and President Harden before you begin today's meeting I would like to read a few announcements good afternoon welcome to the April 24th 2025 board meeting i would like to note that because our notice and public agenda was posted at 3:20 p.m on Tuesday April 22nd our board
meeting today is starting at 3:23 p.m 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 use to enter this afternoon if you are 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 exit exits clear if you need any assistance during the meeting please wave the attention of one of our security officers please mark
your calendars for upcoming meetings the next agenda review committee meeting is scheduled for Wednesday May 14th 2025 at 10:30 a.m the next board meeting is scheduled for Thursday May 29th 2025 at 3:00 p.m the ARK meeting and 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 at cpsb.org or if you have any
questions about registration or 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 well good afternoon everyone welcome to Chicago Board of Education
meeting today is April 24th 2025 we're holding today's board meeting in the boardroom at CPS Loop office 42 West Madison Street Garden Level i would like to note that board members honorary student board member and senior
leadership are physically present in the boardroom register speakers may join us in person or virtually if they've opted to do so i'm President Shan B harden on behalf of my fellow board members thank you for joining us today regular meeting of Thursday April
24th 2025 is hereby called to order board secretary please call the role thank you member Lozano present member Smith present member Lopez present member
Thomas present member Bole present member Wallace present member Kuster present member Pope present member Rosenfeld present she is present i don't I think her mic
was present thank you member Reebas present member Rio Sierra present member Brown present member Bannon present vice President Bautista present member Gutierrez present member Biggs present
member Thorakura present member Blae present member Zachor present member Deberry present president Harden present we have 21 members present we do have a quorum i'd also like to recognize Pedro
Martinez chief executive officer ruchi Verma general counsel bugdana Shukumbaba chief education officer charles Mayfield chief operating officer karolina Kchie honorary student board member thank you the other meeting will be as follows oh
I'm sorry excuse me uh President Harden before you proceed for the record pursuant to board bylaws rule 1-75 5G1 note that the following board report is being withdrawn rs6 resolution resolution addressing various
improvements needed to the board's authorization of charter school thank you thank you the order of the meeting will be as follows honoring excellence CO remarks committee updates public participation recess reconvene from
recess presentation including progress monitoring exceptional diverse talent targeted priority discussion of public agenda items vote on public agenda items close session reconvene from close session and then adjourn
i move that we lay over the charter renewal items and their associate leases pursuant to board bylaws rule 1 through 7.V.G.2 after I call for a second the board secretary will read the board report numbers and titles associated
with this motion and then we will take a vote is there a second i second i'm sorry was that Vice President Bautista yes thank you ex2 authorized renewal of the lane lock charter school agreement with conditions
ex3 authorized renewal of passages charter school agreement with conditions ex4 authorized renewal of the Aspira charter school agreement with conditions ex5 authorized renewal of the Catalyst Elementary Charter School Circle Rock agreement with conditions
ex6 authorized the renewal of the Catalyst Maria Charter School Agreement with conditions ex7 authorized renewal of the Epic Academy Charter High School agreement with conditions ex8 authorized renewal of the Eerie Elementary Charter School Agreement with conditions ex9
authorized renewal of the Horizon Science Academy Southwest Chicago Charter School Agreement with conditions ex10 authorized renewal of the Institute of Health Sciences Career Academy Charter High School w agreement with conditions ex11 authorized renewal of
Moving Everest Charter School Agreement with conditions ex11 authorized renewal of the North Londale College Preparatory Charter High School agreement with conditions ex13 i'm sorry strike that uh for the record it is EX12 authorized renewal of the
North Lawndale College Preparatory CH College Preparatory Charter High School Agreement with Again ex13 authorized the renewal of the Perspectives Charter School Agreement with conditions ex14 authorized renewal of the Providence Englewood charter school agreement with
conditions ex-15 authorized renewal of the Row Elementary Charter School Agreement with conditions ex16 authorized renewal of Urban Prep Charter Academy for Young Men High School young men High School Bronzeville campus agreement with conditions ex17
authorized renewal of Urban Prep Charter Academy for Young Men High School anglewood Angelwood campus agreement with conditions op1 approved renewal lease agreement with Epic Academy Inc for the former South Chicago school building 8255 South Houston Avenue op2
approved renewal lease agreement with Northwestern University Settlement Association for the main Lozano School Building 1424 North Cleaver Street op3 approved renewal lease agreement with Perspectives Charter School for the former Raymond School Building 3663
South Wash Avenue op4 approve renewal lease agreement with Providence Englewood School Corporation for the former Bunch School Building 6515 South Ashland Avenue op5 ratify renewal lease agreement with Urban Prepmies for the
former Dittle West school building 521 East 35th Street op6 ratify renewal lease agreement with urban prepmies for the former former Anglewood High School building 6201 South Stewart Avenue op7
amends board report 171206 OP4 approve entering into a lease agreement with the North Londale College Preparatory Charter High School for use of space at the George Howland School of the Arts located at 1616 South Spalding Avenue op8 amend report 240125 OP7 ratify
approve renewal lease agreement with Learn Charter School for a portion of the James Thorp Elementary School building 8914 South Buffalo Avenue i'll proceed with a roll call vote to table the following items i'm sorry to table the following items as noted um just
now member Loausano yes member Smith yes member Lopez i member Thomas i member Bole yes member
Wallace i member Kuster no member Pope yes member Rosenfeld no member Rivas no member Rio Sierra I
member Brown yes member Bannon I vice President Bautista I member Gutierrez no member Biggs no member Thodakura yes
member Blae i member Zachor yes member Deberry i 15 eyes five nays this motion is adopted by the board at last month's board meeting honorary
student board member Carolina Kchie announced the details for the 2020 2025 2026 HSBM application carolina please share the information regarding the application process i understand there's been a lot of exciting
attention please proceed thank you President Harden good afternoon my name is Karolina Kchi and I currently serve as the honorary student board member for the Chicago Board of Education the Chicago Board of Education is looking for its next student leader
to serve in the honorary student board member role for the 2025 to the 2026 school year the selected student will represent the interests and perspectives of all Chicago public school students by attending the monthly board meetings the
honorary student board member will also participate in the student voice roundt initiative which provides a platform for CPS students from across the district to engage with CPS leadership and board of members on various topics this student body representative will receive a
$1,000 scholarship to be used to support enrollment in a two or four-year college or university to be eligible for this opportunity you must be a rising junior or senior current 10th and 11th graders
hold a 3.0 GPA or higher and demonstrate proven leadership experience the application deadline has been extended to Monday May 12th 2025 at 5:00 p.m visit cpsb.org to access the application thank
you to all the students who have already applied good luck to you all thank you President Harden or I don't think my mic was on chief to come over please proceed with honoring excellence
thank you President Harden today we are thrilled to recognize 36 new national board certified teachers as well as those ADCPS teachers who have renewed their certification this year this is
one of the highest most respected credentials that a teacher can earn at its core the MBCT process is an acknowledgment that all educators even those at the top of their game are still
learners these teachers welcome the chance to learn from their students colleagues and the leaders in their field embracing the belief that there is always room to grow because this is their mindset our MBCTs cultivate
inspiring challenging and affirming classroom communities that position them as co-constructors of knowledge for students they marry their knowledge with the of the content their students and effective instructional practices in
order to serve as thoughtful facilitators of learning and they strive every day to learn more about their students identities and their relationships to learning i want to thank our partners
from the Chicago Teachers Union for working with us to support nearly 2,500 CPS teachers through the National Board Certification Process their nurturing teacher leadership program has a success rate of
more than 90% compared with a national average of only 70% to talk more about this program today we have several guests and I would like to welcome CTu President City uh Stacy Davis Gates to share a few words
about the program um listen one of the things that the CTU and the Chicago public schools does well um is the nationally this program the NTO program what this does is that this increases the likelihood that in our
school communities our young people are getting the best type of instruction so I do want to say that we codified this and the contract you'll get to vote on um a little later and because of that um I think we that vote should be a little
easy for you but at any rate I'm very happy to be here the Chicago Teacher Union applauds our NBCT teachers for their accomplishments their dedication to their uh students school communities and their practice as an educator um for
new board members who don't know this our NBCT they go through a grueling process with a very tough coach her name is Lynn Shakowski Davis and that tough coach helps them to refine their practice examine and reflect on their pedagogy
and work with their colleagues to achieve this distinction i applaud not only the NBCTs who will be NBCTS this year but those who do the renewals because that is also very rigorous work um these people are role models it's
proven that students of NBCTS have higher levels of achievement higher rates of attendance better engagement in their work and stronger relationships in their school communities in fact these metrics um are related to how well our students are doing in CPS and we see
firsthand how we elevate um the learning process um beyond that I think we are fiercely protective of this program we are so fiercely protective of this program that this was literally the last thing that we settled in the contract
before closing it up um this program is important enough for the Chicago Teachers Union um to also ask the district to meet us halfway we think that the NBCT space needs to have more um people of color represented in its
ranks um we set a goal some years ago and right now 38% of our NBCTs are um educators of color but I think that we can do better if we set a goal together as both the union and the district to
encourage more of our um educators of color um to participate in that because we know that those educators choose to teach in the school communities that have been disinvested in for years and that need the most um so again very
happy that we get to do this together um very pleased that you all honor them in such a profound way thank you so very much thank you Miss Davis Gates it is now my pleasure to also welcome here Lynn
Chowaskski Davis director of teacher leadership for the CTU and manager of the CTU CPS national board certification partnership she will introduce also three of our national board certified teachers
thank you um good afternoon President Harden and our new board members several of whom I'm pleased to know CEO Martinez and Chief Chicumba i'm Lynn Shaskki Davis director of teacher leadership for the Chicago Teachers Union Foundation
Quest Center manager of the CTU CPS National Board Certification Programming former member of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards and Standards Development Team and most importantly a former CPS early childhood teacher and I guess I'm that tough coach
that sta Stacy introduced earlier i I want to thank CPS and the board of education for believing in the power of national board certification and in continuing the support to support the labor management partnership that has produced nearly 3,000 CPS National Board
Certified Teachers to date we began with only seven 29 years ago and now since beginning our partnership 27 years ago we are proud to boast having the third largest number of NBCTs of any district in the nation we are honored that you
recognize them today with your resolution and of course always with your financial support we appreciate the bargaining agreement that codifies that i am proud that each of the 36 new NBCTs and the 80 uh board certified teachers who renewed their certificate this past
year our 116 new and newly renewed board certified teachers being honored for their excellence by CPS today put their teaching to the test by voluntarily challenging themselves to go through this process reflecting upon and improving their practice daily and confirming that they are teaching and
leading to the highest standards in our profession in order to become board certified these teachers completed a two-year performance-based peer-reviewed process demonstrating their proven impact on student learning those who renewed their credential did it in one
year i have a few measurable metrics showing their deep commitment to personal and professional growth student learning and the teaching profession our NBCTs represent every CPS network and more than 60% of our schools have NBCTS
on staff in our newest class being represented here today approximately 57% are early childhood elementary teachers and counselors 38% are high school teachers and counselors and 5% work in teacher positions in networks or
central office additionally 19% are STEM teachers um and 13.5% are exceptional needs or special education teachers but the number of which we are most proud as Stacy mentioned is that 30 37% of our
new NBCTs are teachers of color up from last year bringing our entire pool of CPS NBCTs of color to more than 38% i'd say we are doing pretty well while Chicago has one of the highest numbers of NBCTs of any district in the
nation there is still work to be done let's get teams of NBCTs in every school i want to say that the CPSCTU national board certification professional development and candidate support program otherwise known as nurturing
teacher leadership is committed to providing equitable learning for all students and we know that learning starts with accomplished educators we are grateful that we can increase our numbers of NBC candidates in the next four years thanks to program funding in our new bargaining agreement to be
ratified by you today nbc is about elevating the teaching profession and it is about helping children achieve at higher rates the board's certification process impacts teaching and learning well beyond an individual teachers classroom recognized as the gold
standard research on the advanced certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards has proven that higher standards for teachers means higher achievement and better learning for students a study by the consortium on Chicago school research on the achievement of CPS
students taught by NBCTS bears this out and additionally notes that national board certified teachers have a 5% higher retention rate than other CPS teachers our board certified teachers are committed to social justice and and
adaptation in the face of adversity and trauma all the while counseling and teaching reading math science physical education both English and world language acquisition social studies and the arts and supporting students with exceptional needs they are committed to
writing the narrative that helps our city's young people work toward achieving success and power knowledge and competency and value and achievement regardless of obstacles or zip code i thank you for your recognition today of our newest and newly renewed class of
NBCTs who do just that and thank you for the resolution which we will distribute to all 116 rep recipients at our celebration on May 1st at Kiri High School i hope to see you there like you I am proud that Chicago's National Board Certified Teachers embody the highest
standards for accomplished practice the two-year process our teachers went through wasn't easy but it strengthened their individual practice their schools our district and the teaching profession as a whole and I am sure this will be borne out in their new three-year reach
evaluation cycle the nurturing teacher leadership program of our quest center and I thank you CEO Martinez Chief Chakumbaba board members and President Harden and most of all Stacy Davis Gates CTU president thank you for your support your continuing investment in our
teachers and their professional growth is essential to student success this can only lead to good things for our students and our city our newest class of NBCTs are represented so well here today by dual language early childhood teacher Anita Martinez and special
education teacher and current NBC mentor Aaron Bell your CPS director of school leader engagement in the department of principal quality Chad Thomas will tell you why he renewed his NBC credential and how this benefits our teaching force
and students thank you and thank you for your remarks good afternoon i am Anita Martinez a new early childhood generalist national board certified teacher i teach first grade dual language in Mariano School i chose to pursue national board
certification to further my professional growth earn my master's degree and become a highly accomplished teacher thanks to your your CPSCTU nurturing h feature leadership NTO program partnership I have met all three goals i
benefited from the program design support and funding thank you going through the rigorous NBC process was challenging it was especially difficult as I am an English language learner in addition to weekly classes I spent many nights and weekends
reading and studying the early childhood standards and analyzing whether or not and to what degree I met them i dedicated much time to writing portfolio entries working with my mentor team analyzing videos of my teaching and
students work i spent hours in my classroom trying out new researchdriven techniques i reflected daily on how I would need to improve to in order to meet these high teaching standards i read many articles and books on
pertinent topics for example The Foundation of Children's Learning by Lisa Murphy reinforces the importance of play for six and seven year olds in fact I suggest for members to read this book to help pure decisions for early childhood programming including the
importance of play in first and second grade i now fully understand the importance of addressing the needs of the whole child recognizing that each student is unique capable and naturally inquisitive through play even first
grade students regulate their emotions develop social skills and build critical thinking abilities even though this is a rigorous professional development process it is doable for all our teachers in fact I was one of the few
candidates who did not achieve certification on their first attempt but you were there with your cohort model to support me through the retake process and now I am part of the NL's 93% success rate since becoming an NBCT I
have taken on more leadership roles to add value to my school and district this year I provided professional development at the CPS dual language conference on mastering conventions developing strong writing skills through weekly dictations
bridge and rich lessons i taught teachers that it is essential for the young students to develop strong word skills including mechanics spelling punctuation fluency and and organization of ideas to support this learning I
taught strategies of elictado dictation which reinforces these foundational skills in an engaging and structured way it was in NL that I learned the importance of using explicit vocabulary instruction because this is a strong pred predator of reading comprehension i
will end by sharing that I stand with our new bargaining agreement in advocating for increased support for ELLs such as providing more bilingual staff and assistance my refugee and newcomer students who are non-readers or writers surely would thank you for agreeing with CTU about the importance
of this in our district i am grateful to CPS and CTU for providing me with this opportunity to grow in my profession and helping me achieve my goal it was reinforced my commitment to students learning deepen my understanding of the
subjects I teach and how to effectively deliver them is threatened my role as a student advocate and enhanced my ability to monitor students progress i no longer need to rely on behavioral charts or fill in the blank answers this learning
has made a significant impact on my students who actively engage in meaningful collaborative discussions self-monitoring their own behavior and demonstrate respect and empathy toward one another my school has also benefited from my NTL experience as I have brought
my learning to our kindergarten through second grade colleagues again thank you President Davis Gates Co Martinez and members of the board of education good afternoon i'm Aaron Bell and I'm proud to be a newly national board
certified early childhood through young adult exceptional needs specialist a national board special education teacher thank you for recognizing our work today and supporting the nutrient teacher leadership initiative a powerful partnership between the Chicago Teachers
Union and C and CPS that elevates teacher quality your support of the of the new bargaining agreement is also greatly appreciated it reduces administrative burdens encourages collaboration and gives special education teachers like myself more time
to focus on what matters most which is student growth at my southside school our students are 100% minority and 96% of them are considered economically disadvantaged we're labeled hard to
staff by Isby and have other unique challenges but let me be clear our students deserve excellence they are they deserve pathbreaking solutions that meet their
unique needs that belief led me to pursue national board certification its rigor along with professional development like NL and innovative policies from you empower teachers to make lasting changes
my journey stands as an example it tested my limits as the only middle school resource teacher in my building I taught four subjects across three grade levels and as the only teacher with an ESL endorsement I was also assigned the
role of the English language program teacher balancing all that plus assessments and providing teacher support could have derailed my progress but my NL cohort kept me grounded meeting regularly with
candidates across the district gave me the push and the growth that I needed with your continued support and our new bargaining agreement I remain hopeful i believe that we will see more ESL endorsed teachers and national board
certified teachers in our most diverse schools because of the national board process and NL's emphasis on deep reflection i've changed i'm more intentional with the decisions and lead with inquiry my teaching is more
collaborative which drives students to take ownership of their learning and growth i've reflect daily on student data and guide my co-teers to do the same in order to improve our practice i've reshaped the way that I engage with
families which guides me in creating lessons that are more student centered and motivating the results two of my national board components earn nearperfect scores but more than that I am a more confident
teacher and my students are more engaged than ever though my national I am national board certified my journey isn't over i plan to renew in five years and I'm mentoring new candidates and working to increase the number of highly
accomplished black and brown educators especially in classrooms where students can see themselves and feel seen to the board of education CE Mo Martinez Cedo
Shakumbova thank you for investing in teachers to the Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Gates St davis Gates I'm thank you for your powerful advocacy and the NL program together we are building
stronger schools and brighter futures for all our students hello my name is Chad Thomas and I am the director of school leader engagement in the department of principal quality DPQ first I want to sincerely thank the board and CTU for continuing to invest
in national board certification this investment has a direct imp direct transformative impact not just on educators like me but on the students teachers and school leaders we serve across Chicago i earned my national board certification in 2005 while
teaching reading at Farragate High School as a former special education student myself I knew early on that I wanted to create a classroom where all students could learn and grow in ways that honored their passions and needs the CTu NBC cohort certification
learning model introduced me to many new instructional strategies but even more importantly my students grew more than two grade levels in reading in one year going through national board process taught me the power of reflection importance of growth mindset it sharpened my practice and deepened my
understanding of what sound instruction truly looks like more importantly it made me a more student centered teacher when I became a principal in 2014 my national board renewal came up i saw it as an opportunity to model for my
staff that I was and always will be a teacher with this with the support of the CTU and NBC mentor I completed my renewal and walked away with an even stronger grasp of instructional excellence from so the social emotional needs to the curriculum needs of students just when my school needed it
