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Video-1: youtube.com/watch?v=ehvqckgctXI

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President Harden, before you begin today's meeting, I I would like to read a few announcements. Good morning. Welcome to the July 30th, 2026 board meeting. Before we start the meeting, I would like to share a translation information, safety points, and announcements for the next meeting.

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We are pleased to offer realtime translation services for this meeting via translative live. Registered speakers and attendees can listen to the meeting in over 200 languages. If you are attending in person, please vis visit the translation table for a

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headset. If you are joining virtually, simply scan the QR code displayed in the corner of the live YouTube stream to access your preferred language. Please note that the primary exit and entrance to the boardroom is the door which you used to enter this morning. If

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you're leaving the room, please use this door. The restrooms are outside the boardroom doors 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

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security officers. Mark your calendars for the upcoming meetings. The next ARK meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, August 12th, 2026 at 10:30 a.m. The next board meeting is scheduled for Thursday, August 27th, 2026 at 10:30 a.m. The ARC

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and board meetings 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 or lottery process, please visit the Chicago Board of Education website at cpsb.org. If you have any questions about

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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. >> Good morning everyone. Welcome to the Chicago Board of

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Education meeting. Today is July 30th, 2026, and we are holding today's board meeting in the boardroom at the CPS Loop office, 42 West Madison Street in Garden Level. I'd like to note that board members and senior leadership are physically present in the boardroom.

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Registered speakers may join us in person or or virtually if they've opted to do so. I'm President Sean B. Hardin. On behalf of my fellow board members, thank you for joining us today. The regular meeting of Thursday, July 30th, 2026, is hereby called to order.

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Board secretary, please call the role. >> Member Lozano, >> present. >> Member Smith, >> present. >> Member Lopez, >> present. >> Member Bole, >> here. >> Member Wallace, >> present. >> Member Kuster,

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>> present. >> Member Rosenfeld, >> here. >> Member Rivas, >> present. Member Brown. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Member Rio Sierra, >> present. >> Member Bannon, >> present. Me. >> Vice President BZ,

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>> present. >> Member Gutierrez, >> present. >> Member Biggs, >> present. >> Member Zachor, >> present. >> President Harden, >> present. >> We have 16 members present. We do have a

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quorum. I'd also like to recognize Dr. Meline King, Superintendent, Chief Executive Officer. Elizabeth Barton, General Counsel, Dr. Kareem Assaf, Chief Education Officer. Charles Mayfield, Chief Operating Officer.

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[clears throat] The order of the meeting will be as follows. We begin with honoring excellence, superintendent CO remarks, committee updates, public participation. We're going to recess, reconvene from recess. There'll be a presentation of

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whole school safety, finance update by the budget team, discussion of public agenda items, vote on public agenda items. We'll go into cold session, reconvene from cold session, and then we'll adjourn. >> President Horn, before we move um on

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with the meeting, I do want to recognize that board member Blae has joined the meeting at 10:47 a.m. Thank you. Chief Assaf, please proceed with honor and excellence. >> Thank you, President Harden.

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Buenos. >> What is this? >> This month's honoring excellence spotlights something very close to my heart. Student voice and leadership.

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Our priority as a district is to create learning experiences that are rigorous, joyful, and equitable across every part of a student's day. The shest way to get there is to engage

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our students directly. Learn from them and let them help shape their own educational path in ways that connect to what they care about. Student voice at CPS is not a standalone

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program. is coherencia, coherence in practice threaded through how we operate and how we make decisions. It is not something boxed into a single

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initiative. Our department of student voice and engagement has built real leadership opportunities for students. opportunities to bring their wisdom to bear on issues from mental health to

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budget, finance, and beyond. That only works because students trust that when they speak, we listen and then we act. That confa or trust is the foundation of

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everything else we're building. We're very proud of every student who's stepping up to use their voice and grateful to the parents and the partners who help that make possible,

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including Mikva Challenge and Communities United. Looking ahead, we're excited to work with schools to expand and strengthen school level student voice committees this year. and we encourage students to

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pursue leadership opportunities in their schools, their communities, and across our district. I could go I could go on, but this conversation should be led by the people living it. So, I want to turn

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it over to our student leaders to spotlight what they've accomplished during their time in their student voice committees. Will the students in the audience please stand? Good morning.

