. Any unspent public funds must be returned to the district. So if they sell the the building, we'll have to I have to check with general counselor because I'm clear about this the sell if they sell the building, of
course, we recoup the funding. I'm not on not clear about if they don't sell the building, can we take ownership of the deed of the property? So that's the piece I have to check with counsel. Thank you. That's what I was thinking. Once the school year wraps up and if the building is still unsold, what happens? Thank you. That's fine. We're having the intervening motion language printed out so that everybody has a copy of it, and you can, review that before we move on. So the motion on the floor is to amend the language in the charter renewal
proposal. I'm sorry. Add to the charter renewal proposal. Is it the both sections? Yes. Right. Yes. Those two. Mhmm. So this is already in the report, and this is being added. Yes. So the language that's being added that's, on the floor is the two sections in red. First section is chief portfolio officer of the office of portfolio management. We'll prepare the wind down plan in cons consultation with EPIC students, families, and staff. The wind down plan will provide an opportunity to maximize stability and continuity of the
school community to EPIC families and qualified EPIC staff, including but not limited to offers of enrollment to EPIC students at a high performing district run school and corresponding offers of employment to qualified EPIC staff to follow EPIC students to such a receive to such a receiving school. The wind down plan will be presented with the chief executive officer's recommendation to the port of education for consideration no later than 12/03/2025. That is in one section.
Yeah. Okay. That's on page two in the charter renewal proposal section. The newest language is being added after the office of portfolio management, recommends paragraph. In the financial section, adding provided Epic Academy shall be required by 12/31/2026 to repay the district from sources including, but not limited to, any proceeds from the sale of Epic Academy properties for the additional funding provided and all other district funding Epic Academy
has received, but not spent, in accordance with the term of its charter agreement between the date of this amendment and 07/01/2026 or the repayment of additional additional funds provided, whichever is later, the district may shall monitor the financial operations of Epic Academy, including, but not limited to, twice monthly reports from Epic Academy to the chief portfolio officer or their designee of all revenues and expenses. And to be clear, it's in the that language is being added to the financial section after the within the paragraph of the authorization to wind down.
I do wanna note that board member Smith has joined the meeting at 04:46PM. Is there a second to the motion to amend the language of Epic Academy? Second. At recorded. Yeah. President Hardin, the floor, is open to discussion for the amended language. Thank you, board president. We love being surprised with amendments. And so I guess, my my one question is, has legal reviewed this? And are we even specifically speaking to the financial section, are we, you know, allowed
to put terms like this in some kind of amendment? I mean, I I have a lot of questions about, you know, what we're allowed to put. I mean, the word we're giving them the money provided that they do something that we may not necessarily have control of. And I'm just curious if legal has had the opportunity to review it and and if this is a recommendation that we should make moving forward. No. I have not reviewed this. Member third of court. I think member Rivas is, before me. Is your mic on Mhmm. To speak?
I'm sorry. I'm I'm going by my get the list. Okay. Okay. I will go. I think that, the concerns that were brought up during the public comment are addressed in the the language that Borimer Brown is, proposing, and it's in line with some of the challenges that we've seen with previous, charter self closures, specifically around the need for a transition plan where we know where students are going and where staff is going as well. So I I would love to hear, chief Carmona's feedback on that section of the language. So this is the first amendment.
So when it comes to offers of enrollment, to EPIK students, a high performing district run schools, this is something that is actually required by the state, and let me clarify, when the district is not renewing a charter school. So when we made the decision in the district, in this case, the board of education made the decision of not renewing a charter school, the district is required to transition those students to schools that are considered high performing based on the index, and
and the data from the state. That's not the case here. This is a self closure of a charter school, so the district is not required to transition students to a high performing school. However, as district officials and what we're trying to do is to secure seats for students, in the schools that are schools that are performing at high levels. We don't have a definition from that perspective as we used to have in SQRP, but we use the definition and the, the definition by the state when it comes
to that. So our goal is, and that's what I mentioned, we have a high school fair on November 4 to have students and options for students to register to some of those schools. So, from the perspective of how it's written, I don't see much of a problem, but I think it could open the door for potential issues in the future because if any situation like this happens again, the definition of high performing district run school could change, in the future. So that's that's what I'm having an issue with.