the most my staff benefited from the reading resources of the CTU NBC renewal process as well we immersed ourselves into schoolwide reading strategies at each grade level and each content team and our personalized instruction for each students based on their reading levels and interest today as the
director of school leader engagement in the department of principal quality I continue to renew my national board certification now for the second time i had even taught in Miss Ferlong's English class at North Grand High School thanks to the generosity of Principal Felts why because I wanted to stay grounded in
practice and because I believe that to support our principles and teachers well I need to stay close to the work the NBC rubrics clearly define what sound instruction looks like in action and students need teachers that are committed to growing their craft renewing my National Board Certification
has shaped my leadership philosophy my coaching and my ability to guide school leaders it reminds me daily that great teaching is both an art and a science and that reflection and continuous improvement are non-negotiables at every level of this district again thank you
to CPS and the Board of Education for prioritizing and investing the ongoing development of its talent particularly supporting instructional excellence thank you thank you to all of our speakers and congratulations to all of our new and
renewed national board certified teachers president Harden this concludes Donor in excellence section and I'll turn it over to you or board members for comments thank you board members are there any comments or questions
i want to thank you all for the collaboration and it's so important that professional development is happening and I look forward to more expansion as it pertains to teachers of color thank you for your work are there any other comments from board
members if not CEO Martinez we're ready for your marks thank you Mr president i'll begin with some exciting news for three CPS high schools the first is the Ray Graham Training Center who recently received the 2025 Keith Magnuson Spirit Award
from the Special Children's Charities thi this distinguished honor honors special Olympic teams that exemplify the spirit of dreaming big overcoming obstacles and achieving goals ray Graham has demonstrated the spirit through the unwavering its unwavering commitment to
it self-improvement and by always giving their best effort to the Chicago Park District programs i commend head coaches Katie Jones Tiana Sanders along with the entire coaching staff at Ray Graham for shaping student athletes who are shining example for others their sportsmanship
determination and enthusiasm are truly inspiring ray Graham student athletes will have the honor of carrying the torch and lighting the cauldron as we kick off the 2025 Special Olympic Spring Games on May 1st i congratulate the entire Ray Graham community on this
well-deserved recognition of their hard work dedication and incredible spirit and if you haven't attended visited that school board members I I really recommend it it's it's a school full of love full of inclusion it's one of my favorite schools i also want to congratulate our dual
debate team champions congrats go out to not one but two national champion CPS high school debate teams the teams from Kenwood and Backofthe-art high schools traveled to Emory University in Atlanta Georgia earlier this month to compete at the 2025 Urban Debate National
Championship hosted by the National Association for Urban Debate Leagues this three-day tournament is the capstone event of the competition season for debate teams from Los Angeles to Boston and everywhere in between for the second year in a row the team from
Kenwood was crowned this year's Urban Debate National Champions go Broncos not to be undone the team of Back of the Yards also achieved a national champion championship in the debate and espanol event this team from Back of the Yards
is Chicago's first ever high school Spanish language debate team providing opportunities for for multilingual students to engage in debate in their in their native language despite Yep let's give it up despite only being in their second
year of their competition of the competition they brought home the title i could not be more proud of the teams from both Kenwood and Back of the Yards and I thank our students and their adviserss for representing CPS so well on the national stage additionally I can't miss the
opportunity to highlight some of our phenomenal school leaders our district celebrated assistant princip uh assistant principal appreciation week earlier this month from April 7th to April 11th throughout the week we showca we showcase our crit how critical our assistant principles are to the success
of our schools they are invaluable partners to our principles anticipating their needs and helping them shoulder the responsibility of leading a school community they also provide a constant support for their colleagues giving them the coaching they need and connecting them with resources to help our students
thrive our students and families love their APS because they're motivational encouraging and knowledgeable i hope that you will join me in continuing in continuing to uplift these amazing leaders for all their hard work this school year next I want to remind everyone that
prek applications are now open for the 2526 school year there are proven benefits to jumpstarting a highquality education as early as possible that is why CPS has has been expanding early childhood education programs across the city for several years beginning with
Chicago's most underresourced communities i am proud that every four-year-old in Chicago's 77 communities now has the access to free full day preschool programming in addition some half-day programs are also available for our city's three-year-olds
all pre-k programs are designed to boost academic skills fuel intellectual curiosity foster independence and instill a lifelong love of learning in our youngest students i urge all families with preschool age children to explore their options for the next school year at
chicagoarning.com again uh for at chicagoarning.com another area that I'm proud to report is how how we've been improving our transportation services as you all know and as was widely reported in the media CPS has been working through a persistent nationwide driver shortage that has made transportation
for our students particularly challenging but thanks to the hard work of our student transportation services team and our contributing teams like Talent and ONS we've made significant progress on working with schools to adjust bell times creating a new hubtop model for genet students and working
tirelessly to recruit more drivers we're in a much better place than last year i'm going to ask our team to pull up a table just to give you some data points last year at this time we had 738 drivers this year we've grown our workforce to 91 drivers that's 20 it's a
22% increase because of this increased capacity we're now transporting 14,320 students compared to 9295 last year ladies and gentlemen it's a 54% increase for students with disabilities we're now transporting
12,16 students compared to 8714 at at this time last year that's a 30 38% increase and when it comes to general ed students at at this time last year we're only able to transport 439 students this year we're up to 265 that's a 370%
increase the increase in D driver capacity is has also allowed us to wind down our stipen program where last year we had 3,688 students receiving a stipen and this year it's only 112 that means that families are getting the transportation they wanted in the first place with
substantial cost savings for the district a win-win i'm so proud of our team for their work in this area we've made a personal commitment to our families that we will not stop working until this problem is entirely fixed the commitment still stands we still have 2,800 requests for transportation for
general education students and countless others who did not even bother applying because of our capacity issues so we're as as proud as we are of this progress please families know we are not going to give up until we continue to put every child that needs to be on a bus i'm also excited to announce the
expansion of our roadmap our nationally recognized higher higher education partnership with the city city colleges of Chicago phase one of the road map had been to provide a seamless transition from high school to community college we're proud of the work that has been done here which includes a 62% increase
in the number of students and uh of students enrolling in early college courses as well as a greater exposure to career pathways through hands-on hands-on work-based training now we're in phase two which is continuing the seamless transition towards a 4-year degree i want to thank
our partners at the University of Illinois at Chicago UIC for being a partner in this effort roadmap 2.0 will help students retain credits reduce the barriers to transfer so they can be successful in earning their bachelor's degree students will have access to personalized degree planning coordinated
academic advising and additional resources to support CPS community colleges in UIC and ladies and gentlemen this is a big deal you have to understand how difficult it is especially for our first generation students to navigate the college system and what UIC is doing is putting in a
system that our CPS students our community college students and UIC students will be able to use to see pathways in whatever major they choose whether it's education engineering IT all driven by AI and then our current road map has more students than ever
graduating with college credit a record number of students graduating with a semester's worth of college credit all the way up to an associates degree so again just a lot to celebrate i will now turn to the core of today's meeting which is the approval of the new CTU contract after nearly a full year at
the bargaining table we will soon have a 4-year labor agreement in place for our talented teachers at its core this contract fairly rewards our excellent work of our educators makes investments that are financially responsible for the district and keeps the best interests of our students at the forefront i'm proud
that even in challenging financial times we're able to provide our educators with the compensation and benefits they deserve i'm also proud that our teams were able to work together to avoid the kind of labor strike that has been so disruptive to our families in the past i want to thank everyone who spent countless hours negotiating this
contract especially the members of our bargaining team who sacrificed nights weekends holidays and time with their loved ones in service of our students and families i'm also grateful to our families for their patience during this time and for engaging with the negotiations process while remaining fully focused on helping their students
achieve success this school year but even through the negot even though the negotiations have come to a close the work doesn't end for CPS the next phase is familiarizing our school leaders and staff with the contract implementing the changes and figuring out how to accommodate the costs from this contract
into our budget today along with the contract the board will also vote on an amendment to our fiscal year 2025 budget to fund the first year of the agreement conversations are ongoing around funding strategies for the contract's future years with many avenues being explored
what we know for certain is that our financial outlook for the next several years is challenging and we must work together to find new revenue to better fund our schools cps is facing a projected budget shortfall of $529 million for fiscal year 2026 that means that the con that some
combination of increased revenue and reduced expenses will need to be reached to balance this budget that is why on April 29th students families educators and leaders from CPS and districts across the state will travel to Springfield to advocate for more state
funding for our schools this work is being done in concert with funding Illinois's future uh funding Illinois's future coalition led by Advance Illinois cps was proud to help lead the fight for the new evidence-based funding formula in Springfield which was established in 2017 and we're proud to
stand alongside districts from across the state in our push for more funding now and here's what we're asking for this from the state we're asking the state to increase the evidence-based formula from for public education across the state to $550 million each year increasing the financial support for
nutrition special education transportation services across Illinois to $165 million per year and increasing the support of early childhood to $75 million per year so that CPS can continue to offer preschool in every neighborhood of Chicago going to Springfield is only one way to support
this campaign members of our school communities can add their voices by sharing what's what more funding would mean for their schools we have created a list of resources to help our stakeholders share their stories including sample emails to lawmakers and sample media uh social media po
posts this can be found at cps.edu edu/advocacy day the more people who participate in this campaign the more impactful our message will be so I encourage all of our families educators and partners to share their stories on or after advocacy day event on April
29th i want to be clear this is just the latest part of our district's legis legislative strategy since the beginning of the legislative session we've had a permanent presence in Springfield working behind the scenes with lawmakers to press for more funding we're excited to bring our students educators and parents to underscore how important it
is that our schools get the funding they deserve mr president this concludes my prepared remarks thank you board members are there any comments or questions we have no committee updates this month you have a comment
thank you CEO for your um report um I am also incredibly proud of this contract uh that includes a groundbreaking commitment to green schools i have um built my career on working for our
communities to have safe and healthy communities and school buildings uh and for the first time there is language that makes sustainability um a core part of our education vision and that's really exciting for me um ensuring that
our school buildings are are safe and healthy and climate resilient uh this is also a historic step um that shows that we are serious about climate and environmental justice and the students well-being so I'm I'm really happy uh
that this is actually uh happening in as part of this contract and I really commend everybody who worked to make that part of the the contract this is exciting thank you are there any more comments or questions we have no committee updates
this month so we'll now proceed i'm sorry Sydney please thank you for all all of the updates this is very exciting to hear how our students and teachers and communities are doing uh I did I hear you say that the road map expansion is
driven by AI yes Bormer so you know what we're um we we had a press event with Chancellor Chancellor Miranda from UIC and what was exciting is that they've developed a new system that uh especially and I should and thank you for your question it is
especially going to be helpful for our transfer students so we have a quite a number of students that want to start at the community colleges but are always worried about how easy it is to transfer to universities like UIC so they have a a student described it as transferology i don't know if that's the actual name of the program but uh so basically it
shows students uh what how to transfer from UIC from their community college at any point in time they want whether they have an associates degree or not and uh the commitment that the chancellor made is that they will be in both chancellors from the community colleges and in UIC is that there will be zero credit loss
there's a guarantee that all credits will transfer so this is a big deal and then for our students who are already taking college classes in high school this will be a tool that they will also be able to see as they look at pathways in different majors that they want so it is um uh and I I'll seal the
chancellor's words she said you know this is this is something that is uh going to show the nation u you know how to do this this is probably one of the first of its kind and so it's something that's a big deal and if anybody was a first generation student you understand I mean the navigating these college systems are just so difficult so again I
couldn't be prouder of of our partnership there being no other comments we'll proceed with today's public participation session thank you all for joining to share your comments with the board in compliance with the open meetings act public participation sometimes referred to as public comment
is a 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 a time for board and CPS 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 public 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 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 our board members host board hours so that we can have conversation please use our website cpsbboe.org if you want to meet with the board member during office hours we encourage you to take advantage of the
opportunity to meet with board members outside of a board meeting thank you for your attention and consideration as a reminder UNI representatives will be allotted 5 minutes to speak and 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 in person or via an electronic format for those who prefer to attend by 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 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 mailed to one north Dearborn sweet 950 written comments received between the day the public agenda was posted through 5:00 PM the day after the board of
education meeting will be submitted to the board and published within five business days on our website at cpsb.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 six once you hear your name please state your name for the record i will then start the two-minut timer when there are 30 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 please stand along the glass partitions to keep all 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 Stacy Davis Gates CTU president who is here in person good afternoon again um to President Harden to Vice President Bautista and to new mother again Jenny Kuster congratulations and welcome back
um you need that same parental leave policy that um our members get or the entire Chicago public schools gets um but welcome back um good afternoon to everyone on the board um you know it's kind of odd to come up
here and say that we made good on something together that is an inflection point in what we believe will be the transformation of our school district um we have a contract um we have a contract that did not require a strike vote we
have a contract that did not require a strike that is a significant development considering up until this point that is what it has taken to get us here um we attribute that in part to your participation in the transformation of
our district thank you for being engaged thank you for caring about our young people um it matters to have representatives who will ultimately be responsible and accountable so thank you for that and also thank you for the
sacrifices of families of students and of our members in past contract years to get us where we are um as an educator learning is cumulative and so learning has given us an opportunity to get what
we perceive as a contract that respects the expertise of veteran teachers that um both acknowledges the bias in the evaluation system and seeks a remedy for that that is just and equitable and that
also sees all of our children in every zip code and prioritizes equity to account for the things that our young people need um and that's important and we are asking for your vote um as you've given
and we we appreciate the support because it's going to take all of us to implement this contract it's pretty big and it does a lot it gives us more resources for sports so our young people have transportation and uniforms we deal
with equity issues so um girls softball is treated like boys baseball and um how it's resourced those things are important to us it is important to us that this contract gives us an opportunity to say a school can have an
art teacher and a physical education teacher and a music teacher not or and so many times it's been ore we also are grateful that we'll have more sustainable community schools so we can celebrate more boys uh basketball
championships like we did at diet this year it is important that you know that dual languagemies will be available for students on the south side and the west side like they are on the north side this contract does a lot and I want to
challenge you and say that it can't do a lot all the time we're going to need your help we need your help because we can't wait every four years this contract gives us less than a hundred school libraries and school librarians you have the ability to do more of that
see the deficit I just heard someone say the growth mindset right so the deficit mindset would say "Oh my god how are we going to pay for this i don't know how we've been paying for it." Right the growth mindset says "Let's all go to Springfield together." So very happy
you're going with Advanced Illinois so very happy that we're going at all because we're going to need everyone and then some to bring back what Chicago public school has deserved for generations and I say that because you have a responsibility to take care of us
we have a lot of people here today from the charter space and one of the things that this union is going to challenge this board with is to begin to care about our charter children enough to
evaluate effectively the charter institution we just got away from a school closings debacle at Aero the school was renewed 30 seconds remaining so you have to begin to question what is
the process under which these renewals happen how will the lack of oversight and specific understanding of what it looks like on the ground how does that impact families the worst thing in the world is to go through a closings process the worst thing in the world is
to offer students an instability so this isn't about the students this isn't about the school itself it is about the system and the process under which you all get to create that puts students first and that provides them with the
utmost um evaluation of the space that provides them with what they need right now under your evaluation are some schools that have some very profound issues with staffing special education and bilingual education we hope that you
take those things into account thank you so much for your patience thank you for your comments the next union rep is Jen Conan CTU Charter Division Vice Chair i'm sorry Charter Division Chair Good afternoon members of the board as
you know I'm Jen Conent chair of CTU's charter division and an educator at CICS Northtown for many years today you will be voting on the tentative agreement that CPS reached with CTU the contract has many improvements that will strengthen protections for students and
staff it increases staffing at CPS schools ensures more prep time for elementary teachers reduces class sizes and implements improvements for special education and bilingual education this contract will make CPS schools better the same is true in the charter space
the contracts C2 has won with charter operators have also improved these schools we have won additional staffing smaller class sizes and equitable equitable compensation for educators thereby stabilizing the schools this spring you are also considering
charter renewals and renewal lengths the last few months you have heard me and others advocate for changes to the renewal process and or to the charter contracts with the district before you renew any charters in order to prevent
anotherike situation we do not want charter operators renewed this year to suddenly close their schools sometimes sometime next year families at charter schools should not have to go through the same pain that Aero families went through this year those families
advocated for renewal in 2023 only to have Aero turn their back on them one year later by closing half of their schools so once again I'm here to urge you to pass policy reforming the charter renewal and contract process charters should not be able to give short notice
on closing or to close mid-contract they should not be able to keep reserves that came from funding for the school that they're closing cps should not have to bear financial responsibility for keeping those schools open when the charter operator is able to and charter operators should have to provide more
information to CPS so that they can see school closures coming at Aspira they received a seven-year renewal in 2018 during those seven years enrollment declined precipitously and CPS's oversight and renewal process did not help Espira
Hogan or prevent it from closing at the end of this year instead families found out the week before winter break that their school would be closing at the end of the school year so the renewal process should be both about accountability and support cps should be reviewing charter schools
annually and providing feedback so that operators have the chance to improve students deserve the best schools possible whether they're in district schools or charter schools and if operators aren't meeting CPS expectations they should have shorter terms with more oversight that's
accountability at the last board meeting INS the Illinois Network of Charter Schools suggested that charter schools should only be evaluated on student performance that's a bit vague but let's assume that means growth or attainment on a specific set of standardized tests and that they suggested that the lowest
performing schools should get a 3 to four year renewal everyone else should get more than that but would charter operators be okay with struggling teachers getting evaluated only every 3 to four years of course not it should be the same with charter schools and
charter operators they need to be evaluated and supported regularly to ensure they are meeting the academic and social emotional needs of students and to ensure that they are running their organization in a transparent and financially responsible way finally I urge you all the board to create policy
that will protect workers and by extension whole school communities in his first 100 days Trump has done more to destroy public education and labor rights than most presidents this board this district and this city have the opportunity to protect schools and the