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I am Trinity and I Miles, grateful to be standing before you today to speak on my experience during CPS mental health student roundts. I am a 2026 graduate of Morgan Park High School attending the University of Illinois in Springfield for political science with goals of

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youth advocacy and public service. Mental health aligns with my passion for helping young people. In school year 2025 to 2026, I participated in three studentled mental health roundts. We shared our experiences and

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recommendations directly with district leaders. These conversations help lead to the to the creation of a district-wide mental health awareness day. This is a testament to students having a true

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voice and decisions being made with us. Leading up to this moment, we reviewed resources that were available such as free therapy for all students by Hazel Health. We reviewed the CPS mental health topics guide with the office of student and health wellness. This covered many mental health topics and

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situations. I suggested adding more resources about grief relating to gun violence. Whereas in Chicago, many students are impacted. During my high school experience, multiple students were victims of shootings. No one touches on the nuance situation

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of losing a family member, a friend, or the void the whole school feels when there's an empty desk. However, there was immediate acknowledgement of that suggestion. I'm proud to say change happens through an ongoing conversation. There's a

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there's a necessary there's a necessity for students at the table when decisions or lack thereof affect them. CPS is innovating and I see it. I see the resources being pushed full force and I'm forever grateful to have been a part of this change. This reinforced

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that youth can be the change that we want to see. Thank you. Good morning everyone. My name is Lazaria and I am a Ryzen senior at Westinghouse. I am a part of Mikvah Challenge where we have a top priority group called the CPS student

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advisory council. And in my council, we also have many subcommittees where I am a part of black student success. >> Hi everyone, my name is Jonathan. I attend John Hancock College Prep as a rising senior. I also attend Mikva Challenge alongside my partner Lazaria and together we are part of Mikva

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Challenges CPS student advisory council. The student advisory council consists is one of two citywide youth councils with the focus on implementing student voice within CPS. Within Mikba Challenge, there are four subcommittees: black student success, multilingual pathways, post-secondary success, and student

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voice and inclusive partnerships. Within these subcommittees, we are able to develop and provide relevant recommendations to CPS departments and offices such as the department of student voice and engagement and the office of multilingual and multicultural education. On Thursday, July 2nd, the student

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advisory council engaged in a budget roundt discussion with the board of education. One thing that really stood out to us was the federal budget for CPS. We were many of us were not informed that it was 10% which is the lowest compared to the state and local

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funding. This um this new this new budget has affected many school experiences among the CPS population. Also from the budget roundt we were given exclusive insight into the state of the CPS budget which was highly informative and provided necess

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necessary context for the student advisory council in order for us to make informed decisions on our youthled policy recommendations connected to the CPS 5-year strategic plan. And me personally, as a student with a 504 plan, I've witnessed as the budget cuts

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have led to my school only be given only be um sort of allocated half of a case manager position. So, I just think when these decisions are being made, we should really take into account students with disabilities with like 504s and IEPs and really make sure that they are

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at at least one of our priorities within those who we are making sure are not affected by these budget cuts. In my personal experience, my school has cut about five to seven teachers so far for the upcoming school year. Due to this, many classes will also be cut due

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to some of these teachers being the only teachers teaching certain classes. The question that me, myself, and other students are asking is how many more classes and um and teachers will be cut, how many more clubs and how many more sports will be cut. But in addition to

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this, we decided sorry, we've also um talked about what students could do to help this. We've said that more more student communications is needed with the board of education. We need more focus group focus groups. We need more dis um discussions and we need more

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community forums with students and the board and also with their LSC members so they can be more informed about what's happening within the board of education. Thank >> you all. Hello, my name is Jana and I go to Back of the Yards College Prep and I am currently a senior.

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>> Hi, good morning. I'm Adrian. I'm a rising sophomore at Jones College Prep and I'm born and raised from Little Village. We're part of district student voice committee, a group of high school students that are part of SVC's within our own school communities. Our work as

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a team is to advance student voice in CPS. >> In school year 26, we planned and facilitated three SBC communities for middle school and high school students in the district. Together, we fostered student leadership development, celebrated student voice, and built

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community. As a student leader, our first convening was a huge learning experience for me. I led a workshop called How to Balance a School and Personal Life. Going into it, I expected everybody to engage in a specific way. But when things didn't go planned as planned, I was honestly a little

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confused. It helped me realize that every student learns and participates differently. To fix it, I stepped back, reflected, and brought new ideas to our second SVC convening. I tweaked my approach to make the space way more engaging. Doing simple things like asking what music they'd like to listen

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to or what activities I could do to make them more engaged. Adapting like that helped me lead with a lot more confidence and really build my initiative as a student leader. >> As a first year DSVC member, I had only attended student voice student voice

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committee convenience and this was my first year leading one and it amazed me the amount of hard work and dedication that goes into making these events happen for the students. As a student leadership team, we all contributed in different ways and like

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the like the upper classmen, they took on the role of being our mentors and the underassman like myself, we brought fresh perspectives. After this initiative, my passion for student voice only continued to grow and flourish. I see student voice now not just as a

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club, but like a program where students can feel safe to share their ideas and needs for a better student experience. Thank you. Hello, I am a middle school student in an elementary school in CPS and I'm in my school's student voice committee,

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also known as SVC. I joined SVC because I wanted to help make a difference in our school and help our students get what they needed. We work in our we work with our school administration by meeting with them every two weeks to make sure student feedback is heard and