I think I think I don't have any problem with the idea of of collaborating with families. That's what we're doing once you take a vote, on this item. When it comes to, employment and, let me see, corresponding offers of employment to qualify EPIC staff to follow EPIC students to such a receiving school, I will have to ask counsel on this because I think this will be contradictory to an agreement that we have with CPAA in which principals have the autonomy to hire, the staff, when
new positions are open. So if new positions are open because the students are transferred into those schools, the the principal's, union has a clause in their contract that established that the principals had the autonomy to hire that staff. So that could be also contradictory, to the spirit of an agreement that we have with, a union. Thank you, chief Carmona. I really appreciate, that insight cut off the spot. Did it mean to put you on the spot there? But appreciate it. And I think because the language is written with a focus on epic, and it
is more about having a wind down plan, not like a wind down guarantee with each of these having to be a 100% met. I'm comfortable with this language because, again, the goal is that we have a plan with this in mind and that we receive, a report in December. So thank you. Member, read this. So you have four weeks to produce that report. Well, I guess, Chief Timbers now. Thank you, mister president. Just echoing what member Custer said, it's it's not great when we're surprised with amendments at the very last moment. And I I'd also really It's alright.
It's alright. Cool. The, so I I very much could support something like this, if we just have the opportunity to review it or general counsel had the opportunity to review it, getting advice from the, you know, very smart people that we hire to be able to provide that. And the other thing that I'm get I'm really, really concerned about, is that I I get increasingly uncomfortable, being up here and having to listen to the members next to me make really nasty comments about charter schools all the time.
These are all of our students. Obviously, this is really devastating for any school community, and we don't want this for any for any child to go through this. Right? And so there there's lots of issues related to, these actions, like we're dealing with Santiago, like we're dealing with, with Shy Arts that we need to make sure we're taking into consideration all the agreements that we have in place. Like, what's gonna happen once you're a district run school, and what does that mean for our CBAs, and, what hiring looks like.
All those things are are things that need to be taken into consideration and just leading us to the last moment, in a in a men an amendment, is really concerning. And, frankly, I I was trying to listen, and I just have to listen to these folks being really nasty about our Charter community. And I really dislike it a ton, and I can't do anything about it because this is my seat, and I don't get to move. Okay. Member Boyle? I think my question I, Alfonso answered about the the students at a high performing
school part, But I'm I'm looking at the corresponding offers of employment to qualified EPIC staff who would follow the students. I guess it's an maybe HR question? Like like, what if they selected a multitude of schools? Like, what if Okay. Seven students chose this school and three students chose this school? Like, how would we guarantee moving the staff with those students? That's the part I I don't I I'm not following.
I don't know if I Yeah. Our current school budget model doesn't allow us to do that necessarily because the model is not necessarily a per pupil model any anymore. So if five, six students go into a particular school, that doesn't necessarily mean that a position is open as a result of those students transferring to that particular school. So, yes, it's a good point that you raised in the sense that the fundings follows the student, but don't doesn't necessarily implies additional positions for that particular school. Okay. Thank you.
One one more quick thing. I'm sorry. So but this is just like in a in a what we're voting on is a plan to consider some of these items. It's not necessarily in stone that it's gonna happen. Okay. I'm gonna go pass. Thank you, board president. Some also reading the language, and some of the questions have already been answered. One of them here, it says 12/03/2025 2025, for this to be produced. Are there any potential, red flags with having this particular date?