people that work in them the CPS-CTU contract says that charter operators renewed by this board should have to remain neutral if workers want to unionize run with that create the language and the policy that protects workers right to organize and to join a union and provide an enforcement
mechanism any public school that is privately run that is doing the right thing will see how a resolution or policy around union neutrality will uplift their school and it will hold others who may be hiding behind private boards and closed doors more accountable while they take public
dollars we know that there would have been a different outcome for our schools had those schools not been unionized and standing alongside families to fight for those schools we want that for all of our schools i want to thank you all for your hard work 30 seconds you have a lot
on your plate and have an essential role in ensuring the success of all schools for the sake of Chicago's children so thank you for all that you do thank you for your comments our next union rep is Tumain Reeves SEIU Local 73 director of CPS
division good afternoon greetings to President Harmon Harden Vice President Batista and esteemed uh Chicago public school board members my name is Tummaine Reeves and I serve as an elected board member and newly appointed director of the CPS
division of SEIU Local 73 and I will be taking over for if uh executive vice president Staca Scott Kennedy at SEIU Local 73 we represent a wide range of support staff classifications across the district including board bus aids today
I am here to present an urgent opportunity to strengthen protections for the students and staff who rely on school bus transportation as many of you are aware four transportation vendor contracts currently in their final extension
phases are set to expire this upcoming June 30th with the remaining nine contracts set to uh the remaining nine contracts set to expire July 31st of this year on behalf of the students and CPS bus aids who use these services SEIU
Local 73 is calling on the board to set higher standards for transportation vendors before any new agreements are signed or extended specifically we are urging the board to mandate that all school buses be equipped with functioning air
conditioning and heat at all times the current contracts only require these features if a student's IEP or 504 plan explicitly states that need this limited language has left many students and
staff in unsafe and uncomfortable conditions during the past recent two summers amid citywide heat advisories CPS had to scramble at the last minute to provide room temperature of bottled waters and cardboard fans in an effort
to mitigate the unbearable heat on buses lacking proper air conditioning similarly when the winter months students and staff are left shivering on buses due to lack of heat so in closing on this matter SEIU Local
73 respectfully asks the board to consider following um consider the following before entering into any new transportation vendor agreements number one Chicago regularly experiences extreme heat and cold sometimes in the
same week two many of the students using these services are among the most vulnerable and some of them are non-verbal and unable to express when they are um feeling discomfort they can't express that I'm hot I'm thirsty I'm not
comfortable three there is significant liability um for the district should a student or staff member suffer from heat exhaustion or frostbite due to inadequate bus conditions and then finally four and most
importantly the contracts approved by the board should reflect CPS's blueprint which prioritizes operational excellence and highquality services thank you for your time and your attention to this urgent and preventable issue thank you for your
comments President Harden we are now ready to call speakers from the speakers list and we'll begin with the first group from North Londale College Prep speaker number one Gregory Hickman who's joining us virtually speaker number 12 Tash
Stevenson speaker number 16 Angel Allison and speaker 25 Ricky Jones who's also joining us virtually gregory Hickman please enter star six to unmute hi Gregory Hick can you guys hear me yes
please proceed okay my name is Greg Hickman and I returned to teach at Northwale College Prep at the beginning of the 2024 25 school year i love working at MLCP and when I moved back to Chicago last year it was the only school that I wanted to work at it's not only where I've planted
my roots and grown as an educator it's where I've built my community and where I've witnessed the power of that community refusing to give up on its scholars over and over again i didn't come back to NLCP just to teach i came here because I believe in what this school stands for every day I see
scholars who are often overlooked or underestimated working to better themselves growing as individuals and seeing their own potential i watch young people discover that they can be leaders and take control of their own destiny and it's not just the students who feel empowered this past school year NLCP
gave me the opportunity to pilot a business class rooted in real world skills become a thriving course that's helping students understand how to build a small business venture of their own i also just found out and I'm proud to share that next year this course will be offered to all of our sections this
honestly could have only happened here and it didn't happen by chance the opportunity to grow as an educator happened because NLCP values what its educators bring to the table our leadership welcomes innovative teachers who show initiative and that's the kind of culture that keeps teachers excited and engaged and we all know excited
engaged teachers lead to excited engaged students in my years here I've also had the joy of seeing former scholars return to North Lawndale some are educators now some are community leaders but all of them are proof that this school is doing what it promised to do uplift the generation and build a stronger future
for the community you have 30 seconds remaining i've dedicated my career to this place and I hope to retire here someday that's how much I believe in this mission and in our scholars this school is a part of me and a vital part of North Londale that's why I'm urging you to renew
NLCP's charter for another four years it feels like the goalpost for new keeps moving and the people who are most impacted our scholars families and my fellow staff members have little to no say in the matter let us keep doing the work and keep working to make life better for the youth in our community thank you for your time and for
believing in the power of schools like ours thank you for your comments our next speaker is Tash Stevenson speaker number 12 good afternoon board my name is Tashidia Severson or Taj and I am a proud 2003
graduate of North Londale College Prep as a little girl I dreamed of being a superhero my pick the pink Power Ranger she was fierce she was fearless and always showed up to save the day like so many kids in North Lawndale I dreamed of
being someone powerful who could help others while making a difference in my community i'm here today because I didn't stop dreaming and I didn't stop dreaming because North Londale College Pro wouldn't let me at NLCP your circumstances don't cancel your potential the people at the school see
your potential and when the world even when the world does not they understand what Benjamin Mays meant when he said "The tragedy of life doesn't lie in not reaching your goals the tragedy lies in having no goals to reach." NLCP gave me
back my goals and it gave me back my dreams it's because of NLCP that I had the opportunity to study nursing at Howard University it's because of NLCP that I visited my colleg's campus well before I stepped foot on the campus as a student it's because of NLCP that my
books were paid for and my path was supported and it's because of NLCP that for the past 16 years I've worked to promote health equity in marginalized communities and most of that work is the very community that educated me no I
didn't become a Pink Power Ranger but to my patients my church my family and my community I am a superhero you have 30 seconds remaining and I'm not And I'm not the only one nlcp has produced hundreds of superheroes like me students who have gone on to become educators
social workers artists engineers advocates and entrepreneurs they are dreamers turned doers kids who defied the data and redefined what is possible for a community that too many people have counted out so today I'm not just asking you to renew NLCP charter i'm
asking you each and every one of you to believe in the next generation of superheroes thank you thank you for your comments our next speaker is Angel Allison speaker number 16 good afternoon esteemed board members my name is Angel Allison and I am proud to
currently be a student at North Londale College Prep i'm here today to tell you NLCP is more than just a school to me it is a place that is already shaping my life and my future one of the things I love most
about NLCP is the annual peace celebration at our school this day is incredibly important to me because it give us all a chance to step away from the stress of classes homework and other personal challenges it is a day of unity joy and a reminder that we are more than
just students we are a community knowing that we will have this special time to focus on peace and positivity helps me push through even the most difficult of weeks another reason I value NLCP is because of the peace warrior program peace warriors are
a group of students and teachers who are ambassadors of peace we interrupt nonsense we spread love and kindness and we push for peace another reason I value NLCP is the Phoenix Hack scholarship program college is a big deal for me but
financial barriers but financial barriers I'm sorry can make that dream feel impossible the Phoenix Pack changes that the program rewards hard work and dedication helping students like me get
the financial support we need to pursue higher education knowing that my school truly believes in my gives me the extra motivation to keep striving for excellence finally what makes NLCP truly special are the friendships I've built high school isn't always easy but having close friends have made all the
difference and I believe everyone deserves a school where they can find that kind of support and encouragement i respectfully urge you to renew NLCP's charter so that students like me can continue to experience a place where we feel supported encouraged and prepared for the future thank you thank you for
your comments our next speaker is Ricky Jones who is joining us virtually please enter star six to unmute yes can you hear me yes please proceed okay good afternoon board members my name is Ricky i have the had the honor
of working with North Londale College Prep for the past five years i am a P professional who work on oneonone with students and disabilities but also wear many hats such as helping run our driver's ed program supporting the campus transition team and just jumping in whenever I'm needed it's a role that
allow me to grow tremendously both professionally and and personally what makes NLTP so special to me and so many others it just not it's not just the work we do but the impact that we see on a daily basis i witness firsthand the challenges that our students face such as community violence for some the
weight of this challenges can be heavy in addition to pressure to fit in to succeed academic and for students with disabilities the added capacity of navigating system that has not always been built with them in mind well here's the thing about our students at LNCP
they don't give up and neither do I do I and we over the years I have seen these students once struggled to find a place come into their own gathering confidence skills and belief in themselves watching them walk across that stage at graduation knowing they made it to
college and beyond one of the most rewarding experience I have had but NLCP is not just about sending student into the world it's about building community that they come back to to support and other first generation we see former students returning to work here to mentor new students and to show the next
wave of Jun graduates that is impossible to grad to overcome obstacle and succeed as we prepare to bring in our two schools under one roof next year I have no doubt that NSP will be only stronger the changes will be implemented will make a growing impact on the students
and family we serve and we continue to be a cornerstone in North Londale community i incredibly proud of the work we do and honored to be a part of that team that truly cares about the success of each and every student i ask you to renew our challenge without further delay so we can continue to support
important work and make a bigger impact in the years to come thank you thank you for your comments our next speaker is Mary or speaker number two who is joining us virtually please enter star six to unmute good afternoon my name is Mary Margaret
our I'm a proud LSC member and teacher from Hogan Elementary School thank you for allowing me to speak with you today hogan is near and dear to my heart i have worked my entire CPS career here and my husband is a graduate from Hogan
as well pogan is a large thriving neighborhood school that has faced overcrowding issue for decades 20 years ago a new building was built to serve as Hoggin's middle school however against the wishes of the community that
building was given to a charter network a political decision that destabilized Hogan for years now two decades later we are once again at capacity we are hoping that this situation can be considered today we are asking CPS to allow Hogan
Elementary School to colllocate in the building that was originally built for our neighborhood students we understand that there are laws about dates to apply to move into spaces but a spirit charter decided to announce after the October 1st deadline so we could not make our
desire to move into that property known plugin is currently on track to grow in the 2526 school year by four to five classrooms this would display specials teachers like STEM music and dance to be taught on a cart this is not conducive
for anyone students would remain in their rooms most of each day specials would need to minimalize materials that they could use and moving teachers out of their rooms during precious seconds remaining we do understand that Hogan is technically not overcrowded and we do
that there know that there's a new formula coming next year we really really would appreciate to be considered to colllocate with North River in the space of 3729 uh West Leland it's just two blocks away
from our school we feel that this would be an excellent option to alleviate all of the neighborhood students who want to come to Hogan to participate in our school we really hope you will consider our request to colllocate in the underutilized building just two blocks
away thank you very much for your time thank you for your comments our next three speakers are from Perspectives Charter Schools Malia Francis speaker number three Terrell Shaw speaker number 22 and Destiny
Bloomingberg speaker number 30 as you come to stand with the speaker please stand along along the glass partition please proceed good afternoon Chicago Board of Education thank you so much for the opportunity to speak with you all today
my name is Malia Francis and I am a eighth grader at Perspective Leadership Campus i am here today to tell you about Perspectives and what my experience has been as a perspective students perspectives is a very welcoming and understanding school if we're having
trouble with something there is always someone we can talk to it's easy to find staff so we can ask our teachers for extra help i have been able to get good grades i'm on the honor row and I have done both track and cheer other activities other activities
I have done include cosmetology cooking arts gaming and yearbook i have been able to learn so many things at Perspectives our teachers really demonstrate that they care about us and our success especially during sanca sanc
Kofa is definitely the best time of the day during Sanc Kofa the whole school gets together and sometimes in small groups and sometimes as an entire school we we bond together go over school goals and we have some fun
activities including basketball tournaments pizza parties pizza parties that help us get to know one another one another and have a positive time in school when I began perspectives in the seventh grade one of the first things I noticed
at perspectives has something called a disciplined life is something is something where you apply yourself to rules a life where you hold yourself accountable to your actions it also means that you're a compassionate and caring person a disciplined life definitely has helped
me become the student and person I am today lastly there's a principle of a disciplined life called act listen actively i can say that the teachers hear us out at perspectives and show this principle they take our advice on things we want and they want to
understand how we can work together thank you for listening i hope you will consider the positive experience I've had which I believe many of my classmates have had as you make the decision about perspectives thank you thank you for your comments our next speaker is
Terrell Shaw speaker number 22 good afternoon members of the board of education thank you so much for the opportunity to speak with you all today my name is Terrell Shaw and I am a proud graduate of Perspectives Charter Schools for the past four years I've had the
honor of serving as an app design teacher as well as entrepreneurship teacher at Perspectives Leadership Campus perspectives changed the trajectory of my life as a student I was pushed to grow challenge lead and I was
supported every step of the way the culture of ADL a disciplined life didn't just prepare me for college it also prepared me to show up in the world with confidence and purpose perspectives has done the same
for so many of his students over the years when I think about my classmates I was one of six members of Perspectives 8th grade graduating class who returned to work at Perspectives it is a testament to Perspectives impact that its alumni are inspired to come back and embrace the
incredibly important work of educating our next generation of students perspectives has become a vehicle for generational change and continues to be an integral part of the community that it serves every day I pour my all into my students
the same way that my teachers pour into me whether it's teaching my students computer coding to designing their apps coaching the track team after school or engaging with my colleagues and making inspirational ACT pumpup videos to inspire our students you have 30 seconds
i am inspired to give my all because my students deserve nothing but the best by providing my students with the excellent education I want to show my students that I believe in them that perspectives believes in them and that all of their dreams are possible and attainable in
closing I am immensely grateful for your time i am honored to work at Perspectives and respectfully ask that you grant Perspectives 7 to 10year charter renewal so that we can continue to make the strong impact on all of our students lives thank you so much thank
you for your comments the next speaker is Destiny Bloomingberg speaker number 30 members of the board of education I am very grateful for the opportunity to speak to you all today my name is Destiny Bloomberg and I am a freshman at one of the perspectives leadership
campuses i can say confidently that I really love my school i started to attend Perspectives in the sixth grade like my sister who also started in Perspectives and graduated from one of the perspectives high schools one thing that was different about Perspectives over my previous schools was a discipline life a disciplined life is a
way of life that asks you to be better that pushes you to find your better self through a disciplined life I learned about one of its principles accept only quality work from yourself being transparent I have been a procrastinator my whole life throughout certain things but now I realize expecting the best
from yourself only sets you up for success i've been getting good grades throughout my life and learning to accept quality work from yourself knowing that as a kid from now is making me the person that I am today and with accepting quality work from
yourself it helps me with things outside of school like my chores etc and now I put my full effort into everything that I do at Perspectives I like the variety of after school programs previously I've done volleyball and cheerleading there are many things that I could choose from and there is really something for
everyone the teachers at Perspectives are supportive and dependable and try to make learning fun in addition to my regular classes I've had the chance to learn about film photography cooking debate yearbook and so much more if there are ever any questions our teachers are always there to help us i really like how welcoming our school is
and if we do a good job we get acknowledged and our work is never done unnoticed you have 30 seconds remaining i am excited to to continue my high school journey at Perspectives in the future I want to be an occupational therapist and I know by accepting quality work for myself I can reach that goal thank you for listening and I hope
that you'll consider the positive experiences that I had which I believe many of my classmates have had as you make decisions about perspectives thank you thank you for your comments our next speaker is Nelly Navas
Dentes speaker number four nelly Navas Durant speaker number four good afternoon i am here as an educational advocate for Maria Hamea Perez and her son Anel we are here to request that the board investigate Intrinsic School's handling
of Anel being expelled anel was physically assaulted he suffered head trauma a bloody nose and blurred vision he struck no one under emotional distress Anel
reacted he threatened the other student this led to the manifestation determination review the psychologist and social worker provided testimony stating an actions were the result of his
disability also intrinsic failed to follow IEP protocol anill's physician also provided a written statement noting an verbal reaction is complicated by his
ADHD and Anel is not a threat to anyone mrs hamika was surprised to learn the MDR meeting would lead to a hearing expulsion not well informed she assumed it was like an IEP meeting and her son
would get more help more support anel has been at Intrinsic since 7th grade five years presently a junior with less than two months from becoming a senior
he's also an AB student so we are here requesting that the board reinstate Anel at intrinsic school and complete a thorough investigation of this injustice to the parent by denying
her due process not informing her well just handing her forms and of course um reinstating Anel it would do no one any good to expel him not him not his
family not society thank you for your time thank you for your comments our next group of speakers are from the safe passage advoc advocacy group angela Hurlock speaker number
five javier Rodriguez speaker number six sylvia Simpson speaker number 17 iliot Jackson speaker number 20 phyllis Harold speaker number
21 and Virgil Crawford speaker number 28 okay we'll move to speaker 17 from the group Sylvia Simpson speaker number five and speaker number six are not here sorry good try please stand along the glass
partition to keep the aisles clear thank you good afternoon President Harden and member members of the board my name is Sylvia Simpson a member of the executive team of Alliance for Community Peace we the safe passage team are the original boots on the ground dedicated community
workers standing alongside our neighborhoods over the years we have proudly supported CPS through numerous initiatives including census outreach LSC election support trrencia efforts meal safety and school supply
distribution co mask distribution and most importantly protecting Chicago children's around the winter spring summer and fall we welcome the opportunity to meet with the members of the board CPS safety and security acting chief Rona Shableski
Director Gregory Sain and the CPS budget analyst team to discuss the continued funding of the future of the safe hazard program thank you for your time thank you for your comments our next speaker Iliad Jackson speaker number 20
good afternoon board members um I'm a member of the west side of Chicago the moment we heard that safe passage was threatened it was unacceptable i reached out to our board member Aaron G2 Brown
thank you brother for always being on call it's It's unacceptable our children cannot continue to be left behind they just can't i mean as I sit here and look at the board members President Harden thank you for allowing me to speak what
about our babies what about our children safe Passage is the only thing that's been protecting them for the last decade how could it ever be considered to be underfunded discontinued it's
unacceptable so as a community I stand in solidarity right here look it got to be supported at all costs thank you thank you for your comments next speaker is Phyllis Herrell
speaker number 21 greetings President Harden members of the board CEO Superintendent Martinez my name is Reverend Phyllis Herell CEO of Alliance for Community Peace we stand before you today as concerned parents
educators and community members urging you to support and preserve the CPS safe passage program program was established in 2009 and is more than just a service it is a lifeline for thousands of students and families across Chicago the
reality is many of our students neighborhood navigate our neighborhoods without guaranteed safety safe passage ensures that children can get to and from school without fear providing trained staff who builds relationships within the communities deter crime and
serve as trusted eyes and ears along designated routes it offers more than security it offers peace of mind to families and promises uninterrupted education currently Safe Passage has 191 schools which it serves and 30 more on a
waiting list but recently cutting to funding and reduction in staff and hiring freeze have threatened the stability of this program these reductions don't just affect numbers on a budget sheet they affect lives it is we that failed to if we fail to support
safe passage we risk increasing absenteeism lowering student morale and placing unnecessary burdens on communities already facing difficulties we cannot afford that investing in safe passage is investing in the success and
well-being of our children reinstating funding and hiring trained personnel is not an expense it is a commitment to the future and thus the city and its young people i urge you members of the boards to prioritize safety education and