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acted upon. Through our recent student feedback, we heard many things but mostly the concern about ICE in our city. There was an opportunity in partnership with the organization communities united to train our SVC on how to facilitate facilitate student facing you know facing know your rights

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trainings. Once we were trained, we all contributed to the training to help make it our own and really show how much we cared. As an SBC, we then all trained all of the middle school students in our school. One highlight I took from the training was teaching all of the middle school

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students. We created a space to speak about ICE. Um, students gained knowledge and became informed. This led to student empowerment that created a sense of safety in our school community. This initiative helped students feel that they were safe and that organiz and that

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there's organizations in our city like communities united that can help fight our rights. >> Thank you. >> Thank you very much. We're very, very proud of each and every one of you. I want to assure you that every decision

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Dr. King and I make is with you in mind. Before we move on, I want to recognize our student voice champions. The CPS department of student voice and engagement, the districtwide student voice

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committee, schoolbased student voice committees, MIGVAT challenge, communities united, and the Chicago the city of Chicago Board of Education. To every student

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participating in student voice work at the school and district level, thank you. What you contribute is very important to all of us. And to our board, thank you for continuing to champion student voice and for showing

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our students that their perspectives and ideas matter. Thank you. Board members, are there any comments? >> Member Brown. >> Yes, sir. Thank you, Mr. President. Um, this is really like a full circle moment. I I just want to say I want to

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congratulate you. Let's ask everybody to give him another round of applause. Um, some of you I said this this morning, I just want to say this to you publicly. You are the leaders that we've been waiting for. Um, the work that you

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do, there is evidence that competent and trustworthy community and civic leadership emerges from groups like you. All you have to do is look at Alderwoman Angela Clay. She was in the first cadray of voices of

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youth in Chicago education when young people actually were coming up with studentled solutions to the dropout crisis. Uh Parish Brown, who is one of the leading restorative justice practitioners in the city of Chicago, is a former voice student.

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Maria, one of your lead organizers, was one of the original Voices of Youth of Chicago education students. Uh, Alderwoman Janette Taylor is an example of somebody that emerges from community- based leadership. So, I just want to congratulate you. I want to say that you

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have my support. Uh, and the work that you're doing to make our schools more humane, to make our schools more student centered is critical work. It is critical work. And what you all are doing is wisdom based because it's based off your lived experiences. It's not a

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disconnected opinion. It's wisdom based. So, I want to salute you and just let you know you have my full support. Thank you. >> Member Smith. [clears throat] >> I want to thank you for being here today

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and talk to you about as a board member how far my commitment to you goes. Uh we were recently with Mikfa Challenge leaders at a student power summit in Los Angeles. board member Rosenfeld and I

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were privileged uh to be able to go and take students from Chicago public schools and listen to students from around the country who are echoing exactly what you're saying today. I think we can even go further. We know that student voice committee is

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enshrined in state law yet all school Chicago public schools don't have student voice committees. I would like to commit with you. How do we get all of our schools to have student voice committees? And not only that, how do we get students limited voting power so

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that some of these things that you're talking about in budget and LSC's, you don't only have voice, you have agency. I would go further and say student, it's not just student voice that we need. We need student agency. and not just student agency for the best performing

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students, but for students who need supports that are in option schools that are in all schools around Chicago. So, this is not a political thing you're doing. This is a movement that you're doing that politics is involved in that movement. Uh you have my commitment. I

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know you just heard the commitment of member Brown. I know you have the commitment of member Rosenfeld and everyone on this board, but please uh bring your proposals to us. Be bold, push us, hold us accountable, do it in

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public, and don't let this be the the last time that we see you. We need to see you here regularly talking about the real tangible things that you're trying to accomplish. Thank you for your courage. Thank you for your voice. And I

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look forward to your agency. member Zach. >> Uh yeah, let me add my thanks also to you all for being here and um it's just so wonderful to to see and hear about the work you're doing. Um I had the

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privilege of going to a couple of the the mental health roundts. So I see some students that I recognize from there. Um and I also had the privilege of being a student voice facilitator for over 10 years at my school. And I know how really important it is that we give all

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students the opportunity for input um not only to to submit their ideas but to be part of the implementation of those ideas. So when we hear the wonderful things that that you all are working on um I too want to offer to be part of

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whatever it will take to make sure that that you all are part of every step of the way. not just giving the ideas you want to see us implement, but working with us on how they should be implemented in in all of our schools. So, thank you so much. Um, it's just

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wonderful to see to see your activism and and go students >> member boy. >> I just want to thank you all for coming downtown and sharing your stories with us. Um,

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I was still a waitress at a bar and um, it was a live music venue and Mikvah Challenge used to rent the space on Saturday mornings at 9:00 a.m. and do these all day classes with students. Um, and they would talk to them about

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politics and and how to discern um, what you're hearing in in the news, in the media. and then they brought a bunch of um candidates for a race in and that's the first time I met Barack Obama and this was way before he was he was

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running for president. So I I want you all to really dig in. Um I love that you're sharing your voice, but I know sometimes it's hard to get up and go to extra classes and have to pay attention and I know that that that that it's challenging, but this is an incredible opportunity for you guys. You don't know

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where this is going to lead. you don't know who you're going to bump into. I hate that I didn't get a president a picture with Barack Obama at the time. Um I thought he's good. He speaks really well. You know, who knew? Um but I'm I'm really glad you all came down to share.