Is there does it conflict with any other policies that we have in place? It it could. I haven't had a chance. I haven't seen this amendment until now, so I don't I don't know if the December 3 deadline will be feasible. If the December 3 deadline was referencing meeting with families, and starting the plan and start planning the transitions of students, that is possible. In fact, we have a meeting with families next week to start that process. But families may take several weeks to make decisions about which goals they're going to
decide to go to. So, yeah, I will have to check to see if there are any policies or anything that could conflict with this. Again, I'm seeing one related to, the, tampering of the staff or offers of employment to qualify staff. Again, that would be, in my opinion, I have to check with council, if this is conflicting with, current policies or not policies in this case, but previous agreements, with,
our labor partners, as it relates to the autonomy of the principal to hire the staff. Thank you. And, well, I definitely am always in support of engaging the community and having them being part of the process. So glad to see that language there. And, also, given how do we hold, in this case, this charter accountable for the additional funding that they're gonna be getting and, you know, potentially if they sell that building, that we can get that money back. I agree with that language. To the board, and individuals that proposed the language.
Is there any flexibility on even the date being, a little bit, rewriting that part? And just in case if, because I don't wanna put ourselves in a particular situation if we're not able to meet that deadline because of certain policies. The other one, it's even some my recommendation, and I don't know what the word will be, of, the language regarding of, the staff following the students. But, yes, ideally, we wanna keep, you know, the whole school community together. I just I'm a little bit worried that it might be a potential violation of
any of our labor contracts. So is there any type of language or anything that you'll be open? Just just hold on. Just she's asking me a question, Savannah. Yo. Are you finished with your question? Okay. Let me let me come back to you. Okay. Yes, sir. Remember Blaze? So based on this language, I think there's a general consensus that this is important language. I think a number of members have some concerns that it was last minute. But I think this just speaks to as these charter schools seem to be closing,
we just have to be ready, and we have to make sure, that we're doing our due diligence, that we're keeping community informed, that we are talking with, our labor partners, that we are and and we might have to do it a little more quickly than we have in the past. And I know this is hard, but, hopefully, we're learning from each one of these closings. And as as other folks may perhaps opt out, we'll be we'll be ready.
I know this is a lot for the portfolio office, and they're juggling a number of different schools that are all in different places. But we have to make sure to put community first. I think we also have to make sure that board members have time to talk about these things. And and and I I just wanna underscore that part about repaying the money. I think there's a number of us that are really concerned that, when some of these charter schools close, if they've been paid for the students for the whole year,
does that money go with those students to whatever school they're going to next if if if, say, there's a midterm closing? The money the money component is is important, particularly when we're all up here trying to figure out, our budget at all times. So I think these are good points. I think that these are good things that we need to think about as we move forward, with the additional with in in other situations as well.
That's all. Thanks. Member Roosevelt. To board member Blaze, that's exactly why I'm excited we have a committee now to talk about charter schools because everything that you say there is so important, and we're gonna get to all of that. And, again, I'm excited to be on that committee. To board member Brown, I have a question. This feels like a gotcha. It feels like another us versus them. We're not unifying as a whole board. Why bring it up here now and spend the next hour debating? And when you yourself said, I just wanna get out of here. So it feels like I'm gonna get you there, and nobody has time to think
about it. To general counsel, what about the employment? How do you define high quality? Why December 3? So why now? Why here? Why like that? Why not share it early? I don't understand. So I'm I'm I'm a respond to that. If if I understand things correctly, two things. One, I was driving back from Springfield yesterday, and I'm having the conversations about the vote we have to have today. And I'm hearing I'm not hearing the protections that should be in place when a
school closes. Because since 2004, there's been a consistent history of schools closing, and the district can't find the children or schools closing, and the young or or or turnarounds happening, and the young people or and Phillips had to turn around their own turnaround twice because
it it had the impact of a school closing. So, yes, I'm not playing these me versus y'all games. It's I'm I'm I'm not playing those games. What I'm saying is, and I've said it since the moment I jumped on this board, that one of the most sensitive issues to me is how black communities have been treated because I've lived it. And so I'm going I'm gonna gladiate on behalf of any young person, black, brown, or white, that is subjected to that type of treatment because I've seen the damage
of it. And so that's why I so I'm talking it through with two I'm a I'm a be keep it 100. I'm talking it through with Advancement Project, and I'm talking it through with Chicago Teachers Union. What should the language look like? I have no I have no shame saying that those are friends of mine. I got a lot more in common with a teacher than a hedge fund. So I'm talking to them, and I'm talking to the civil rights organization saying, how can we protect children? Because some of us would have been okay with making that vote, and then if they would have bounced with the money, what would we have done?