equity by ensuring this program remains fully funded and staffed even in summer we partner with the park district to provide safe passage for youth to get to and from schools and parks safely that is a necessity necessity why because
every child in Chicago deserves to walk to school without fear every family deserves to know their children are protected and every community deserves a city that values their safety thank you for your time and consideration respectfully all CPS safe passage
vendors thank you for your comments our next speaker is Virgil Crawford speaker number 28 good afternoon my name is Virgil Crawford to the board um I'm with the Westside Health Authority and I'm here
today with 78,000 children on my mind and um those 78,000 children made it to school and back home safe today because of safe passage without the safe passage the
prospect of making it to school and back home uh for many children uh it it would be a traumatizing thought you know uh with safe passage children look forward to going to school and having an invit inviting and exciting experience because
they make it there safely in today's society most of us most of us pay a high price for safety and in many cases you know it's not cheap we have an initiative which have brought schools law enforcement
community organizations and citizens together working to protect our future our children in their most vulnerable years safe passage has played a significant role in supporting children and families
as they travel to and from school every day it's a tumultuous task nevertheless our safe passage workers place a high priority on building relationshipships with students and allows them to be proactive in promoting a safe commute to
school we urge you to promote we urge you to protect the program expand it most of all make it a do not make it a budget football we ask that you uh would just
continue to fund this program vote yes for no uh vote no for no cuts and just think about the 78,000 students making it to school safely tomorrow thank you thank you for your comments
our next two speakers are speaking regarding vaccinations paul Seagull speaker number seven who is joining us virtually and Lynette Sims speaker number 18 paul Seagull speaker number seven
good afternoon um you can hear me yes please proceed uh you Okay good afternoon i'm Paul Seagull founding member of People's Response Network proud parent of a CPS alumnist and I urge CPS to one promptly make all
Chicago public schools the primary sites for CPS children to receive all mandated childhood vaccines utilizing school nurses to the fullest extent the 2019 CBA with CTU commits the Chicago public
schools to put a nurse in every school two implement vaccination education to respectfully address parents questions and concerns including written information sent home with children several times a year followed up with phone calls and creating health science
curricula on vaccines from kindergarten upwards i come to you not to criticize your sincere efforts but to say from my heart and mind to yours today to an unprecedented extent we must govern the courage to fully mobilize and utilize
our local public and community-based institutions especially our schools to save lives with science and truth life endangering disinformation is emanating from the highest federal levels and is implicated in over a thousand measles cases with three deaths and still
counting all 100% preventable through proven safe vaccines cbs vaccination rates for measles as well as menitis and other diseases are below the threshold needed to prevent outbreaks according to our most recent available data state of
Illinois dashboard at the local community level from the bottom up we must move now 44% of all Illinois COVID cases were transmitted in the schools for state data we beat polio through mass inschool vaccinations schools are
where the children are so using them is simple common sense please support our vaccines for children proposal thank you thank you for your comments our next speaker is Lynette Sims speaker number 18
thank you for the opportunity to provide public testimony at this month's Chicago Board of Education meeting my comment is to urge the Chicago Board of Education to give students vaccines in their own schools to prevent disease and for effective education of parents staff
children in the community all Chicago public schools should be centers for on-site vaccinations this is an urgent need to prevent the largest US measles outbreak in 25 years coming to Chicago measles is spread through the air when
an infected person coughs sneezes or talks an infected person with measles can spread the disease to 12 to 18 other people on average there are at least 6,000 CPS students right
now not vaccinated for measles according to the Illinois Department of Public Health statistics there are now almost a thousand measel cases in the United States and Illinois has had its first measles case of
2025 last year Chicago had a major measles outbreak of 67 cases including Chicago public school students free vaccines in schools eliminated polio and measles from children in the 1950s and
1970s parents will no longer have to miss work to take their children to CVS Walgreens or a clinic to get a shot this is public health and public schools for the public good thank you and I yield my turn
thank you for your comments our next three speakers are from Institudo Health Science Center Academy theodora Banks speaker number eight Ivan Laauo speaker number 24 and
Karina Ayala Burmejo speaker 27 to President Harden and all of the board members my name is Theodora Banks associate dean of nursing at Institudo College i am here on behalf of Institutal Health Sciences Career
Academy IShka to ask you to grant fair renewal terms for charter schools short-term renewals create instability and uncertainty negativity negatively impacting students families and school communities schools need adequate time
to implement meaningful and lasting improvements ishka provides unique wraparound services to students and families that are essential to our community through the unique and strong pipelines we've built Ishka students can
access our pre-basic nursing assistant training and earn credentials as certified nursing assistants through our state approved basic nursing assistant program institutal College is coll-located within the high school and students who aspire to become registered
nurses after they graduate can progress into the colleg's associate degree in nursing program all prepare our students for future success i ask that you grant Ishka a minimum fiveyear renewal term allow students the opportunity to
participate in early career preparation students can gain a head start on a stable in demand career path helping them transition smoothly from school to work or further their education seconds remaining a minimum five-year renewal
will help address healthc care workforce shortages in Chicago a five-year renewal is not merely a vote of confidence in our past it's an investment in the futures we are shaping today let us continue this mission let us continue
transforming lives i implore you to grant Ishka a minimum fiveyear renewal thank you thank you for your comments our next speaker is Ivon Lowel speaker 24
i serve as dean of academic affairs at institutional college which provides an associate degree in nursing and basic nursing assistant training program for students to become CNAs the first rung of the nursing career ladder i'm here because I care about CPS being a proud
parent of two CPS graduates and the partner to a CPS graduate i've served on numerous CPS parent advisory groups on LSC's and I was appointed by Arie Duncan to serve on the blue ribbon commission but today I'm here to share the story of
why it's so important to give Institut Health Sciences Career Academy Ishka and all charter schools a fair renewal term i'm here to highlight our secret sauce that makes Ishka stand out from other schools because of the built-in pipeline
with Institut College ishka is uniquely positioned to help our high school students receive a leg up in the nursing field particularly in a period where there is an urgent mandate for nurses especially bilingual biculturally competent nurses while they're in high school Ishka's students can enroll in
the prebna and BNA courses completing the training program allows them to take the Illinois state exam and become CNAs so before they graduate they can attain the requirement of being a CNA needed for most nursing schools let's talk about the in economic impact of what's
at stake institut provides all our eligible ISKA students with full tuition scholarships which at a private institution would be around 2,000 so after getting their certifications our BNA graduates report getting average hourly wages of $21 per hour that's before getting any degrees 30 seconds
remaining let me tell you about our recent 2024 graduate Jazelle she graduated from Ishka excelled in our BNA program and worked as a CNA before returning to our college she's now one of our special triple graduates she's an RN and so we're so proud of her grit and
dedication given that our ADN graduates report earning an average hourly wage of $38 this transformative power and partnership between Ishka and the college is evident please consider giving Ishka a minimum five-year renewal term our students need such opportunities for education and advanced
training leading to high wage high-skll and in demand occupations like those in nursing thank you thank you for your comments our next speaker is Karina Ayala Bjo speaker 27 thank you President Harden Vice President Bautista esteemed
board members CEO Martinez it gives me such honor to be here this is where my legal career began at the board of education and I have the distinct honor of serving as institutes president and CEO i also stand before you as a mother
of three CPS graduates um my baby is over at Chapman University thank you for the dedication you give all students for 47 years Instituto has served as a trusted anchor and community beacon of hope for the Latino immigrant community
delivering high quality education workforce training and legal services our mission is to empower our families to work in a pathway to economic mobility you've heard Dr laauo and Dean Banks about our extraordinary institutal
college now Institute of Health Sciences Career Academy is central to that mission and as a pillar of academic excellence Ishka offers a rigorous curriculum with a health science focus through the partnerships with Superior
Ambulance Instituto College our students are graduating prepared to enter the workforce or continue post-secary education many many are graduating as emergency medical responders CNAs and
future RNs now we know CPS is dedicated to commitment of the sustainability schools um and we know that the delay in our charter school is bringing real anxiety
to our families they limit our ability to retain top talent and invest in the student success we implore and respectfully request to ensure institut receives at least a five-year renewal to allow our students already in the
pipeline to accomplish their goals finally we invite each of you to visit Instituto we proudly are hosting members Lopez and members Gutierrez on May 14th and we invite all of you to witness the magic of Instituto thank you thank you
for your comments our next two speakers are from Aero Ivonne Sanchez speaker number nine and Livia Estrada speaker number 29 who is joining us virtually ivonne Sanchez speaker nine
hello once again my name is Ibon Sanchez and I'm here today as a Charter Network parent an advocate and a proud member of Parents for Education to speak about something deeply important protecting our children's educations through clear standards and strong laws our school
must be safe from corruption we need transparency and accountability a system that puts students not profits first sadly Acetto has continued to leave a bitter taste in our mouths they need to be held accountable at their last board
meeting Asetto couldn't even follow their own agenda they tried to silence a parent until CTU and other parent advocates stepped in now on the town halls they're not addressing our concerns suddenly every issue is CPS
responsibility the expenses the changes the confusion and yet they still want to be funded through this transition year enough it's enough we cannot let another charter network misuse our children's education our tax dollars no more greedy
networks filling their pockets while our students and our staff are paying the price that's why I and parent for education strongly support legislations like the amendment to the school code charter school SB 144 this amendment can
help ensure that what happened with doto does not happen again now let me just be clear i am not against charter networks we have many charter schools here requesting renewals and I stand with those that who have done their job those
who have worked hard maintaining enrollments upholding academic standards and supporting students with strong e extracurricular programs if that's you you have nothing to worry about with this amendment you're doing it right and keep up the good work thank you thank
you for your comments our next speaker is Livia Estrada speaker number 29 who is joining us virtually please enter star six to unmute again okay julia
Chartered Parents for Education administrate translated good morning members of the CPS Board of Education CEO Martinez my name is Juvia Estrada and I'm the mother of two students at Aceros Sandra Cisneros first I want to thank you for
saving my children's school this last Tuesday we had our first meeting with CPS where parents' voices were heard something ACO never did in all these years however it is urgent to that you approve a new resolution that protects
parents and the community from charter schools interests and which guarantees our ability to participate without fear of reprisal as a mother who has raised her voice to defend our children's education I've been a victim of intimidation from
Aero on April 16th they attempted to deny me the right to speak at a meeting despite having registered for it thanks to the support from parents for education and the CTU I was able to express my concerns about the misadministration of Cisneros by
principal Alejandra Gutierrez this experience demonstrates that parents don't have protection we need your support to continue fighting for the dignified education our children deserved i trust that we will once again count with your support so that situations
like these with Aero do not repeat themselves thank you thank you our next speaker is Regina White speaker number 10 good afternoon ladies and gentlemen of the board i come here today as a
proud grandparent of a young man who attends Iran Prep Charter School for Young Men not only am I a proud grandparent I am someone who has worked the last 12 years in various programs of educational re-engagement and violence
prevention in schools across the city in my experience the most common struggle with our young men is the transition into manhood they struggle not only to understand themselves as they become men
but also what that should look like as an acceptable man and for in society in some young men I feel like that creates a sense of pressure that then shows up sometimes as lack of
motivations and the struggle to believe in themselves my daughter and I actually started to experience that with my own grandson starting about the age of 12 he attended decent schools he made good
grades actually but we could see the lack of motivation and the lack of overall self-confidence in him as a result we thought a maleled environment might be good for him as he entered high
school um when we would talk to him and ask him about his future his every answer to his questions would be "I don't know or I don't care." That was very concerning for us this year my grandson entered Urban Prep
he is still there a rising freshman looking forward to becoming a sophomore yet next year we have found Urban Prep to be a school that understands the needs of young men the staff at Urban Prep work hard to cultivate and foster
an environment to encourage academic excellence and nourish them as a whole as young men let's be honest it takes more than academics to navigate this world our young men need emotional intellig
intelligence please conclude your remarks which at the very least starts with self-confidence each day the young men start their school day with community where they together recite the school creed with each line of affirmation starting we believe i
personally have seen the change on my grandson he is overall more confident and takes pride in himself and school community and ex and is excelling academically like never before thank you please conclude your remarks so today as
I believe in the work taking place at Urban Prep I ask the school board to believe as well and renew the charter for them to continue the good work they do building great leaders thank you thank you for your comments our next speaker is Atel Garza speaker number 11
who's joining us virtually please enter star six to unmute my name is Itel Garza i'm a lifelong Chicago and an environmental justice organizer at community organization one north side in the last four months I've met with parents students teachers and staff from McCutchen Gail Community
Academy Newfield Elementary and Sullivan High School in Gley at LSC pack meetings school pickup and drop off lines community resource fairs and in classrooms just two weeks ago we convened a room of 22 people from four different schools to bring school community members together to talk about
issues they all similarly face the problem was clear our schools are lacking the resources to fund needs as basic as clean water and air i have heard students and parents express a deep concern about the metallic taste of the water lack of nutritious meals and issues with air quality so bad that a
child with asthma had to be taken out of school for over a month of accumulated time so when we heard that CPS was conducting community engagement sessions to get feedback on the capital budget we were excited to register in particular many of the CPS parents I organized with
are monilingual Spanish speakers who were excited to see there was a Spanishonly engagement session on April 17th what happened at the meeting though was a complete disappointment the session consisted of one person speaking the entire time off camera flipping through a
slideshow lemus a parent at Eugene Field and parent mentor at Newfield who joined me on the call had her hand raised to ask a question about water and air quality for over 15 minutes she was never called on or even acknowledged the questions were both put in the Q&A chat
were never addressed it is absolutely disrespectful CPS to claim to value public comment and not respond to a single sentence in our messages this is especially disrespectful because this was a Spanishonly session one of the very few opportunities for monolingual Spanish speakers to get engaged based on
our experience we have little confidence in CPS to share these concerns with the board so I'm here today to tell you all parents students and staff at schools across the north side and across the city of Chicago are demanding CPS include a transition to clean energy in the capital budget plan to create cleaner air student learning
opportunities and savings on energy costs that can be put back into building investments such as water and air filters no CPS student should have to breathe unhealthy air or drink polluted water thank you for listening thank you for your comments our next speaker is
Iris Galvin speaker number 13 who's joining us virtually please enter star six to unmute iris Galvin speaker 13 please enter star six to unmute iris Galvin speaker number 13 please
enter star six to unmute good afternoon my name is Ian Galban and I am a proud parent of scholars at Row Elementary i chose Row because it is part of Northwestern Settlement a place that has been a part of my life for 16
years now row is more than just a school it's a community it's a family and for me it is the best choice for my children and my family but this renewal cycle has brought a lot of uncertainty the delays in the renewal votes and the short
renewal terms have created real instability it's been difficult to say the least not just for us as parents but for our children our teachers and the whole school community we all want what's best for our kids and as parents
we deserve to have a voice in that please don't ignore our right to choose what's best for our children we are speaking up because we care please hear our voices thank you for your time thank you for your comments our next
speaker is Jasmine Brown speaker number 14 good afternoon um today marks my first fourth time appearing before the board to speak on behalf of my son Jaylen Green who was found unresponsive in the lunchroom of John Marshall High School on August the 21st 2023 um to
this day botch slash no investigation unfounded results but no one has ever spoken to or gotten any witness statements from all parties involved um I'm also an elective parent representative with the LSC and I have not had the opportunity to attend any
in-person meetings due to me being banned from the school by principal pool i have a diverse learner with an IEP who attends Marshall and to this date this school year i've missed all open houses all report card pickups due to this ban i've had no communication with any
teachers or diverse learning personnel even though Jaylen is and was failing several classes june 1st is graduation day what will be done since I'm banned i spoke at the board meeting on February 27th where you all rushed and pressured me to submit documentation to follow up
on my concerns for a possible resolution and to to this date nothing has been done it seems to me everyone is passing the buck to see if someone else would do anything first how about someone take the initiative and say "Hey we failed this parent and her child somewhere we
dropped the ball let's start fresh from the beginning is that too much to ask another thing stop preaching parental involvement engagement then get a mother like me where you think you're going to sweep things under the rug i'm not a doormat i want everyone here to think of your child grandchild niece nephew etc
who might one day be in a situation as my son was to almost lose his life you have 30 what if the next generation of future leaders choose to sit back and listen and allow your multiple cries for help and answers to fall on deaf ears and do nothing do Don't be where I was to almost lose my son just think of your
family because your family could be next also Cashasha Ford Fanny Alvarez Michael Bores you get a grade of an F today because you don't know how to do your jobs also to Pedro Martinez these are all your employees which shows your lack
of leadership in order for change it has to start at the top i can't wait till I can't wait till you're fired have a good day thank you for your comments our next speaker is Derek Brown speaker number 15 good afternoon members of the board
my name is Derek Brown and I am a par professional at CICS Wrightwood i have worked there for 11 years i love my school and I'm proud to be working there i am also a proud CTu member but that
wasn't always the case before n before 2019 the pair professionals at CI at three CICS schools run were now run by now run by Meridian were not part of any union in
2018 however the pair of professionals at CICS Northtown Ellison and Wrightwood decided that we also wanted to be part of a union like our colleagues who were teachers we wanted to say we wanted the
same rights and wanted to collectively bargain for better pay and working conditions we organized across three schools and asked asked for voluntary recognition from our employers in in the in that fall of
2018 but our employer refused to recognize us for months our demands for recognition was met with was met with either silence or falsehoods emails from our employers told us that black was
white up was down inside was out and short was long you have 30 seconds remaining it was painful it was a pain it was painful what we did was we stood strong and and not before our colleagues as teachers decided to strike and we
decided that we might strike to get recognition that we were heard what we are what we asking the board to do today is that we have a neutrality that if other employers or employees want to organize a union they should have the
right to organize and become unified together to serve together for the betterment of our schools and our students thank you thank you for your comments our next speaker is Lafayette Ford speaker number 19 good afternoon um President Harding and
all members of uh the board my name is Lafayette Ford i'm the vice chair of the board of um Black United Fund of Illinois we're one of the organizations that was part of a coalition that lobbyed um for two years down state uh to get an elected school board so
congratulations on all of you all who are now serving a little bit about me i served both as a parent and community rep uh on LSC's for seven years i also was elected the chair of the schoolboard nominating commission for seven years which helped
to pick people for the school board back in the 90s after that I was recruited and then worked for the school system for 20 years as a specialist with working with local school councils and community relations one of the things that we had a problem with for a long time was trying to get
the board itself to understand local school councils and it took us more than 10 years but if you look at all your board reports that come before you and for the last 25 years you see there's a little line there that says what did this board report have to do with local school councils it's either yes or no a
lot of times it's no but it's important that it's done at this level such is the information of black student achievement one of the things that we got passed in our law also dealt with the unutilization of black students at the
board and their achievement such we would like to see not only the creation of the subcommittee at your level that the law states but also seconds remaining but also to make sure that you codify that in your board proceedings
that every time you look at something at the board it has to have something about student achievement in there and it has to be answered whether it's building a building getting a contract or getting a new CEO it is not the level of
understanding that is just the chief education officer or the chief executive officer's responsibility it's your responsibility that responsibility lies at the top hopefully in the future you'll be able to put that into action
thank you thank you for your comments our next speaker is um Charlie Meyers speaker number 23 this is the last speaker from the speakers list good evening Chicago Board of Ed members of the Chicago Board of Education my name is Charles Myers and I'm here with