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I think you should be excited for the opportunities that are in front of you. And um thank you so much. Take take put this in your journal. Take some pictures. Don't forget this is important stuff you guys are doing. Thanks, >> Member Rosenfeld.

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Thank you for coming down here. Thank you for being here. One of my goals for the next four years on this board is to include students as part of our policy writing. You are we work for you. You're not visitors here. You belong here. You're welcome here all the time. Reach

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out. Send us emails. Tell us what we need to do better. I went to some of the roundts and I'm glad that the things that we learned are part of the policies that we're creating. But let's take it one step further. And I really mean it. Don't think of yourselves as visitors.

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Think of yourselves as people that belong here and come here. Tell us what we need to do. And I promise you that we will get that done. So, thank you for being here. Congratulations. Enjoy the last few weeks of summer. Good luck at U of I. And um thank you,

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>> member Lopez. >> Thank you, board president. Gracias. Thank you. Thank you for being here this morning. I wish I would have been as involved uh when at your age um which is something that looking back uh you know

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it it's sometimes scary. It's difficult being in front right and making these whether it be speech in front um especially there's a lot of attendees today but don't let that hold you back. keep having conversations and discussions not just here with us but also right at every level whether it be

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your local alderman uh your representatives senators and by going with the meetings and community also bring your parents along. I think it's important that we continue fighting for our communities. Thank you. Gracias. >> I'll just say in closing that all of you

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all are incredible. Uh we appreciate you coming down, but I also want to offer you an apology. Uh because you should not be asking us what else is going to be cut. Uh that should not be what is first and foremost on your mind.

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We got to do better. You deserve more. You're absolutely incredible. I wish you all the best and thank you for coming down this afternoon. President Horn, before we move forward, I do want to recognize board member de join the meeting at 10:51 a.m. Board

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member Thora joined the meeting at 11:05 a.m. Thank you, >> Dr. King. We're ready for your remarks. >> Thank you, President Harden. That was a wonderful presentation and I want to start by thanking the department of student voice and engagement. I'm sure

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you are going to get a workout this year. Um, a welcome one I'm sure. Um, I also want to thank the uh our partners at Mikva Challenge and Communities United for helping our students lift up their voices. And of course, I want to

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thank the students themselves. We are here because you are here. And so absolutely, this should not be the last time that we hear from you. At a time when civic engagement is so sorely needed, it's encouraged to see

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the young people willing to roll up their sleeves and get involved. Today's presentation is an important reminder of of student voice, especially as we begin to prepare for a new school year. our students. Again, you are the reason why

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we are here. And I want you to know that your school district is always listening. Your input is not an extra or a nice to have. Your input is our navigation and is essential to the

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component of our daily work. I look forward to all of the what you will bring to the table. even those of you who have who have left and now are alumni of Chicago public schools. So I want to thank you for coming down and sharing your voice with us. So again,

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just one more round of applause as we close out because this year we wrapped up the the majority of our summer programs at the end of last week and I want to thank everyone who made these opportunities for our young people possible. Our summer

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programs range from credit recovery to CTE camps to enrichment experiences at more than 200 CPS schools. They also included transition programs for our students entering preK, kindergarten, and 9th grade, which will no doubt

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smooth the path for these students during what is a very critical time in their education. Finally, we are proud to host internships. We are proud to host internships where our high school students and recent graduates receive hands-on experience in areas that could

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spell a to could spell out a future career. We even have an intern in the CEO's office. Um, next week, this is finally, really finally for this part, the district will host its summer graduation to celebrate

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the seniors who persevered to complete their diplom diplomas. They will join more than 22,000 other of their classmates and taking the next step towards college and career. I want to thank all of our staff who were involved

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in summer programming. I'll now move on to an update on our district's evolving approach to whole school safety. We will hear from our safety and security team on this a bit later in the meeting. But for now, I am pleased to share that the C that CPS is

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releasing an implementation guide that will give every school a clear districtup supported process for developing a holistic safety plan that meets the unique needs of its students and school community. This guide will this guide will help

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schools create plans that incorporate not only the physical safety but the resto but restorative justice, the emotional safety and improvements to school culture and climate. We look forward to hearing more about this guidance later in the meeting and to working alongside our school communities