Or I'm I'm not I don't know. What would we have done If these children are spread all over the South Side, research also says that when schools close, children don't go to better schools. There's no history of that in this city. Public school or charter school. So I want to protect our babies. That's it. That's all. Yeah. I apologize that I was driving on 55, making them listen to my old school hip hop, and and we're talking about it.
That is honestly how it came up. But what I wanna challenge us with, how many how are you okay? I mean, like, it's it's making my skin crawl. How are you okay making a decision to close a school and not guaranteeing that the harm that has been done, the harm that's been done in our communities, mama's passing out of school closing hearings, young people getting shot at bus stops. You should be we should be united and say that would never happen again. And forgive my emotion, but, you know, all this gotcha.
I ain't playing those. And I'm not and I I will say this right. I will say this too. I'm not against charter schools. I am against the charter industry. My my sister-in-law is the principal and one of the best ones in the city. And I know there's some good ones, but I am against the industry. I do know what the industry has done in black communities. And instead of us taking these partisan positions, talk to me about it. How do you how would you feel in your neighborhood if Andrew Broy is in your neighborhood advocating for the closure of your school so that he can get the
building. That's a colonizer. So if I understand correctly no. I'm I'm a finish. I'm I'm a finish, brother. I'm a finish. Point of order. And so if I point of order. Order. But that's the impact. Forgive me. That is an action that feels like colonization. So if if you all have the I want you to be as concerned about that. I want you to be as concerned about what that feels like. You mad because I said a word, but you're not mad at the at the at the carnage that we preside with. You don't know what I'm mad at.
Chris, you're talking to me. This is not your personal I'm not saying this is personal statement. And I'm trying to make it a stage, but I'm addressing what you said. You are. You are taking control of the stage. You know what I mean? We are members of the I'm raising an issue. Board member Brown, you're overtime. Very doobie. I've raised my issue. I'm good. So the the back and forth, there's no space for that. I I agree. I do wanna interject that I heard, a question by board member Lopez. If the language could be changed, if the date could be changed, I'd I wanna
reiterate that the motion on the floor is the amended language that board member Brown motioned Yep. And that board member Zagor seconded. So the language cannot be changed at this point. Before we go forward, I I would like general counsel Liz Barton just to make a comment. I'd I'd like the motion to recess so that general counsel can review. Approve for a ten minute recess. I'd like to make a motion, to recess so that legal counsel can review. I just made a motion for a ten minute recess. Thank you. So board member Biggs motioned and board member Pope seconded.
And the motion to, ten minute a ten minute recess. We'll take I'll proceed with a roll call. Yeah. Member Lozano? Yes. Member Smith? Aye. Member Lopez? Aye. Member Velez? Abstain. Member Boyle? Yes. Member Wallace? Abstain. Member Custer? Aye. Member Pope? Yes. Member Rosenfeld? Yes. Member Rivas? Yes. Member Brown? Abstain. Members Rio Sierra. Aye. Member Bannon. Aye. Vice president Bautista. Yes. Member Gutierrez. Aye. Member Biggs. Yes. Member Thodacaro.