my mom Charlotte Meyers and we are proud to represent Catalyst Circle Rock Charter School a school that shaped me as a student and now empowers me as an educator this evening I don't come before you to defend a side in a debate
i come to remind us all that ultimately it isn't about systems it's about the students our children don't need us to choose sides they need us to choose them every student in Chicago deserves a champion someone who sees their potential and fights for their future
regardless of the name of the school on the school building whether it's a charter school in Austin or a district school on the south side we all serve the same mission to uplift educate and equip young people to lead the to lead
lead lives of purpose let's not get stuck in decisions or divisions of the past let's focus on what we can build together new opportunities stronger partnerships and deeper investments in our youth because when we collaborate we
bridge gaps when we listen we learn and when we lead with love we create something more p powerful than any label a city where every child has has the support they need to thrive thank you for your time and your continued
commitment to all Chicago students thank you for your comments President Hardon we also have an elected official who would like to address the board tara Stamps County Board Commissioner from the first district who is here in
person good evening you all need a soundtrack or something it um a little music or something i guess you all are probably very grateful that it's a little less exciting um so as you all know before I got this wonderful
opportunity to serve as the Cook County Commissioner of the First District I was a classroom teacher for 25 years and now I serve as the administrator of new teacher development at um the Chicago Teachers Union and so what I'm here
today to do is to invite you all in to this amazing opportunity that is really um it's it's it's a it's an event that's put together through we care which is the program that I run that ma um that
matches early career educators with veteran educators in their subject matter for the first three years of them being an educator both classroom teachers and clinicians there's also the opportunity for our pair of professionals to be um building mentors
as well so that they have someone who understands the heartbeat of the community to walk them through uh this new terrain so I'm very excited about the program but we've also partnered with SCS sustainable community schools
in this effort and so on May 15th you are getting the handouts now i am inviting you all to come in and see what is possible when you invest in young people and you allow them to lead the
day of this workshop summit expo is called pay attention listening and learning from students on this day the young people will be in total control of every workshop every icebreaker every
session and we're talking young people from fifth grade through high school that are having this so you have the handout and a lot of the teachers that came through we care that's um putting this on receive this training through
curriculum circles if you're not familiar with curriculum circles as an educator I can tell you it will revolutionize it's a strategy it's a it's a it's a thought it's a way of practice that basically puts um it grounds the young people's agency their
voice their lived experience their curiosity and we build curriculum around that thing and so young people will be presenting on May 15th from everything from stuff that they're just curious about about traffic to you know Kendrick
Lamar's halftime show which was pretty dope and had a lot of lessons in it if you understand the standards okay so that's what we have again I'm inviting you all in to Chicago Teachers Union to see and experience this amazing um expo that will be uh presented by our young
people primarily students that are part of the Chicago public school and teachers who teach them but the teachers are there to just be co-f facilitators in this amazing opportunity of learning okay all right thank you for your comments you're very welcome President
Harden this concludes public participation thank you board members are there any questions or comments related to public participation we will now move into a short recess president I'm sorry apologies
um I would just like to follow up um with u CPS team i've gotten multiple concerns about Marshall and um this concern about a local school council member being banned whose child
still goes to the school and I I just so I would like to have follow-up conversations about that um yeah think that was it thank you sir are there any other comments or questions related to public participation uh President Harden yes
sir uh I just uh I'm sure board staff is already following up but just uh for the family that spoke from intrinsic about the student um just so we can uh follow up on that one thank you especially which campus of the two it is are there any further comments or questions this concludes public
participation we'll now move into a short recess board member Deberry you have motion mo1 i move that the board take a 30 minute recess is there a second i second the motion thank you i'll
proceed with a roll call member Lozano yes member Smith i member Lopez i member Thomas i member Bole yes member Wallace
i member Kuster i member Pope yes member Rosenfeld yes member Rivas yes member Rio Sierra hi member Brown yes ma'am member Bannon hi vice President Bautista
yes member Gutieras i member Biggs yes member Thorakura yes member Blae i member Zachor yes member Deberry I 20 eyes's zero nays this motion is
adopted by the board this meeting will now go into a 30 minute recess we'll now proceed with the business portion of the meeting co Martin Martinez we are ready for the presentations thank you President Harden we're going to have uh our chief of talent uh Ben
Fulton and also our our head of principal quality Ally will both present and since it is getting later in the evening and we have our our talent uh leader here just wanted him to share with him when it's his birthday today so do that do with that what you will
birthday to you happy birthday to you happy birthday dear Ben happy birthday to you hey thank you very
much felton the chief of talent keeping the people melting this is uh I'm like a thousand% sure I'm about to wake up from a dream uh man thank you guys you're very kind
um all right hi I'm Ben Felton it is my birthday and I am uh the chief talent officer here at CPS um I'm just looking at the Jim are you clicking did I get that right all right awesome so you know look
um I am exceptionally proud of the work that we've done in the talent office over the last five or so years um I think that we have one of the highest performing and most innovative and comprehensive strategies in the country when it comes to teacher talent um and it also stretches into other areas that
we're going to be excited to talk about today i'm also here with Allison Tingwall um who is our fearless leader of the department of principal quality uh who and she will talk about some of the work that we're doing around principles um so um just briefly our theory of action for the strategic plan
again everything we're talking about today is an update on our strategic plan um and you know I'm not going to read the slide but you know ultimately we broke our strategic plan into what students need what every student needs what every school needs what the
district needs and what every community needs um and when we do when we our theory of action is that if we meet those needs that every kid in this in this city will have a rigorous joyful and equitable student learning experience um and that's you know what a
hell of a blessing to get up every day and pursue pursue that uh that that endeavor um so uh thank you to everybody alongside of me who is doing that work um next page next slide so it's there's
a lot of words on this slide um um but our theory in talent comes down to every school that and we believe that the school is the unit of change um and that um we believe that if every school
is creating the conditions and implements the practices that we need we're going to see continuous improvement through this through this throughout the system and that that goes for the talent office as well and our talent strategies too these are the strategies that we've been pursuing for quite some time i'm confident that
they're the right ones because we're seeing the results and we're going to get into that here shortly um these are ambitious goals on the right side of this page uh we have we in our in the last strategic plan in 2019 uh we had
extraordinarily uh ambitious goals around staffing around growing our pipeline strategy around um diversity and we hit all of those goals and I'm exceptionally proud of the of the dozens of people in the town office who slave
away every day they make me look good i get to come up here and get sung happy birthday but they're the ones who are grinding every day and I'm so exceptionally proud of the people who work on my team so you know I'll just briefly touch on these strategies the Teach Chicago strategy which we'll get
into is the strategy that we launched seven eight years ago at this point um to build that diverse workforce to improve staffing levels to improve outcomes at the hardest to staff schools um and and the hardest to staff subject areas um we're continuing that work
we're doubling down on it and then we're also thinking about how do we make sure that our employees are well at work that they have opportunities to take on more leadership opportunities um and we're also thinking about ways that we can insource school support services we've
made important commitments around that in both our SEIU 73 contract but also the CTU contract that you'll vote on today um and we're going to continue to refine monitor and improve our strategies we we have a retreat next week to look at all of our data and to dive in and see how we're doing and I'm
very confident in the outcomes that we're seeing um and then like I said we have ambitious goals and they're and they're equity focused so you know we we're interested in reducing teacher vacancies we're interested in um we're you know dogged in pursuit of improving
staffing levels um and we're unafraid and not backing down around our commitments around diversity um and how important representation is in our classrooms um similarly thinking about retention and a lot of other outcomes so
let's jump into it so 2016 um I was hired to figure out how to get more teachers into the hardest to staff schools and I did that work for two or three years we made a lot of progress
improving both teacher retention um and uh reducing vacancy rates in what we call the opportunity schools which is some of the hardest to have schools looking at principal at principal sorry at uh board member bigs who I work very closely with on this initiative and others um and you know I'm a big
believer that if you're going to do important work in a big bureaucracy like CPS you got to get proximate to the people who know the work and I spent fall of 2016 um which was a trying time for our country and it's a little deja
vu all over again right now but um you know going on a listening tour listening to teachers listening to principles going to our job fairs understanding the teacher labor market in Chicago and how we can what what we could do to make that better and make that work better
for our schools and our students and our families i really wanted to seek the truth if you will um and like I said I you know I'm in community with chief HR and chief county officers of other big school districts
across the country we are light years ahead away ahead of them in in the strategies that we've built and I believe that this ambitious and bold and comprehensive strategy um is serving our kids well do we have
more work to do of course uh is it is are all these strategies working perfectly no but is it indisputable that we've made considerable progress absolutely and I'm excited to jump into that so just and before I forget um on
this slide a quick shout out to Christine Murphy Judson who's our executive director of teacher of talent acquisition and Felicia Buts who's our executive director of teacher pathways both of them have worked tirelessly to build out these strategies over the last they've been with me for the last seven or eight years um and we've made
considerable progress so the you know ultimately what we heard we heard a lot of needs and and what we ultimately designed was a five tiered strategy to address each of the challenges that we were hearing from the field one is new teacher residency programs so our own
teacher residency program was 225 teachers these are teachers who these are 80% of them are former uh are people of color um the majority of them are either graduates or parents of CPS uh and uh also the majority of them are are
our own pair of professionals so teachers assistants special education classroom assistants we are bringing them in getting them a full year of training uh in a CPS classroom we're paying them for that and then they after a year they go and they get an they they have a degree to become a uh special
education or bilingual or STEM teacher um so that's the first leg is the really expanding teacher residency programs also with the A USL program we've we've invested in that relationship and it's one that continues to serve the district well teacher residencies are critical for CPS they're expensive it's the most
expensive way to create a teacher because you have to pay them a salary but we continue to invest in this because otherwise it's just not feasible for the populations that we want to become teachers to to quit their job and do an unpaid student teacher experience
so we are investing in this we're doing everything we can to shield as much as we can as we plan for the upcoming uh budget season but uh the residency program has been critical to our efforts and it's been a critical lever to some of the results that I'm about to show you we've improved our teacher
recruitment practices part of it is like improved communications if you've never sat on the other side of a two-way mirror I encourage you to do so when you listen to people talk about what it's like to go work in CPS and how to find a job um but we invested in our recruiters and they're out there pounding the pavement and really the big piece has
been the early offer program so you know we are hiring we meet teachers in Thanksgiving and December and January and they say "I'm not moving to Chicago till next year." And I say "If you're a math teacher or if you're a special education teacher great we got a job for you we will figure out in the summer where that job is but we will commit to
you now." That's important because it is more efficient if I'm a principal with a math vacancy I can only I can only hire one math teacher if I'm a if I'm the talent office and I know we're going to have 70 math vacancies I can hire 70 so we put them in a pool we and then we work really hard so it's more efficient and
it's more equitable because we're sharing those resumes as long as they have the skills and the uh mindsets to work with kids in high need schools we are those are those are the people who then get socialized with our schools on the south and west side because they've committed to working in those communities so the early offer program
al also with like just a lot of improvement technical kind of boring but important improvements in the way we segment candidates the way we see candidates the way they come into to Lao and and and our our team then can go uh hunt them frankly and then we work to
get them in into an early offer program intensive supports for highest need schools we work with the schools with the highest vacancy rates we've seen considerable improvements in teacher vacancy rates and teacher retention rates and what we're also seeing is that principles when they're part of the opportunity school cohort tend to stay
longer because they have more stable staff um I am not allowed to talk about some research from a third party that is going to come out and and validate what some of the things that I'm saying but we're stay tuned for fall we are really excited about some preliminary results that we're seeing from a third party researcher about the effectiveness of
opportunity schools next we have defined roles for teacher leadership i believe that if you want to keep a teacher you got to put them put them in charge of something it deepens their connection to schools and it's an opportunity to um give them a little bit of compensation and you know it gives more respons you
know we we we thoroughly believe in distributed leadership the principal cannot be the only person leading in a building so you know we've worked to define teacher leadership roles and and we'll get into that in a little bit but we we've heard on on this listening tour where I was seeking the truth uh we
heard uh that you know having these defined teacher leadership roles is critical to keeping excellent teachers and then lastly new and diverse teacher pipelines so there's two programs that I'm especially proud of we have a big international program there's other opportunities too but Teach Chicago
tomorrow is our strategy to recruit um to recruit our own high school students to become the next generation of CPS teachers the talent of tomorrow is in our schools right now can't be looking somewhere else to find the kids you know who who need to be going into ed prep
programs so through Teach Chicago tomorrow with some philanthropic support and some district support we're in a position to support these high school kids and they commit to teaching you know to being becoming a teacher we commit to giving them a job when they finish the program and we give them both academic mentoring and financial
supports along the way these are u these are our kids and they're the ones who know what it's like to teach you know to teach in in Chadam or in West Garfield Park um so we are relentlessly recruiting them and you will get an email from me tomorrow uh I can only
have five of you there but we we have a graduation ex uh uh we have an induction ceremony uh coming up for them and um you know we we where we celebrate their choice to become a teacher um and then there's PETEP uh PEP is the pre-ervice
teacher uh equity project what we have seen for years in CPS is that the local universities are placing in the in some of the lowest needs communities which is problematic for multiple reasons but including one these are not where the jobs are and secondly they're not
getting good reps about teaching on the south side and west side and what we see is that when when kids are you know I call them kids but these 21 22 year olds are exposed to our schools they want to be part of that so we have worked closely uh with local universities to to get more student teachers on the south
and west side and what we find through that early offer program then is the principal goes ahead and says "I'm not letting Miss you know student teacher Smith hit the uh hit the uh hit the free agency market i want to give them an early offer now." And we can start building those relationships already so PEP is incredibly important it was
funded um entirely by a federal grant that federal grant was closed by the by the Trump administration we're extremely disappointed in that uh but we I am working to sustain that within the town office budget because it's too important to cut all right next slide sorry I'll be
I'll be quicker um look I think of this at the end of the day this boils down to three three buckets you can create pathways for your teachers you can recruit them and you can retain them and I think of this as like being at a restaurant when you're really hungry and we are really hungry for teacher talent
in CPS we're starving for it and I think you really have two options option one elbow the person next to you and get a bigger piece of that pie and we do that we fight like hell for every single teacher recruit at these job fairs through our websites etc but really
there's also a piece of this that you have to grow the pie and that's what we have done um you know for for generations um this is the the teacher pathways work is the bed is the bedrock of the strategy and it's um for years CPS was
just a passive consumer of teacher talent that local universities was giving us right like you graduate the kids we'll hire them well what we've found over years is that that supply is insufficient to meet CPS's needs it doesn't meet our needs from a diversity
perspective it doesn't meet our needs from folks who want to work in the highest need schools and it doesn't meet our subject area demands so instead throughout the through the teacher residency we're graduating like I said about 225 250 this year and they're all either bilingual special education talent teaching in the south and west
side 80% are folks of color um and a majority of them are are former CPS parent professionals so this is the group that we ought to be investing in like I said teach Chicago tomorrow is our strategy recruiter on high school students paep is getting more student teachers into the highest need schools and the continued partnerships with AUSL
uh who also does this work and and has for 25 years is is critical also teacher recruitment uh that's getting the bigger piece of that pie and I I'm I'm shameless about going and you know we're gonna out compete every charter school and well that example every parochial
school every uh suburban district um to go to go you know uh through an early offer program through more sophisticated segmenting of our talent um and revamped marketing strategies and we go compete for for the talent that we need um and
that includes expanded partnerships with Golden Apple with Grow Your Own Illinois who's grown their program remarkably over the last several years with our support uh with Teach for America and then we're in H.B.CU and HSI's now we have a big presence there um so we're really proud of the recruitment work we
do you know I think of this as one it's I I I describe it to our recruiters as hand-to-hand combat it's one conversation at a time about CPS and how important it is to come work at CPS and how great it is to work at CPS and I think people feel that that uh that enthusiasm from our team and then we've
also expanded international teaching quite a bit we went from about you know 20 or 15 international teachers when we started teach Chicago to about a hundred or so and they're all special education teachers so it's increasing a supply of special education teachers that otherwise wouldn't exist and our principles have really positive feedback
about them and then lastly on the retention side you know we've expanded teacher mentoring so that there's no more than a two to one mentor to mentee relationship and we've centrally funded these,200 or so teacher leadership roles uh that's a combination between my work and Chief Milberg's work in the teaching
and learning office um and then lastly like we've worked really closely with the schools with the highest needs to talk to them about tangible strategies that principles can take to recruit their their um to to we call it recruiting your own staff back next year
right i I'm a former CPS teacher i know how hard the work is um and you know we want teacher we want principles to be having those conversations with teachers about what their what they what you know what their needs are and how we can meet them and some of it is just as simple as
a simple 15 minute stay conversation to figure out where you're at and what your plan is for next year no one asked me that when I was a teacher right and so we're trying some best practices around like go have that conversation with that teacher go if they want to coach you know cheerleading maybe that's an option if they want to you know they'd rather
teach second grade instead of first grade maybe that's an option or if they want you know professional development opportunities that's an option too so we're really trying to equip our principles to better uh keep their own staff and then also we'll talk about the expanded employee wellness strategy as
well but again you we believe that like we're just not going to be passive consumers of the teachers that the traditional markets are giving us we need to be training our own so if you go to the next page you'll see I won't go into I' I've described a lot of these strategies but Teach
Chicago has produced considerable improvements in our staffing levels this is of course a combination between between budgeting and and the recruitment efforts uh but we're up about 3,000 teachers since 2019 and we're really proud of that uh up 17% in the number of teachers despite having
far fewer kids in that you know in that period um again all of these pieces are working in concert uh to make sure that we have a a strong teaching force that more closely resembles the demographic makeup of our students if you go to the
next strategy this is especially acute with special education we have more than 1,300 more sped teachers than we did six years ago um the early offer is critical here the the you know the international teacher piece is critical table stakes for us is working working on a partner
as in a partnership and a recruitment partnership is that you're giving us special education talent the residency is generating bilingual special education teachers with any anybody who's a principal or you know in schools knows that those people are unicorns but we're generating a group of them um and
now we're you know we're also subsidizing the costs of lensure and we've expanded that in the recent agreement with Chicago teachers union so um and then you know we're also working with our universities very closely they're great partners um and we're telling them we need you know we're trying to help them understand what our
needs are so there's a better you're p fitting those puzzle pieces you're sort of puzzling better um if you if you if you connect the uh the supply and the demand frankly and I'm especially proud of um the work that we've done around
bilingual and ESL teachers so um I mean you'll see how how significant the the improvements are here again with fewer students in the district um but again all these strategies work for the highest need populations as well uh we went from we're you know even since 2020
we're up 34% we have 34% more bilingual teachers than we did in 2020 um and 41% more uh ESL and bilingual teachers so the most important thing that we can do on this front is generate supply and we do that in myriad ways through the residency we're covering the costs that
we're subsidizing the costs of ESL and bilingual endorsements bring utilizing our international teaching program teach Chicago tomorrow is critical because we're recruiting bilingual high school kids um and and you know so we see that these strategies are actually truly mo