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in developing these essential safety plans. I'll now move on to what I know why everybody is here. Budget season. Um, as everyone knows knows, this was not an

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easy budget season. Like school districts around the country, CPS is facing serious financial challenges. Enrollment is declining while at the same time the needs of our students are evolving and growing. and funding from

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our partners in government has not kept up with those needs as they evolved and grown. For the second year in a row, CPS has faced had to face down a significant budget deficit going into next school year. And so far, for the second year in

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a row, we did public engagement to ensure our budget aligns with the needs of our communities. I'm beginning with urgency of this moment because the stakes are very high. We need to leave today with an approved budget that allows schools to only not

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to start but to end instability. Put simply, we are much worse um crash flow is much worse in a much worse position than last year and with inschool staff reporting to work in less than three weeks. We need access to

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short-term financing in order to make payroll. Staff returns to work on August 17th, and these employees will be expecting their first paycheck of the new school year on September 4th. If we pass a budget today, our finance team

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expects that they will have funds. They will have the funds we need to make payroll by September 2nd, just two days before the deadline. Delaying the budget would be a catastrophic for our district. It would be a de facto shutdown right when

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students are returning to school. We cannot let that happen. So given that we need to pass a budget today, I want to underscore why this budget that I have recommended is the right one. The important of passing this budget as

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recommended um was strategically crafted across all departments within Chicago public schools. Over the past two years, we have held community budget roundts to ensure that community voice is reflected in our budget. I want to thank the hundreds of

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parents, students, educators, labor representatives, elected officials, community partners, board members um who joined those conversations using using critical input from our communities. We have created a budget that is

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thoughtful, balanced, responsible, and student centered and most of all stable. We are maintaining the core investments that have most direct impact on our overarching goal which is to provide every child from every community a

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rigorous, joyful and equitable learning experience. We are increasing funding for schools by $143 million over last year and maintaining a funding formula that provides resources to schools based primarily on student need. We are adding

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over a thousand positions to support our students with disabilities, special education teachers, classroom assistants, and related service providers. We are increasing support for bilingual programs across the district and ensuring that our bilingual coordinators are placed where they are

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needed so that they can support our English language learner experience. We are maintaining funding for all of our current crossing guards as well as our safe haven and safe passage programs and we are continuing to invest in a team of

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climate officers who can respond to school safety needs around the city. In addition to these critical investments, this budget includes structural changes to close our $732 million budget gap and to put the district on stronger

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financial footing. We've started and as we always do with prioritizing efficiencies and reducing spending in central office and citywide departments to keep cuts away from the classroom at the school level. This budget adjusts

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the formulas for positions allocated for our schools include including slightly adjusting the studenttoteer ratios for foundational teaching positions as well as the number of assistant principal positions allocated to our smaller schools. To be clear, these moves did

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not increase class- size limits, which are established by our collective bargain agreement with our labor partners, but this will ensure that staff allocations reflect the decline in our enrollment and are more tightly aligned to the needs of our students in each building.

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In fact, many schools with will see overall staffing increases this year once special education positions are layered in. On paper, these reductions decrease our structural deficit by more than $330 million, helping to close this

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year's budget gap. But these aren't just reductions on paper. They impact people, their lives, their well-beings, and the students that they serve. Every staffing loss in our district has an impact at the central office level, the citywide

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level, and especially at the school level. But let's look at the long view. Over the past seven years, CPS added more than 10,000 staff while the district lost 45,000 students. And even with this year's reduction, we still

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have close to 9,000 more staff today than we did 7 years ago. Furthermore, last year CPS had 1,700 vacancies, and we expect a similar number this year. And CPS staff is typically rehired at a

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rate of 65 to 85%. And that still leaves a large portion of our classes uncovered. And behind every face, there's a classroom of students. So we still have a significant need and talent. So we encourage those impacted to look

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for opportunities that open up as we begin the school year. This process again shows us the need for additional revenue solutions. As I mentioned earlier, funding from our government part government partners is not keeping up with our students needs. At the

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federal level, pandemic relief aid has expired and federal funding, especially for students with disabilities, is falling short. At the state level, CPS is only funded at 73% of what the state of Illinois considers adequate according to its own formula. While evidence-based

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funding was a step in the right direction, it has not been fully funded. CPS is uniquely penalized when it comes to support for teacher pensions. We have to cover about twothirds of our teacher pensions while every other district in the state pays next to nothing. And we

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still do not have f full funding for mandated categoricals. At the county level, delays in Cook County Properties Tax Administration have severely disrupted our cash flow, forcing CPS to take out short-term loans to make

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payroll. The advocate advocacy and pressure on these government entities to deliver for our students will not cease with the passage of this budget. But let's be clear, at the federal level, we are resisting cuts and attacks rather