Yes. Member Blaze? Yes. Member Zachor? Yes. This room. Member Deberry? Yes. 18 ayes. 17 ayes, three abstention three abstentions. This motion is adopted by the board. We'll take a ten minute recess. K. The best the special board meeting of the board of education is reconvene. Before we go forward, though, you know, spirits tend to get high and emotions flare. It's a it's a byproduct of how much this board cares. But before we go forward, I wanna offer, Jeetu Brown a moment, to respond.
Yes, sir. I appreciate that, mister president. I wanna send a public apology for referring to anybody, in particular, Andrew Broy, as a colonizer. That was a motion. That was not a language that I should have used. And so I wanna issue a public apology for that, statement. Thank you, brother Brown. Let's proceed. So the motion on the floor is m o three, and it was the intervening motion to add additional language to e x one as it was posted on the, public agenda. We're ready to take a vote on that amended language.
Member Lozano? Yes. Member Smith? No. Member Lopez? Abstain. Member Velez? Yes. Member Boyle? No. Member Wallace? Abstain. Member Custer? No. Member Pope? Member Rosenfeld. No. Member Rivas. No. Member Brown. Abstain. Member Rio Cirra. Abstain. Member Bannon. Abstain. Vice president Bautista. Abstain. Member member member Biggs? No. Member Thodokura? Abstain. Member Blaze? Abstain.
Member Zachor? Abstain. Member Deberry? Abstain. Mister president, can I change my vote to an abstention? The vote has been changed for member pope to pope to abstain. We have two ayes, six nays, 11 abstentions. This motion is failed of adoption. I'm gonna move to table this, the epic, board report till our next meeting on Tuesday. I second the motion.
So the motion on the floor is to lay over e x one as it was posted on the public agenda. Vice president Bautista moved and, board member Pope seconded that motion to, table the item. I'll proceed with a roll call. Member Lozano? Yes. Member Smith? Aye. Member Lopez? Aye. Member Velez? Yes. Member Boyle? Yes. Member Wallace? Aye. Member Custer? Aye. Member Pope? Yes. Member Rosenfeld? Yes. Member Rivas? Yes. Member Brown?
Yes. Member Rio Sierra? Aye. Member Bannon? Aye. Vice president Bautista? Yes. Member Biggs? Yes. Member Thodacru? Yes. Member Blaise? Yes. Member Zachor? Yes. Member De Berry? Aye. 19 ayes, zero nays. This item is adopted by the board to table e x one. Proceed with e x two. Ratify the fourth renewal and amend the intergovernmental agreement with the City of Chicago for the Municipal Employees Annuity and Benefit Fund. President Harden, this agreement is necessary to authorize a payment not to exceed 175,000,000 for
the Municipal Employees Annuity and Benefit Fund with the payment contingent upon the board's receipt of the 2025 TIF surplus exceeding 379,000,000 during calendar year 2026. Additionally, for the record, this item was posted as a draft on the agenda, and the final will be included in the agenda of action. This item does require a vote. Is there a motion? So moved. Is there a second? Second. Thank you. I'll proceed with a roll call vote. Member Lozano? Yes. Member Smith? Aye. Member Lopez? Aye. Member Velez?
Yes. Member Boyle? Yes. Member Wallace? Aye. Member Custer? Aye. Member Pope? Yes. Member Rosenfeld? Yes. Member Rivas? Yes. Member Brown? Yes. Member Rio Sierra? Aye. Member Bannon? Aye. Vice president Bautista? Aye. Member Biggs? Yes. Member Thodakura? Yes. Member Blaise? Aye. Member Zachar? Yes. Member De Berry? Aye. I'm sorry. Board member Gutierrez is online now. We're taking the vote on e x two, the IGA agreement. Member of I have aye on that vote.
Aye. Aye. Aye. 20 ayes, zero nays. This matter is adopted by the board. President Hardin, there are no further items on the public agenda. Thank you. Is there a motion to adjourn? So moved. Is there a second? I seconded. All in favor? Aye. We are adjourned. Thank you. K. Board members, don't throw your papers in the trash. She