moving the needle and then uh on the next slide we went from about a third of our teachers being black or Latino in 2019 to half last year and part of that is because we're able to unlock a different market of people people who are not in a
position to quit their job and do an unpaid student teacher experience we know that our teachers assistants our special education classroom assistants and other employees in the district are disproportionately black and Latino they're lower paid and so we created these opportunities um through through that pathway strategy
the growing the pie strategy but also through our recruitment work um and we are seeing that the new cohorts of teachers are increasingly black and Latino compared to where they were um residency helps a lot on this if you know it's about a sixth of our teachers
come through the residency program and 80% of them are black or Latino that helps uh but the recruitment work is also critical on this front and then you know we're also getting more special uh more pre-ervice teachers into CPS and being really intentional about who they are uh and then utilizing our early
offer program to grab them before they leave um so yeah so you can see the numbers here we've you know we're seeing you know pretty dramatic improvements there you know I talked to my colleagues in other cities there are not other school districts that are making this
kind of progress this quickly and then you start to see how this looks um on the entire teaching force and look it that that is moving an ocean liner right it's easy to affect one cohort at a time but we have 30,000 teachers in the system and you know years 1 through
30 and and beyond so um it it will take time but we're seeing the progress already when we're diversifying our teaching force specifically around black teachers we've reversed this 25- year trend of fewer and fewer and fewer black teachers in the system we've stopped
that and now we're starting to we stabilized that and you can see in the new teachers it's a little bit obscured in the data because the cohorts the older the retirement eligible folks 34% of all retirement eligible teachers are black or African-American uh so you know they are aging out of the system at the
same time our more our new uh cohorts are are becoming more diverse um but we have we've we've seen a reversal of that trend down and we're really excited about um some of the other trends that we see with other other other demographics as well and I would also just point out
sorry on that last slide before we move on cps has closed the gap between black teacher retention and white teacher retention at 92% each uh both lag slightly behind our Latin our Latinx uh teacher retention at 94% so you know a
lot of these strategies including having more staff in schools which we have worked really hard to maintain through you know difficult budget cycles uh you know as a teacher I get it like when you have more teachers in the school you know everybody shares the workload a
little bit more and so um that's been critical as well just in these retention numbers but what we're seeing is both same school retention and district-wide retention are higher than they've ever been uh if you go back 25 years the numbers were a you know two you know a
third worse than this um so there's much more stability I think part of that's budget but I also think a lot of that is our talent strategy we're recruiting people and developing people who want to be part of CPS and not just for a year or two but they want to spend their careers in this district and then in 2023 we really
looked at our what we call teachers lead Chicago um we believe in a distributed leadership strategy um and you know Teachers Lead Chicago is is this first of its kind strategy to try to create formalized teacher recruit teacher
leadership roles within schools that are stipended um and we've created,00 formalized teacher leadership roles they're more diverse than the rest of CPS population uh and what we're seeing is that like I said when you put people in charge of things they're more likely to stay um and they not only is the you
know narrowly from the retention perspective I'm very excited about that but we also know that they're playing a bigger role in helping principles through a distributed leadership strategy actually leave the school so um you know retention rates are up we think they're deepening their impact in schools there's ways that we're
measuring that right now we're trying to get a little bit more sophisticated in that and we're redefining some of this partially because of budget constraints but also partially we've learned some lessons so uh the teaching and learning office and I are working very closely together on that Um the mentorship though is the thing that's really exciting we see that when new teachers
get mentors they are more likely to stay um 78% versus 74% that's over three years that's a huge sample size when you think of the cohorts of CPS teachers there's 16 17800 of them a year so we're seeing a meaningful sizable difference in teacher retention when they get
mentored and then you know a lot of this is done philanthropically um and shout out to Ria Mtha on my team and Angela Sims in the in the um teaching and learning department um but we're also investing look like the talent office we
know that if we're going to the next generation of district leaders also has to has to come from within our ranks and we believe in developing a deep and diverse bench of talent uh and we want them to be the next generation of CPS leaders so we've developed a comprehensive employee leadership
development strategy for central office employees that includes both training like development through leadership cohort style development cohorts and then mentorship i was a mentor last year and it was like one of the most rewarding experiences of my professional career here um shout out to my mentee um
and so you know we are starting to see that the folks who are engaging in these programs are more likely to be be promoted they're more likely to be employees of color um and we've seen uh that they're more likely to stay when they're getting you
know my own story I you know I was a junior employee in this place in 2011 2012 and I I left because I didn't see a pathway for my career to develop at CPS I had to come back uh to to get another opportunity if if I had had the opportunity to stay to get development
reps to get mentorship to get professional learning you know there's far more likely and and see and see a career path for myself it's far more likely that I would have stuck around through that whole time it worked out for me but I know we lose a lot of good talent because people just can't see you know if if your manager is not leaving
then there's you know there might not be an opportunity for you to get an opportunity to get promoted and what we're seeing through through lead with CPS is that we're developing those reps and that people are taking they're hungry for them and they're taking advantage of them and then lastly like I said as a former CPS teacher like I know how hard
the work is um and I'm acutely aware of the challenges that our teachers face every day in in communities and um in order to best serve our staff or I'm sorry our students our staff needs to be well and what we saw coming out of the pandemic was uh a lot of burnout and um
you know through different metrics and we've tried to measure that but we've launched a comprehensive employee wellness strategy here um and we're seeking to improve employees wellness and and I'm a big believer like that this isn't just like you know kind of
touchyfey kind of yoga on the weekends like like we are providing like really good both expansion of benefits to our staff um and part of that was through CTU negotiations but also a dramatic expansion of wellness programming and our and and you know I was kind of
overwhelmed by how many of our employees are taking us up on this wellness opportunities uh about 10% of our staff have already gone to these webinars we have wellness champions on the ground who are who are teachers and they're making their staff aware of the different wellness offerings that we
have and this this summer we're going to be launching an app um that the board approved in December uh that will help our employees better they'll put in information into an app into an app and it will help them find the best both
health insurance and then also wellness opportunities for them which like we've seen from other districts like Indianapolis and others has been just a gamecher for them it lowers costs and it improves employee wellness and so we're really excited about that initiative as part of our broader be well opportunity
um you know so again like retention is creeping up we think that this wellness work is part of that um and we're confident that like some of these innovative approaches to the way that we think about employee wellness will will continue to pay it pay off as we move forward um all right i will turn it over
to my colleague Allison Tinwell thank you good evening board members it's not my birthday but I've got one for you happy Tremendous Talent Thursday i'm Allison Tingwall i have the joyful priv privilege of serving as the executive director of principal quality
uh in close alignment as you can see in this slide with our together we rise priority for exceptional diverse talent our mission in department of principal quality is to identify develop support and retain strong school leaders who are dedicated to student success in CPS as described in the theory of action
strategies shared by Chief Felton we're doing this by investing in professional development and expanding leadership opportunities this department and its mission existed long before I came into the role because of our district's longstanding
understanding that the most effective driver of continuous improvement and growth in instructional practices and student outcomes in a school is an effective principle for the past two decades research has expanded on a landmark 2004 study from Kenneth Lewood
and his colleagues that said quote "School leadership is second only to classroom instruction among all school related factors that contribute to what students learn at school in fact a 2021 analysis of two decades of data
conducted by Jason Gryom and colleagues finds that the undeniable and measurable impact of principles has likely been understated with impacts being quote both greater and broader than previously believed because as we all know and understand principles also affect
teacher retention teacher satisfaction student attendance and student discipline practices it is clear that the investment in our school leaders is an investment in the success of our students the decades of ongoing
investment and partnerships that CPS has prioritized ensure our school leaders are wellprepared and well supported it's been a strategic move and positions our work and our district as a national leader next slide please oh I'm
sorry can we go back one more keep going sorry this where I thought we were okay when I So when I entered the role about four years ago uh the department was small and the developmental supports were targeted but they were limited and only serving a
select group of aspiring and city leaders next slide so through that strategic investment I mentioned um an alignment with together we rise along with a clear vision from our CEO and CEDO and the opportunity to build out an amazing team and principal quality we've
expanded the developmental opportunities offered to sitting and aspiring school leaders and we've done so in a way that intentionally increases access and opportunity as John A powell's graphic for targeted universalism shows here our goal is to provide supports that allow for individualized pathways to school
leader readiness or enroll effectiveness this maps on to the diverse needs and goals of our school leadership talent pool effective approaches to equity for students are also effective approaches to equity for staff and for leaders next slide so to put that transformation into
words DPQ aims to support the range of school leadership talent from aspiring to retiring as we like to say that aspiring pool is when we dip into the teacher leadership that Chief Felton and his team have developed and I do want to point out specifically that our
district's investment in those teacher leadership roles like lead coaches and interventionists has been a key strategic move in allowing us to identify who principles see as that talent in their buildings it's been a really important recruiting strategy for our work
as a graphic on the previous slide demonstrated while we use the concept of a pipeline to describe the entire portfolio of opportunities DPQ provides we no longer think of leadership as a purely linear pathway we believe setting up programs for nonlinear engagement
allows for more individualized development and therefore greater access thus we've built our strategy um through priority areas of targeted universalism stakeholder engagement and the organized use of data the aims that come from this as shown
here on the next slide are to have strong school leadership such that the unique aspiring and sitting school leaders in our 500 plus schools are prepared with the skills and dispositions to meet the needs of our students families schools and communities across Chicago as you all know we are the only district in the
country with local school councils the principal ship in Chicago is unlike any other our principles have uniquely high amounts of autonomy in hiring budgeting and leading their communities in curricular and programmatic decision-making the CPS principal seat
is uniquely complex demanding and impactful nonetheless through our developmental opportunities and other efforts we aim to support the conditions around school leadership that increase stability particularly knowing that research shows principal transition often leads to a downturn in student
achievement in DPQ our biggest lever for supporting strong and stable school leadership is to provide sufficient and relevant learning opportunities such that every school leader in CPS can find meaningful learning with our office next slide um now I want to walk you through
some of the key metrics that we monitor that relate to these objectives um first and foremost through our thinking about retention strategies we're looking at average tenure so this is the average tenure of principles in the role so it includes all years they've served as a principal across any school they served
in and as you can see since the pandemic we are rebounding and moving in the right direction and we are anticipating that um as this number ticks up through the end of the year that we'll be back um on par with prepandemic levels next slide we're particularly proud though when we look at average tenure
principles at their current school so if we only count who's sitting in schools now and what their average tenure is in that building as you can see we are more than a year above the average tenure when you look at the national average in public schools the national average in
city schools and the Illinois average next slide please similarly we monitor the transition rate as I said school stability is important to student success while the end ofear percentage here will tick up a little bit through June 30th you can see in this graph that
we are on track this year for one of the lowest if not the lowest principal transition rate in the past decade next slide similar to talent we also believe it's important that our students see adults in front of them who look like
them who have lived experiences similar to theirs and who understand the communities we serve um so we also monitor racial and ethnic demographic data and here you can see our newer principles so specifically those with two years or less enroll um who are most likely to have been engaged
in these new practices in our our office are more likely to be Latino Latina or Latina um but less likely to be white or black when compared with the overall pool of sitting current principles as a point of comparison the National Center for Education Statistics reported that
the national race and ethnicity of principles in city districts is 61.1% white 15.5% Hispanic and 18.5% black African-American um so again this is another exceptional area of talent where
we far outpace uh national trends if we look at assistant principal race and ethnicity uh relative to tenure we also see that our newer APS are more likely to be black and Latino Latina and Latina when compared with the overall pool of AP in the district um and proud
that over 80% of our assistant principles identify as people of color next slide the Chicago Leadership Collaborative is one of our cornerstone aspiring programs um for aspiring principles uh this is where our resident
principal program comes into play among other opportunities um and as Chief Felton noted we do make a sizable investment here but again we have data and outside evaluations to show we get a return on investment by preparing um these uh aspiring school leaders who get
hands-on experience coaching and mentorship in our schools in this program we partner with National Lewis University New Leaders and the University of Illinois at Chicago um and with their support and collaboration we began implementing a new structure to increase access and opportunity in this
program and as you can see this year 85% of our participants identify as people of color compared to 67% 3 years ago finally for our sitting school leaders again we really aim to make sure we're providing opportunities that are
engaging for them um of course all of our school leaders their primary um structure for support and learning comes through their network and our office of network support um they have monthly meetings they get coach they get feedback
learning development plans with their um network chiefs and deputy chiefs and then we aim to provide additional professional learning structures and spaces aligned to the school leadership framework against which they're evaluated and they set goals um we complement the network leaders and we also try to meet more targeted
developmental needs so far this year I'm proud to say we've engaged 1,352 sitting school leader participants that's not unique participants but um school leaders signing up and fulfilling seats even if they sign up for more than one program um this also includes our
year-long institutes for early tenure leaders our opt-in PDS and our pushin offerings when we go into networks to support them with specific goals the majority of our participation 935 of those 1352 participants come from opt-in so these are principles choosing to
attend the learning we're providing next slide this graph simply shows our growth it is our sort of big wild goal that by the end of our next three-year plan every single school leader principal and assistant principal is choosing a a professional development with us that
they find meaningful um and so we're on pace here um with over 1500 fulfilled enrollments by the end of the year and lastly of course like any good teachers and educators do we monitor our exit slip data um so we have about ex 86%
completion of exit slips and as you see here it's a resounding sort of yes that people would recommend the learning we provide and that they find our sessions responsive to their professional learning needs we take great pride in that work uh we thank you for listening and Chief Elton and I are open to any
questions you have i want to I want to thank you guys for that very comprehensive presentation as you may know uh a lot of this exciting data that you're presenting about principles and new teachers is not often
what the perception is uh when we go and speak to community but it definitely tracks with the excellence that I've seen in many of the schools I visited so my question is for example one of the great schools that I visited where I I
saw this work in action was uh principal white at O'Keefe in Southshore that was a turnaround a US school a a USL school uh and when I visited she had uh aspiring principles doing a walkth
through in the school uh they they they were turning out teachers and training teachers in the school and because that school is in an underserved community like Southshore uh Principal White gets first pick of a
lot of teachers that choose to that that will be Golden Apple teachers that choose to serve in communities like Chadam and Southshore uh my question is uh what are you all doing to ensure that other schools that could be perceived as
underserved get those opportunities to train teachers to do walkthroughs and and have that same opportunity as O'kee so on the teacher front um excellent question so you know some of the programs that I talked about the
residency to our own teacher residency is is you know um we have we are only selecting residency sites that are in high you know higher need communities so they're training in the you know in higher need schools that's the you know that 225 number that we have this year
um the A USL program also you know like I said table stakes for doing business with us whether you're Golden Apple Teach for America grow your own AUSL is that you are training in the highest need schools because that's where we want you being hired and then the Pstep program that I also talked about like we
have moved I wish I had the data hand like off the top of my head but it's something like we have like 25% more student teacher placements in the south and west side than we did five years ago uh because we are doing the perk of like can you know like it's kind of the
match.com or maybe the Jenzers would call it like Hinge or something i don't know but uh like I've been told by my team that match.com isn't cool anymore um sorry match.com marketing folks um but like no we're trying to connect you
know universities who've long told us like we'd like to place more folks in so so it's either through our programs where we're you know creating these opportunities or we're working with the local universities and as great as our programs are and as big as they've gotten we're the CPS teacher residency program is the largest teacher prep
program by cohort in the state um so but as big as those are we looked around and said look under any circumstance 80s something percent of our student of our new hires are going to be student teachers so we need through Peaceep we're getting them in the higher need schools so you know look I at my core
I'm an incrementalist especially in a system this big we need to get 5 10 15% better every year at at these metrics and so this is the first time that CPS has been tracking where our student teachers are teaching and what we're seeing is a considerable uptick uh in that they're that they're training in
the highest need schools because otherwise you know either you're not going to you're not going to get a job or you're not going to be prepar prepared for some of the jobs that you are going to get and so that's why we need them to get reps in the highest need schools and a lot of times for people it's just like you know it demystifies it de it there's this idea
that like you know if I'm teaching on the south side that I'm not safe or that like there's I'm not going to have a good experience and what we have seen through all of our recruitment efforts is that when we get teachers in the door they love what they're seeing in our schools which isn't like like I said do we are these strategies you know
universally working at all times are they perfect of course not and do we still have progress to make yes but are they are they demonstrating results absolutely so we're right with they're with you we want more teacher residency trained programs we want more student
teacher pres-ervice teacher placements in highest need schools um and that's partial and also we want to recruit our own kids who are going to these schools or member Pope microphone oh I turned it off instead of on sorry
uh thanks for the uh very comprehensive report i have to speak a little bit from experience having uh retired from a southside high school we had very few student teachers and that was an unfortunate thing so I'm very glad to hear that more student teachers are
teaching in underserved communities in high need schools because I do agree that if someone is doing their student teaching at Walter Payton it's not going to prepare them to teach on the west side or the south side it's just not the other thing I'm concerned about and
maybe you don't necessarily have the answers right now but what kind of correlation I know you do principal evaluations what kind of correlation is there between principal evaluation and teacher retention in schools because in my
experience I've noticed patterns of certain schools regardless of neighborhood or opportunity index score or anything where there's very high retention and a tremendous loyalty on the part of the faculty at a school and
other schools where 30% of the school routinely turns over every year and I guess I'm very happy to hear the recruitment stuff but retention is extremely important because we all know that even teachers who have a so-called
gift for teaching it takes several years to really develop your skills and to understand your interactions with students and to do the kinds of things that uh the national board teachers were talking about in terms of reflective
practice you don't come into your first year of teaching with all of that so those are some of my questions for the future answers thank you board member Pope and um but Ben might have some more specific responses to this um but you're hitting
on exactly what I mentioned in my remarks where the effects of a strong principle play out in more than just student outcomes they also impact the teachers experience in a school and what I wanted to point out is one of the endeavors that DBQ took on early in my tenure in this office was redoing the
competencies against which school leaders set their goals and are evaluated and if you look at that framework domain four the the one of the four domains we have is talent that's what it's titled and the three um skills competencies that are under that are all about creating cultures of strong
collaboration cultures of support for teachers um and so while I can't speak to specific numbers I can say it's part of the conversations and goals that principles set with their supervisors in terms of how they're creating strong systems of talent within their buildings um and then I'd invite Ben up here if he wants to say any more about um retention
across our district yeah I you board member Pope I think you and I were talking about this just last night uh like I I don't have the the correlation data off the top of my head but 100 I mean look people don't change jobs they change bosses and that's true