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than building expectations for more revenue. At the county level, the money owed to us is not new revenue. It's backfill last year's balance and would not help this year's budget. At the state level, we will continue our advocacy and I'm excited that we will

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soon be bringing on a new IGA chief to lead this work to help deliver structural progressive revenue solutions for our district. We have seen what it takes to move Springfield, a long-term sustained statewide effort with a clear

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vision and a clear strategy and we are excited to continue building this campaign. There is an African proverb, if you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. We need to go together. We need to move together in a

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unified way that will give us the best and most effective chance of getting long-term structural support from the state. In the immediate term, our most supportive financial partner has been the city of Chicago. Over the past several years, the city has provided

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additional funding to CPS in the form of tax increment financing or tiff re surplus revenue. Because the city declares any annual tiff surplus later in the Because the city declares any annual tiff surplus later in the calendar year, CPS must use an estimate

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when developing its budget. This year we budgeted $200 million, a conservative estimate when you consider that CPS received a net over $400 million to support operations last year. We said that if additional revenue did not

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materialize that we would need we would need five all staff furlow days that would not impact student instruction and that we would institute a midyear spending freeze to keep cost under control. We take community engagement seriously

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and we listen to what our community is telling us they need. Since we released our proposed budget on July 15th, many of our stakeholders um expressed resistance to this idea. While we propose f fund proposed furlow

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days would not have impacted instructional days, it would they would have impacted professional development time for many staff members and compensation for all CPS employees. So after carefully considering that feedback, we have revised our proposed

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budget to eliminate the five furlow days as a budgetsaving measure this year. Based on recent tiff surplus funding trends, we feel confident in revising our tiff revenue expectations in a way that will take furlows off the table. We

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feel that given these trends, our revised estimate of 285 million is still a conservative estimate. We will continue working at ev every level of government to secure the revenue that our students need and deserve.

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Importantly, we do not need to amend the budget to pursue secure or pursue or secure additional funding from our government partners. And I want to switch hats. Um, I'm grateful for my 33

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years in Chicago public schools. And so, I'm going to lean into that experience. I'm going to tap into the historical harm I have experienced as a leader in Chicago public schools. As a former teacher, principal, and you

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all have heard that, you know, that's my tagline, former teacher, principal, and now superintendent. This moment feels eerily familiar for me. I was a principal at Courtney Elementary School in 2017 when CPS balanced its budget with state revenue that did not come

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through. In the middle of the school year, I was forced to reopen my budget, cancel programming, and lay off staff. The staff I had to let go, they went with the staff I had remaining went without colas for two years and were

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furled for four days. The district was forced to cut additional central office staff and take out long-term debt to cover some of the gap that tanked the district's credit rating. This was severely disruptive to my students. Those are the faces that I

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see. Those are the conversations that I recall and that is why I put forth the recommended budget that I did and it is why I stand by the budget that I have recommended. We are still paying for some of those uh

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those loans from the decisions that were made all those years ago and still impacting students today. You heard the students talking about the cuts that they're experiencing. Back in 2017, CPS's budget

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made an assumption that didn't come through when the governor vetoed the legislation. CPS was m forced to make devastating decisions, devastating mid-year cuts. We know and we will continue um to

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advocate at all levels of government for the funding that our students not only need, but they rightfully deserve. [clears throat] And we also need to learn from our mistakes instead of repeating them. Passing this budget does

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not preclude us from advocating for additional funding from the state. I am there with you in the fight for more revenue. And it couldn't be more personal professional than that than the experience of 2017.

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But given that we need to pass a balanced budget today that is based on the information that we have in order to make payroll and start the school year, we need to move forward with the budget as is recommended.

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In school staff reports on August 17th and they are expecting their first paycheck of the new year on September 4th. Again, if we pass this budget today, we estimate that we will receive the money for our next round uh of short

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term loans on September 2nd, just two days before we make payroll. We are one CPS. We need to move forward as one as one team in service of our students and the community and C and

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Chicago. I am asking the board to pass my budget as recommended. Thank you, Mr. President. This concludes my prepared remarks. President Hornen, uh the remarks will be translated into Spanish as a condensed

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statement. If you wish to receive the fully translated statement, please contact the board office for assistance. Thank you. Excellenc. Eniachantas Fore scholar. Fore!

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Foreign! Foreign! fortoche. catastrophe. Department. Educ. contribution. Dire Safe haven is safe passage. forest. for deficit.

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personal improx. Fore scholar. Federal formula. Chicago. Speech. Speech. Speech. Impossible. Och. Fore!

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Foreign! Foreign! Fore! Foreign! Foreign! Thank you. We have no committee updates this mo month, so we'll go straight into public participation. In compliance with the Illinois Open Meetings Act, public participation is the portion of the

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board meeting that grants district stakeholders the opportunity to address the board with their concerns and comments. And is the time for the board and CPS senior leadership to listen and hear from you rather than a time for dialogue during or after your remarks.