in teaching too uh it's it's just that's whether you're a vice president in a bank or you're a you know or you're a teacher like if you do not have confidence in your manager you are not going to stick around and so that's why we started opportunity schools our the first thing we did was we started
recruiting like crazy for these schools second thing we did though was we started intensively training principles to like do take these like critical actions and you know I can't speak to the correlation off the top of my head about the valuation versus not but certainly what we see in our data is that there are schools in you know underserved neighborhoods and some of
them have perfect damn near perfect uh teacher retention rates and some of them have very high turnover and so we we we try to work very closely with ONS to identify schools that have you know significant turnover and and try to continue to provide vide additional
supports and training for principles because look we think a part of a big part of a principal's job is is keeping your staff and the way we talk about it is recruit your own staff back next year so that that abs anecdotally anyway board member Pope that absolutely tracks what we're seeing
thanks board member Rivas uh thank you Mr president um I might contradict myself and the statements I'm going to make but you'll get it you'll understand um so first off uh thank you so much for all of this uh really great information uh it's very encouraging to see the amount of diversity that we're getting
uh with our teachers but also more importantly I think uh with our leadership um I think it's really important to have a leader of color i I was very lucky growing up that the principles I had at LOL Elementary uh were Puerto Ricans representing our Puerto Rican neighborhood which was
really amazing um and just um during a uh AP appreciation week I was able to uh be at at an AP happy hour with that the fund put on which was really awesome to see the diversity that was there in that room um because I really do believe it makes a huge difference especially with
our Latino families to be able to speak to a school leader who speaks their language um one of the things that I I do want to see more of uh and hoping you know what are the strategies around increasing the Latino population of our school leaders and the Latino population of our teachers so we are 50% of the
students of the Chicago public schools of our 325,000 students more than 50% of them are Latinos representing from all over and we know that the increase uh I was just at Cameron Elementary School for
Earth Day on Tuesday um I was with a kindergarten classroom uh who had a substitute who did not speak Spanish and that classroom was mostly migrant students who do not speak English um but it was a really awesome opportunity to see um how happy they were to to be here
and so just wanted to think about you know what are we doing to increase especially Latino participation in our uh pipeline programs ensuring that we're getting more Latinos in teaching roles more Latinos in um in leadership roles um and then also if you could talk about just what are some of the partner you
you touched on it a little bit you know uh Teach for America some of these other partners what what are you doing with like the fund to ensure that we're having more opportunities for growth and support for our our leaders and teachers thanks yeah I'll start and I think this might be another one where it backwards maps
nicely down to to Ben and talent um partnerships is what it's been all all about and that was part of why we called out this um the two-year data of the newer principles because we're starting um in DPQ to feel like we found some movement there but we know there's still a long way to go um we I would give a
special shout out to our partnerships with Nah the network of Hispanic Administrators and Educators to Latino Leadership Pipeline um our United Black Male Educators there's a lot of awesome professional groups around Chicago where these leaders already exist and working
with them to understand what's been successful in their organizations and how we can help recruit together has been very helpful um also leaning on them for mentorship we know for aspiring leaders of color being able to have mentorship and coaching from someone who looks like them who may be going through
um some of the same experiences of what it means to be a leader of color either in a community of color or not um is really important and so we also have great partnerships um with the fund with UIC and Teach for America's Aspire program with new leaders where we're intentionally setting up structures
where leaders of color are getting um year-long coaching and mentorship from someone who has served in the role and looks like them um and then the last thing I'll mention is we've built our own spaces for leaders of color through our DPQ event series and affinity groups um where they can come together in
community across uh the district and this year I'm proud to say our affinity um groups welcomed 350 participants uh but what we also know is this growth that we've seen is also contingent on the talent pool continuing to grow below us right if we're going to
continue to elevate leaders of color we need teachers of color to continue coming into the pipeline it's like we've been radio partners um yeah all of these strategies are designed with that in mind uh
specifically um I would say the residency you know because we're trying to generate a supply of bilingual teachers those folks are disproportionately Latino um so uh but the residency is pushing throughund you know up till now about 150 or so
bilingual teachers annually the majority of them are Spanish speaking um teach Chicago Maro is a big deal on this front because we're going into black and Latino neighborhoods and and recruiting really hard the high school kids and we're supporting them through the you know through the education prep programs through academic supports mentoring
supports um and financial supports as well um and then you know we're also much more sophisticated in our recruitment efforts and and um you know we segment our populations based on what we're looking for and and we do you know we we utilize the early offer program
very intentionally on that front and you know um and then also part of it you know it's international teachers it's if we're you know it's like I said it's table stakes for us don't come to me Golden Apple grow your own teach for America USL if you're not giving us diversity if you're not giving us folks in high need subject areas if you're not giving us folks in high need schools
like we're just that's that's part of the KPIs that we have in these contracts but you know it's a shared goal so it's not like we have to twist arms right so you know we are seeing all of these strategies are are resulting in more teachers of color and specifically with Latinos we've we went from 18.1% of our
new teachers being being Latino in um 2019 to 29% this past year so in in five years we want you know one out of every two one out of every 10 teachers there's an extra Latino teacher in that group um and you know so again like I I have a
lot of confidence that these strategies are working and then for Latino like I said 90 our retention rates for Latino teachers are 94% it's the highest in the district so we're also keeping them so you know part of that is our mentoring program because we see most attrition is in the early stages we try to be very intentional about matching mentors and
mentees there is research that shows that same race mentor mentee relationships are really powerful and I do think you know like you know like Allison said 80% of APS you know most of our principles correct me if I'm wrong but most of our principles will come from the AP role and so what you are seeing now is it's a longitudinal thing
that if we get more diversity in the teaching segment and there will be more under the AP and principal ship so you know these strategies are working and and you know we're continued to be committed to them you know regardless of what's going on in Washington or you So um you know we're committed to these
strategies thank you very much board member Gopez thank you President just was wondering for the principal race on in page 23 i didn't see a number for the
Asian-American i was just wondering if you knew what the number is i'd have to look at the slide and do the math but it's okay um I apologize i think when the graphic got created the font size got squeezed out but it would be whatever number is missing if you
subtract from 100 when you add up the rest okay thank you and um the reason I'm just curious to see given that uh we do have at least in my district I'm looking at 6% Asian-American student body in the seven district um and of
course the Latino students being the largest with about 83% uh and based on my conversations with some of the principles during my school visits it's um you know they've mentioned the importance of having teachers that rep their representation of the students in the classroom um and I think what uh
board member Rias mentioned that it's important also the culture culture and that experience um it reminds me of a conversation that I had with uh with the principal at Kelly High School in Brighton Park where we had a conversation of difficult um sometimes with the parents especially with first
generation students going off to college where um it becomes more difficult because it's letting the parents understand the importance of for a student to pursue moving away from the city or the state especially for their young daughters and it's you know the
principal understood the cultural context of it and having those conversations ations um you know so I think it's important for the body of students that we serve and the families thank you thank you for emphasizing that one of the affinity groups that was started
this year through DPQ was for Asian-American and Middle Eastern school leaders and so I'd love to just seize opportunity to give a shout out to Assistant Principal Connie Lee and Assistant Principal Amit Thaker who facilitated those groups for our aspiring Asian-American Middle Eastern
leaders this year board member Brown thank you uh Mr president um thank you all for the presentation i'm I'm It's exciting to see the numbers going up um as you know it's an issue that you know I care deeply about i'm a little
concerned um with the othering of black and Latino teachers what I mean by that is um we tend to lump us in a group say people of color
Right and it reminds me of how on college campuses in the 1990s and particularly around the the rise of afroentricity you saw black student unions become more politicized and then an effort around the country to start
eliminating black student unions and creating multicultural student unions and I think uh uh the reason for the uh as as board member Reevas said the there's a there's a shortage of Latin
Latin teachers but the reasoning is different than for the shortage of black teachers and so I I don't know you all's thoughts on that but it it it just um you know it's just like you know we're called minorities but we're really
not you know what I mean we're really not minorities when you think globally and so I I just think um that worries me a little bit and I just wanted to get your feedback yeah so I think it's a very valid point um and so
specifically give you one example uh in the 2019 strategic plan we said we would recruit 3,000 black and Latino and we s we surpassed that goal and now our our number is 1500 black and 1500 Latino because we wanted to hold ourselves
accountable for actually the black teacher number um so part of it and look like it you know maybe this is my own management philosophy here but like we through the residency through Teach Chicago tomorrow through all of the
pathway work through our recruitment efforts we are carefully monitoring the number of black teachers um and also carefully monitoring the retention of black teachers um part you know we could you know I could get into I could spend hours and would love to uh talking about
the work that we are doing specifically to recruit black teachers but I do think you're right and I think CPS has been guilty of this and I think we made this error in the last strategic plan where we were kind of lumping different you know communities of color together and frankly we had a lot more success with
our Latin Latin uh our Latinx you know recruitment and retention efforts than our black teacher recruitment and retention efforts and when our team gets together and does these deep data dives that that it leads to the question of so actually how do we support the black the black teacher population whether that's
through retention whether that's through affinity whether that's through leadership opportunities whether that's through pipeline opportunities so um yeah I I think it's a I think just please know that at least in the talent office and I'm I'm sure Allison and her team are aware of this too you know
we're acutely aware of that tendency um and you know really trying to hold ourselves accountable to not only the numbers but really the strategies to make sure that we're moving the needle uh to segment these groups because yeah the both of these populations are you know are are critical to our students
i would just add very quickly one of the things I know in in my non my nonprofit world uh we reject the term bipac right um because I think it's part of that same effort so it it it may be and again this is your field of expertise and not
mine this is just you know my layman observation um I think one thing that our communities lack especially uh you know in a society that does not embrace us as it should is is the right to self-determination right the the right
to define name and speak for ourselves instead of being defined name and spoken for by others and so I think in a district that uh is focused on equity that should be central to our efforts right providing that space so that uh
our interventions can to the to the naked eye and to the result um be targeted toward the needs of that constituency so not you know again I appreciate you all the presentation and the feedback board member Biggs
yeah um as someone who's had the great pleasure to work I mean very directly with with both of your streams of work I really want to say thank you um you know I had a chance to start my leadership journey in CPS through the Chicago Leadership Collaborative i became a principal after having a year to learn
as a resident to study under a principal in a community that I then became a principal in um was the best learning and preparation I think I possibly could have had so I'm very thankful to have had that experience i'm thankful to have been able to support um six teacher
leaders um at my school through various CLC programs over the course of my tenure and they're serving in leadership capacities throughout the district at this point um very proud of that and thankful for the opportunity that they could do that and I think um Ben you were just starting the opportunity
schools work in my last two years as a principal and I can tell you I I think it was the last year that we were actually calling it the opportunity schools work and that was the first summer that I ever walked into as a school leader having hired my entire
staff before that summer break which really um would have allowed us to do some really important professional development work so the work you guys are doing is really important and fantastic for the district so thank you and keep it up pp Bautista um yeah a really quick
question you know we just uh went through our 5x5s and we learned that you know CPS is approaching this financial cliff and um really concerned about that and I mean in the presentations that we
sat through um it was you know it wasn't said but it looked like you know we're going to be forced to do like hiring freezes or um you know reducing the the staffing budget what do you think that that is how that is going to impact all
of your efforts you know um has have you been talking about that i mean I feel like that is like um we're going to have this report next year and like are we going to be able to see improvements given uh the situation that we are in
financially yeah I mean we've as a leadership team we've been we've worked really hard to try to sustain these investments right and like I feel um like a broken record continuing to talk about like how
important it is to try to sustain the you know the amount of staffing improvements that we've made over the past five years um but yeah I mean you know like when there's a you know major budget deficit like there are hard
decisions that have to be made i think um I think the strategies that we're pursuing work whether you've got you know a massive increase in staffing like we've seen over the past five years and they also work in leaner times so I I
you know I think the strategies are the right ones um you know and um at least on the talent side I think the pipelining work in continues to be critical um the recruitment work continues to be critical we've got teacher vacancies we will relentlessly
pursue the ones that we've got um and you know every year in a system as large as ours you're going to have attrition like you know the 6% attrition that we see is you know trying to do some back of the envelope math in my head but it's you know it's hundreds and hundreds of teachers that we need to replace every
year so the the strategy these are the right ones I think um you know but maintaining staffing levels will require additional revenue and and that's there's you know no one has any disillusions about that so you know whether that's through the city whether
that's through the state whether that's through the feds um it's going to be critical for us to be able to do everything that we can to demand more revenue for CPS so we can sustain a lot of the growth that we've seen over the past couple of years and that also goes for some of the central office citywide
programmatic pieces too you know we want to we want to sustain the size of the teacher residency but it's a you know it's it's it's an expensive program and so you know in order to do that you know we're going to need to be able to sustain the town office budget so um you
know look I every budget decision is a is is difficult and their value statements and you know I've been very blessed to work under leadership that believes that like the talent piece is very important it's clear that this board feels the same way um and so you
know look it comes down to either you know additional revenue for this for this school district to be able to sustain it or having to you know consider painful choices and painful cuts and that's what all of us in leadership are are working to do to try to like make our operations as efficient
as humanly possible so we don't have to cut deeper than we than is absolutely necessary um would the CEO like to weigh in on that i don't know if that's something there there's nothing else really I can add i mean it really is a revenue
issue i am not um I think there's more risks especially um you know we're going to be we're going to be in Springfield and we're going to have students there we're going to have you know we're going to have a you know a good coalition but the reality is that you know we've been leadership has been been very clear with
us from the very beginning of the session the downside at the state side is actually a there's the risk is more on the downside uh if if the federal government cuts Medicaid uh that's a billion dollar hole for the state and so I know from good sources there there was
a consideration at one point not to put any money of education in in the state budget and so I think not to mention the the complicated relationships that exist between the city and the state which has not helped us um I'm not optimistic there and so I think again it goes back
to the conversations around local revenues around tiffs what president and I have talked about um really having conversations with city council about that so again it's going to keep coming down to that thank you both for the incredible work that you're doing we appreciate all
you're doing for the district board board members will open the floor for questions or comments on items related to the public agenda i'd like to note the following public agenda item RS4 resolution announcing the board
search for its new chief executive offer superintendent will be a separate vote so you can provide your questions and comments for this item when that item comes up for vote for now if there are any comments or questions relative to public agenda
items or there any reports that you wish to be moved from the consent agenda as a separate vote over Miss Cole um yes thank you Mr president um I wish to have RS3 pulled from for an individual vote
i second that motion you have that noted Susan yeah I haven't noted sorry we'll now proceed with the vote in the public agenda items board secretary please proceed thank you President Harden i will uh proceed with the items on the public agenda read the board report numbers and
brief titles i believe board member Blae has motion MO2 regarding record of proceedings i move that the excuse me record of proceedings of the agenda review committee meeting of March 5th 2025 and
board meeting of March 20th 2025 prepared by the board secretary be approved and that such recordings of proceedings be posted on the Chicago Board of Education website in accordance with section 2.06B 06B of the Open
Meetings Act is there a second i second the motion thank you i'll proceed with a roll call member Lozano i member Smith i member Lopez i member Thomas i member
Bole i member Wallace i member Kuster i member Pope yes member Rosenfeld yes member Rivas yes member Rio Sierra i member Brown yes ma'am member Bannon hi
vice President Bautista yes member Gutierrez i member Biggs yes member Thorakura yes member Blae i member Zachor yes member Deberry i
20 eyes zero nazs this motion is adopted by the board president Hard I'll continue with a resolution that does not require a vote rs1 resolution Ray National Board Certified Teachers Recognition National
Board Certified Teachers Class of 2024 and 2024 renewed National Board Certified Teachers president Harden this item just needs to be accepted by the board please mark received a file president Harden I will continue with items that do require
a vote as you noted earlier separate votes will be taken at the end of all consent agenda votes rs2 resolution adopting the amended annual school budget for fiscal year 2025 and President Harden this amended 2025
budget adds 139 $39 million of revenue in additional tiff surplus dollars from the city of Chicago to cover the appropriation for expenses in the pending collective bargaining agreements with the Chicago Teachers Union and the Chicago Principles Administrators
Association i'll continue with RS5 resolution codifying the creation of Black Student Achievement Committee and appointing Aaron G2 Brown as chair rs7 resolution authorize appointment of members to LSC's to fill vacancies p1
authorize the commencement of the public comment period for the amendment of the commercial activity policy po2 amend final comprehensive non-discrimination harassment and retaliation policy president hard in this amen amendment to the policy brings
district policy into compliance with the 2020 title 9 regulations by reverting the definition of sex-based harassment to sexual harassment i'll continue with EX1 transfer of funds PR1 authorize a second renewal agreement with various notfor-profit organizations for
community schools initiative sustain sustainable community school services president Harden for the record I'd like to note abstensions for the board members for the following vendors on PR1 member Biggs for Southwest Organizing Project number 14 member Brown Kenwood
Oakland Community Organization number eight member Lopez member Gutierrez and Lass Chicago number six member Lopez for SGAA Youth and Family Services um NFP number 13 and member Rio Sierra for
Southwest Organizing Project number 14 i'll continue with PR2 authorize a new agreement with Renaissance Learning Inc pr3 authorize the second final renewal agreement with various vendors for inschool arts education services president Harden I for the record I
would like to note an extension for board member Gutierrez for the following vendor on PR3 Puerto Rican Arts Alliance number tw i'll continue with PR4 report on the award of construction contracts and changes to construction contracts for
the capital improvement program pr5 authorize a new agreement with Sentinel Technologies Inc pr six authorize a third renewal agreement with various vendors for food management services pr7 authorize a new agreement with various vendors for custom printing services president
Harden these items do require a vote is there a motion so moved is there a second i second the motion i'll proceed with a roll call member Lozano yes member Smith yes member Lopez with the
noted abstension for the vendor on PR1 i member Thomas i member Bole i member Wallace i member Kuster i member Pope yes member Rosenfeld yes member Rivas
yes member Ria Sierra with the noted abstension on vendor for PR1 i member Brown with the noted abstension on vendor for PR1 member Bannon i vice President Bautista yes member Gutierrez for the noted
abstensions on vendors from PR1 and PR3 i member Biggs with the noted abstension on vendor from PR1 yes member Thorakura yes member Blae i member Zachor yes
member Derry i 20 eyes's zero nazs uh with the noted abstensions from the reports as noted during the vote these matters are adopted by the board president Harau will continue with additional items on the public agenda
that do not require a vote pr8 chief procurement officer delegation of authority report and chief financial officer report ex18 report on principal contracts new ex19 report on principal contracts renewals ar1 report on board
report reisions president Harden these items just need to be accepted by the board please mark received and filed president Harden I will continue with items from the general counsel that do require a vote ar2 transfer and appoint senior general
counsel Yasmin given ar3 workers compensation payment for lumpsum settlement for Mary Parker ar4 approve payment of proposed settlement regarding Ivon Kingston on her own behalf and as guardian of KS a minor at all president
Harden these items do require a vote is there a motion so move is there a second a second i'll proceed with a roll call member Lozano yes member Smith i member Lopez i member Thomas i member Bole i
member Wallace i member Kuster i member Pope yes member Rosenfeld yes member Rivas yes member Rio Sierra i member Brown yes member Bannon hi vice President Bautista yes member Gutierrez
i member BGS yes member Thorakura yes member Blae i member Zachor yes member Deberry i 20 eyes zero nays these matters are adopted by the board president Hard i'll continue with
items from the chief executive officer that do require a vote ex20 approve and ratify tenative collective bargaining agreement between the board of education of the city of Chicago and the Chicago Teachers Union Local One American Federation of Teachers AFL CIO EX21
warning resolution Joel Ricks tenure teacher assigned to Morgan Park High School President Harden for the record board member Wallace will stand on EX21 I'll continue with EX22 ex22 as noted in the public agenda is to appoint
chief officer so The action before the board for EX22 is transfer and appoint chief of schools officer effective May 5th 2025 Sydney Morris i'll continue with ex EX23 report on principal contract ALSC renewals president Harden
these items do require a vote is there a motion is there a second a second i'll proceed with a roll call with the noted abstension from board member Wallace member Lozano yes member Smith yes
member Lopez i member Thomas i member Bole i uh member Wallace i have you abstaining member Kuster i member Pope
uh abstension on the uh contract per direction from council uh otherwise yes i'm sorry which which on the CTU contract thank you oh I'm sorry thank you
member Rosenfeld yes member Rivas yes member Rio Sierra i member Brown member Bannon i vice President Bautista i but I have a point of order would uh board member Wallace be able to vote on the other items uh that don't that are
not that she did that she didn't have to abstain from i'm sorry yes i sorry about that thank you for bringing that to my attention member Gutierrez i member Biggs yes member
Thorakura yes member Blae i member Zachar yes member Deberry i we have 18 eyes with the uh two abstensions on the two items as noted these matters are adopted by the board
thank you i'm sorry about that um President Harden I'll continue with items from the board that do require a vote rs8 resolution by the board of education of the city of Chicago regarding the discipline of Karen Bofus tenure teacher assigned to Sakora
Sandival Elementary School president Harden for the record this resolution reflects the board of education issues an opinion and order and accepts the hearing officer's recommendation to dismiss Karen Bofus karen Belfuss is
hereby dismissed i'll continue with RS9 resolution approving chief executive officer's recommendation to dismiss educational support personnel president Harden these items do require a vote is there a motion so moved is there a second i second the motion i'll proceed
with a roll call member Lozano yes member Smith hi member Lopez i member Thomas i member Bole i member Wallace i member Kuster i member Pope
yes member Rosenfeld yes member Rivas yes member Rio Sierra i member Brown yes member Bannon i vice President Bautista yes member Gutieras I member BGS yes
member Thorakura yes member Blae I member Zachor yes member Deberry I 20 eyes zero nazs these matters are adopted by the board president Harden we will now proceed with the separate votes as noted earlier
and will begin with a separate vote on RS3 resolution adopting the revised guidelines for public participation at board of education meetings is there a motion uh I believe board member Zach or Yeah i
move to amend RS3 resolution adopting revised guidelines for public participation at board of education meetings um the amendment is as follows can you read off the actual changes you want to make to the report um oh before
discussion yes yes we need to know what the language that you want to change to the report is um just wait for me um okay so I am looking to um amend two things one is on page seven
um it would replace the text that currently says union representatives who are elected executive officers of unions recognized as the exclusive representative of Chicago public schools employees or of employees of charter
schools authorized by the board of education may address the board um amend that to simply say union representatives who are executive officers of unions may address the board and I guess I can explain when we have discussion and then
secondly I'm looking to uh add a sentence that says the board commits to ensure Spanish interpretation for online viewers and the Spanish captioning option for viewers who watch later as soon as practicable
you want to add that to I'm sorry which section of the public participation guidelines I don't know because it's something new so wherever it would go can you um repeat that so I can note it for the record I apologize no worries um
the board commits to ensure Spanish interpretation for online viewers and the Spanish captioning option for viewers who watch later as soon as practicable i don't want to delay this vote um I'm going to ask you to repeat that change
when we get to that part so is there a second to move the amended language to the floor i second i'm sorry who seconded thank you board member Lozano so the amended language has been moved to the floor for discussion board
members do you have any questions regarding the amended language um am I able to just kind of give an explanation of why I'm asking that yes okay thank you um so I have received some
Okay um I've received some input from constituents um that uh fall within these particular guidelines that we're voting on today so that's why I've asked this to be pulled out um if we look at the whereas section
of the guidelines here um it states the board recognizes the importance of community stakeholder and employee voices in board deliberations but we shouldn't be defining um or those groups who their
voices are um and the the text for the union speakers has now been modified um and it's not really with regard to the fact that all of the CPS unions are part of larger entities who also speak for
their members and the fact that they are uh you know in collaboration with other unions as well in fact we just read something a moment earlier about how CT local one is part of AFLCIO so for example um that's an
entity that would speak for that union so I just wanted to broaden the language on union representatives to account for the fact that these other people should be able to speak and then uh for the other portion um I've had constituents
speak to me about the fact that people um who are not present uh do not get the opportunity to understand what's being said um and we're a district that I think as board member Rivas pointed out
has about 50% uh Latina students so it seems really important that we should do that and I think it is highly relevant to public participation because the people who are able to listen to what's going on today will choose to participate tomorrow
or member Rivas uh thank you Mr president um so uh this this is the first that I'm hearing of this amendment um I I think we're you know only a few months into this um you know we're all learning Robert's rules of order and and how amendments work um I'm just uncomfortable because I don't have the
written text in front of me what this amendment is going to be so I really would love to have had this conversation prior to the moment it was brought up uh to be voted on um so um I'm uncomfortable just voting on it without seeing the text what the change is going
to be in the actual policy we have the policies that were given to us uh but I don't have uh I assume that this vote as it said was stated was only a requirement because we had a complaint from the public access counselor uh which is the only reason why this came
up um to your point Karen um we've had in previous board meetings other UNI representatives that have been added to the list like when we had uh Randy Weingarten who was outside and held her rally but she did not she was on the list to speak was going to be allowed to
speak but did not show up to speak so I don't know why it's necessary to make that change um but anyways I'm uncomfortable just because I don't have the text in front of me i would like to see what the changes look like and also just get an opinion from our general counsel around what those changes would actually do um and if it would actually
comply with open meetings act all the other things that we need to make sure that we're complying with in the law which I think which is why it's really really important that when we talk about amendments we we are submitting them to board staff way in advance that it can be vetted by our general counsel
can I can I say something to that bill board member Rosen Paul excuse me so uh like board member Rivas I too am caught off guard and I didn't even hear exactly what your amended language says and I couldn't write it down fast enough so it'd be hard for me
to vote because I don't even know exactly what you just said you said you've heard from constituents regarding this and I'm not even sure what that is i don't even really understand what you're asking so for me it would be very hard as well because I don't have the information
board member Brown it's my understanding that this amendment um or this um complaint required a change like a day a day ago right so there was no like just for clarity for
the board there was no long period of time that folks had the information and then decided to make an amendment i know I heard about it yesterday and so um I think the concern was and I I get the piece around the um
you know needing to make a change based off what uh you know because there was a complaint and nobody's to blame for this but it just it but it was uncomfortable for me to have a change to our public policy uh public participation
guidelines 24 hours before the school board meeting and so I then I think what happened is that board members the core looking at how it was sort of marginalizing union representatives um guess whoever she talked to made a response so I just want to say it wasn't
an example of like her not having the her having the information sitting on it and then coming to the board meeting and springing something on the board yes ma'am that was it member BS um is it possible to vote on
the amended guidelines for public participation as we've received them and then perhaps in a future meeting make a further amendment should we desire that so there's a motion on the floor right now for an intervening motion to amend
the language of the resolution which was includes the exhibit A the public participation guidelines the motion on the floor right now is to amend the language in that exhibit A there's going to be a vote taken
on that particular motion to amend the language if it fails of adoption then we go back to voting on the resolution as it was presented on the public agenda absolutely i understand that my question is more to inform the vote I'm about to
take on the proposed motion to amend there's going to be another vote there's going to be a vote to taken on the language to amend oh sorry um so as I understand your question member Biggs is if uh whatever vote you take today on uh
the public participation guidelines this is the board's resolution the board does have an opportunity to change it at a later date if they so choose um and again bring it on an agenda to vote is does that answer your question it does answer my question so I'm just
going to try to restate for my own clarity and perhaps others so even if we don't adopt this amendment in this moment we could come back next month and amend what is in front of us currently thank you
member Lopez thank you President well that was one also one of my questions that board member Biggs asked uh the other I just wanted to state that um also hearing and rereading right now I was on my phone rereading the resolution um I can see
especially the points the two points um and I do understand of not having the language part uh but I do support having both of those points taken a part of consideration of it um especially the Spanish part for those that watch online
uh but also now that having that information that may be something that we can revisit um just putting it out there thank you member Bannon um just to clarify has have the proposed wording been reviewed by legal council
it is not are there any further comments relative to this topic if yes member boys um if there's not clarity and consensus on the language for this should we just
bull it and wait till next month and and get it together so that everybody's on the right page everyone will have whatever edits and everyone can contribute to it in the way that there's a motion on the floor right so it'll either be voted on or up or down
member Paul that's basically what I wanted to clarify was that there is a potential to make a motion to table but you can't do that while this amendment is on the floor correct question but so there's no time
sensitivity to us passing this like change because I thought there was a complaint or something and so I thought there was a time time sensitive aspect so it sounds like it would not be recommended that we would table there is a time sensitive element to us
responding to the complaint okay what's the time sensitive I don't I don't understand the time sensitivity angle of this so so we're the the revision is in response to a complaint that's been lodged around public participation so
this is the action that's before us is based on that complaint so we have to respond to it because it's from the public access counselor at the attorney general's office it's a public access complaint
say okay so members of core yes and then we'll move on okay so what we had to change was not the things that I am talking about right a bunch of other stuff got changed and that created this
this problem right changing the language the original language about unions created this problem because the original uh public participation guidelines did not have this in it and that's not what the person complained
about so I think it's inappropriate that we change other things that we're not mandated to change and take away the right of some people to speak even if later on we could give them back their right it that right will still be gone
for a period of time and that's not not okay and and then regarding the Spanish speakers they're pretty much every time having their right to accessibility limited and I know we can't wave a magic wand and make it happen but I just think
having a commitment that we are about that that we are moving in that direction if we're going to pass a public participation document it's important to to make that commitment in a district that is almost 50% Latina
but not seeing it here in front of us again can you repeat the chair so so let me what's let's what's let's what's let's what's let's what's let's what's let's what's let's what's let's what's let's what's let's what's let's what's let's let's continue Ellen I think I'm going to actually ask your question um I don't know if Susan you could or Karen you could Could you
just reread I understand the the Spanish captioning that's fine I'm clear on that could Could we just have it reread the amended language for the union representation just to hear one more time that's the part I'm stuck on if you could just read it one more time I would
appreciate it member Zachor I um I was trying to take the notes on the changes that you were um asking to amend in terms of I'm sorry i'm trying to find it in the exhibit A
should I email to you what I have Susan that's fine it's under special considerations union representatives and elected public officials page six of exhibit A union representatives it's currently reading
who are elected executive officers of unions recognized as the exclusive representative of Chicago public schools employees or of employees of charter schools authorized by the Chicago Board of Education may address the
board and what board member Zagor is um proposing to amend is to read union representatives may address the board did I get that correctly right i think it to also say who are executive officers which was the
previous specification prior to this this change that it's executive officers so if I'm I'm sorry if I could just clarify it's it's simply removing the piece that's stated about them being
the sole representative of the district correct extend that beyond okay all right thank you thank you so we have action on four so um we'll call for a roll call
vote on the amended language as proposed by board member Zachor member Loausano motto SC how you all feel about that
yes member Smith no member Lopez i member Thomas i member Bole no member Wallace i
member Kuster no member Pope yes member Rosenfeld no member Rivas no member Rio Sierra hi member Brown mioto SC
for the court reporter I will note that as yes member Bannon no vice Vice President Bautista yes member Gutierrez no member Biggs no
member Thodakura yes member Blae i member Zachor yes member Deberry yes 12 eyes eight nazs the motion to amend the language in
the resolution RS3 is adopted president Harden and board members we will now vote on the board report RS3 um resolution I'm sorry I got to pull up
the the name of the report resolution adopting revised guidelines for public participation at board of education meetings with the amended language is there a motion so move I'm sorry who's who
moved vice President Vice President Bautista moved is there a second lopez second i'll proceed with a roll call member Lozano
yes member Smith no member Lopez i member Thomas i member Bole i Member Wallace
i member Kuster i member Pope yes member Rosenfeld yes member Rivas yes member Rio Sierra i member Brown yes
member Bannon i vice President Bautista yes member Gutierrez no member Biggs no member Thodicura yes member Blae I member Zachor yes member
Deberry I 17 eyes's three nazs this matter is adopted by the board president Howard and we will now proceed with the separate vote as noted earlier RS4 resolution announcing the board's
search for its next chief executive officer superintendent is there a motion so moved is there a second second so moved we'll now open this matter up for
discussion board members any comments before proceeding with the roll call oh the vote oh member Smith i'm sorry what was the
comments on i don't have I don't Okay your mic was on no worries i'm perfectly fine with you deferring bigs um so I'd like to first thank CEO Martinez for his exceptional service to
our district and congratulate him on what sounds like a new position in Massachusetts um I'd also like to thank the team of board members who has been working overtime on their volunteer jobs uh to put together a process around a
CEO search that we are doing everything in our power to be as inclusive as possible of constituents across the city um including those right here in this room so I am very proud to put forth this resolution that announces the
beginning of our community engagement process both geographically across districts as well as within various stakeholder groups um and really starting to look for the next leader of our district um who fits a set of values that we have started to come together
around so I'd like to thank uh board member Pope uh board member Smith and board member Rio Sierra and certainly President Harden for some really exceptional work um and all of your time on this thank you for your leadership Bigs
member Bannon um I just wanted to compliment the the committee on being so transparent by opening up this process to the whole city um I think it's going to be transformative for uh the next superintendent search and uh I'm excited
about the process member third core i again want to say thank you to everyone um who's been doing a lot of work on this process i'm thinking a lot about multilingual engagement given the amendment that we just made and passed about public participation but then also the comment
that was given during public comment period about um community engagement in the Spanish language only session where um a participant was not able to speak was not addressed was not recognized and I think it's really important that throughout this process uh the
resolution is intentional about naming what are the out um insights and the outcomes from each of the different engagement sessions and how are we going to use that to inform the CEO search and I think um one of the other ways we can continue to be intentional is by having real multilingual engagement efforts um
and revisiting some of our other engagement processes to make sure that we're not just checking a box when it comes to engagement but we approach these conversations with community members as a promise that we're listening and we're going to do something with the conversations that we have so thank you
Member Lopez thank you President um for those watching from home especially our constituency please be on the lookout if uh about meetings that many all of us actually are organizing in our districts to hear directly from you from the
community as to what we should be on the lookout uh or be priority for the next person that we hire in this uh role it's a very important role um in briefly I'll say in Spanish Chicago and I also want to thank uh our current SEAL i know that many of the
families including u my dad when he was here for the first time when I got sworn in um he pulls me to a side he's like I just saw the seal Pedro Martinez and it's because uh you know our current he's able to connect with the community and speak the language and there's many uh you know many individuals within
Latino community that we feel very proud of having someone that came from the community in this position thank you member Paul yes i think this is a very exciting opportunity for us to really
reimagine the process of community engagement i've been to a jillion community engagement meetings over the years some of them have been desolatory and uh routine in nature others have been more open and uh more input from
the community we have a community that is old young black white Latin Asian-American gay queer straight we have communities that speak a huge number of different languages we have an
economic diversity in our city from people who are unhoused to people who are extremely affluent who have their kids in the schools of our city and we need to hear all of those voices we also need to hear the voices of our students
i think it's critical that we have student listening stations i'm sorry that uh Catalina is not here with us now but I think it would be a fabulous opportunity for one of the citywide student engagement sessions to be focused on what they would like to see
in the new leadership of CPS because our students are the ones who are our future our students are the ones who our five-year plan and our strategic vision have been designed for and their voices are critical to this as are the voices
of educators clinicians paraprofessionals bus drivers parents of all kinds so let's let's really try to make this as robust as we can member Rio yeah thank you um thank you board member Pope for that inspirational
um reminder uh I it's been it's been a joy to work with board member Biggs and board member Smith and board member Pope um I just want to just really reaffirm um my commitment right as someone who comes from an sustainable community schools background um I'm proud to serve
with sustainable community school champions like board member Zachor board member Brown um and I just want to commit to asking all the questions of any um superintendent candidate right asking all the questions and making sure that um any candidate commits to to
making sure that Chicago becomes a sustainable community schools district that that we really embody that this approach to schooling right that really engages our communities that really commits to to to us working
together to make our schools everything that we need them to be right and so um I just want to make sure that this new superintendent is committed to building each school building a village that um where every student across our
city can walk to a school that's providing a world-class education right and so I just look forward to really engaging our school communities to to continue this conversation and I look forward to collaborating with all of you to make sure that this be this continues to be a priority for for our new leader
and for us as a board thank you one of the exciting things about this process is that it affords us an opportunity to demonstrate our solidarity um and so I'm excited about how we've begun and how we'll finish
again thank you Bigs for your leadership on this uh I'm excited to get going and uh with that we will move right along i'll proceed with a roll call vote on RS4 member Lozano
yes member Smith yes member Lopez I member Thomas I member Bole i member Wallace i member Kuster i member Pope yes member Rosenville yes member Rivas
yes member Rio Sierra i member Brown yes ma'am member Bannon hi vice President Bautista yes member Gutierrez i member Biggs yes member Thora yes member Blae
hi member Zachor yes member Deberry yes 20 eyes zero nazs this matter is adopted by the board president Harden I believe board member Pope has motion
MO3 your mic please mic check mic check my apologies i move that the board adopt the minutes of the closed session meetings of March 5th 2025 and March 20th 2025 pursuant to section 2.06 of
the Open Meetings Act board members reviewed these minutes and determined that the need for confidentiality exists therefore the minutes of the closed session meetings held March 5th 2025 and March 20th 2025 shall be maintained as confidential and are not available for
public inspection i second the motion i'll proceed with a roll call member Lozano yes member Smith i member Lopez i member Thomas i member Bole i member Wallace i
member Kuster i member Pope yes member Rosenfeld yes member Rivas yes member Rio Sierra i member Brown yes ma'am member Bannon i vice President Bautista
yes member Gutierrez i member Biggs yes member Thodicura yes member Blae I member Zachor yes member Deberry I 20 eyes zero nays this motion is adopted by the board we will now move into executive session board member Bole do
you have a motion m4 i move for the passage of motion number 25-0424-m and the commencement of a close session to consider matters permitted under section 2C of the open meetings act subsection one as specified in the motion is there a second so moved
i'll proceed with a roll call member Lozano yes member Smith i member Lopez i member Thomas i member Bole I member Wallace I member Kuster I member Pope yes member
Rosenfeld member Rosenfeld said yes for the record I'm sorry member Rivas yes member Rio I member Brown yes ma'am member Bannon I vice president Bautista yes member
Gutierrez I member bigs yes memberura yes member blaze I member Zach Yes member Deberry i 20 eyes zero nazs this motion is adopted by the board meeting will now go into cold session the board meeting of of the board of
education is reconvened board secretary please proceed president Haron I would like to note for the record that there are no items to vote on from executive session thank you is there a motion to adjurnn
some move is there a second so move all in favor we are journ thank you everyone