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And 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 up to speak. This board takes equity of voice

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very seriously and while we may not address your comments directly during public participation, CPS leadership is always present at our meetings and will address concerns as follow-ups after the meeting. As a district and as a board, we also have many spaces for authentic

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dialogue. Each and every one of our board members hosts board office hours so that we may have a conversation with you. So, we invite you to use our website cpsb cpsb.org if you want to meet with the board member during office hours. We encourage

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you to take advantage of this opportunity to meet with board members outside of a board meeting. Thank you for this consideration. And as a reminder, union representatives will be allotted 5 minutes to speak before poke participation and any elected officials will be allotted 5 minutes to speak

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after the conclusion of poke participation. Board secretary, please share the rules of poke 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.

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For those who prefer to attend via an electronic format, they were given information to access this meeting by dialing a number and using their phone. We did did this so that speakers with limited or no access to the internet or who may have weak internet connection could still participate using their

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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 cpsb.org or mailed to 42 West Madison Street, Garden Level. Written comments received between the day the public agenda was

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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

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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-minute timer. When there are 30 seconds remaining, I will inform you so

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that you can proceed to conclude your remarks to allow for the next speaker to begin. For anyone standing with the speaker, note that in order to comply with the city's fire code, please stand along the glass partitions on the marked spots to keep aisles clear. Thank you.

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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. Some of my friends are coming.

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My my my sisters, the double antandra here. Sometimes I um look directly at G2 Brown when I get here because seeing him up there helps to anchor the why.

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This man starved his body for almost a month to keep a school open. There are some people who understand that difficult decisions in this city at this place has always been shouldered by

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the children that we implore to do better. Difficult decisions cannot continue to be at the expense of opportunity for the children in this city while at the same time holding them

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responsible for everything that goes wrong in this city. You got to give people an opportunity to get it right. And I respect everyone up here and the very difficult job you have. If you heard CEO

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King a moment ago, you heard CEO King say, "I don't want to fail." She said, "I want this to work." Me too. Them too.

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Them too. All of us. We've spent our entire summer teachers who got layoff notices asking this city to invest in young people yesterday. Um they had an interaction with Speaker

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Chris Welch and he said, "I have your back." And then some reporter went to the Senate President and he says the same thing. I don't think you know how monumental it is at this juncture in this fight because I do this every year.

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I've done this every year as an employee of the Chicago Teachers Union since 2011. So, I can assure you I don't blame you and I don't envy you in this moment because I know it's not your fault. In fact,

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you're trying to help it and fix it. That's why you're going to assume that the mayor of Chicago is going to come through at a higher number than we know because those estimates haven't been realized until September and then the city council got a vote on it. But

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because he's given a billion dollars already, that's a safe assumption. You know what else is a safe assumption? That the governor follows the law and funds the schools. Cuz both things

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are true. Both things are true. So what I'm asking you to do today is the thing that I'm willing to do. I am willing to take this as an opportunity

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to do the right thing and invest in our kids and do it with the people who do it every day for you. There are people standing up here right now that do not have a job. They you hear me?

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They don't have a job and they're up here because they know that because they don't have a job, their students are going to go without or being in a larger class size. I love you, Dr. King, but I do not know how you doing that math. If teachers are not in the building, class

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sizes are going to go up. It It's just the math. I understand. I respect what you are trying to say and do. I do. and that math doesn't math. I am saying to you all today that you are going to have to assume the

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opportunity for the young people in Chicago and you're going to have to assume the responsibility to make other people assume that with you the way that you're going to assume it for the mayor of Chicago. He signed

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up and he said yes to the tune of a billion dollars. Who else can you assume as partners in this? Can you assume Maria Papis? Can you assume Tony Prewinkle? Can you assume JB Pritsker?

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Because we have people who assume it every day. They're my members. They're the parents. They're the students. It's you, too. We all do this together. So, let's assume that we're going to

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continue to do this together. Let's assume that doing this together makes it impossible for people to keep telling us no because G2 Brown assumed a stance to keep diet open. He assumed a coalition

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stance and starved himself for 30 days to keep a school open that is now thriving. So, see, I'mma bet on his assumption. Thank you for your comments. The next union rep is Jen Conant, CTu Charter Division Chair, who is here in

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person. Please proceed. >> Good morning, members of the board and CEO King. The work before you today is not easy. I urge you to amend the budget with that in mind in order to reduce the cuts to

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schools across our city. That includes cuts announced for your newest school, Shy Arts, as well. So, let's start here. It's not equitable to take away dedicate dedicated educators and staff from our schools. It's not equitable to eliminate

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programming that our schools are thriving in. It's not equitable to dismantle what is working at our schools across the city. Access to highquality arts education for students who've never had it before in their lives. There are choices to be made today about how you choose to

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invest for the best outcomes of uh for our communities. Investing in schools is the priority. After the budget vote today, there is a second step for those of you who make the choice to invest in Shy Arts. The alternative to saying yes to the

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resolution is essentially letting this school close when every last teaching artist that students have known are permanently removed. We know there are arts organizations across the city who are counting on investment by CPS so that they can financially support this school. We know

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there are donors waiting to hear how CPS will move forward with preserving or dismantling the thriving program at this school. We know an investment in Shy Arts will lead to a growth in revenue for arts education across the city. We are asking you all to make a one-year

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commitment that aligns with your beliefs that we need more access to arts education for our students. Students and parents at Shy Arts have been waiting for months to know what is possible for them in terms of course selections and opportunities for continuing their arts education. They still do not know what

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will be offered. And some students are being told fewer and fewer arts classes are an option. They say it feels like they have been sold a lie. School starts in a few weeks and not one single teaching artist has been hired as a

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resident teacher or resident artist. You all voted to maintain the arts conservatory. But let me tell you bluntly that there is no conservatory without the teaching artists. Students from every ward across the city of Chicago who choose to attend Shy Arts

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as the worldclass arts high school are counting on you to invest in them and in their futures as artists because not all of them can access free public arts education elsewhere. Our union and the whole shards community have been ready to negotiate, compromise, and find

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solutions as we have from day one. We all know this transition will come with changes, but we have only been told that we are not part of the decision-making process, that our members are not experts on their own school, and that CPS will just inform us of what is

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possible. A yes on this resolution will direct CPS to work with us for solutions that can successfully build a CPS version of this arts conservatory. A no will be a vote to close the school, replace it with something very different in the same building, the building where

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Lafayette Elementary already went through the trauma of a closure, and send the message that our students and city just cannot have the same investment in arts education that we see in other districts across the country. So, please choose students, choose the

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arts, vote yes. Thank you. Thank you for your comments. The next union rep is Diane Palmer, SEIU Local 73 president, who is here in person. Good morning, Dr. King, President

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Harden, and members of the board. My name is Diane Palmer, president of SEIU Local 73. And I speak today on behalf of 16,000 essential school workers, the special education classroom assistants, the bus aids and monitors, the

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custodians, the security officers, the crossing guards, the parent workers, and the miscellaneous workers, the people who open the door of this district every single morning and make sure our children are safe, fed, and ready to

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learn. On Monday, our union sent a letter to Dr. Keen and to this board, we said the proposed budget of 200 million tiff surplus estimates were too conservative and the CPS needed to find at least 85 million more dollars, enough

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to take every single furlow day off the table. We didn't ask nicely, we demanded it because furlow days are not shared sacrifice. They are unpaid, forced onto workers who are already among the lowest paid workers in the district. Many of

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them are black and brown women holding their own families together on poverty level wages. On Tuesday, Dr. Keane and her team answered that call. The revised budget in front of you today includes the additional $85 million in tiff

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surplus funds and eliminates the furlow days our members were braced to take. I want to say clearly and on the record that that is real leadership. Today we asked the board to vote yes, pass the revised budget exactly as it stands. We

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know that there is talk of holding off or building this budget around additional state revenue that has not been appropriated, has not been signed off on, is not in our hands. I understand the appeal of that. More state funding for public education is a

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fight we are in every single day alongside of you in Springfield, but hope is not a budget line. We understand the speaker said he would raise um it in his veto session yesterday. We've spoken to dozens of legislators and Springfield

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experts who have been clear that there's no pathway to 90. Today, we anticipate some legislators will speak and encourage everyone that they can deliver state funds. We also know most legislators won't publicly condemn the decision and go against the speaker

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despite their private opinion and advice not to do this. Unsecured state revenue cannot pay a seeker's rent in September. It cannot guarantee a bus aid on the bus when school opens. Our students do not get to wait for Springfield to make up

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its mind, and neither should this board. Every day this budget is delayed or built on a foundation that isn't real money yet is a day of uncertainty for the workers who are trying to plan their lives and the families uh who are trying

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to plan their school year. There are some of you who will say the tiff surplus is not real money yet. But the reality is that we have millions mult I'm sorry multiple years of experience where 285 million is still a conservative estimate waiting on

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Springfield is the risky path and our children's education is not the place to take that risk after running after returning from summer break with no income coming in our members cannot afford to go back to the drawing board and risk CPS not having the funds

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necessary to make payroll low-wage black and brown workers livelihood should never be used as pawns. They deserve dignity and respect from this board. Do not repeat the same budget mistakes that Rammy Emanuel and Florence K Clayool

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made that led to mass layoffs, risky borrowing, furlow days, and our members giving back the raises that they had negotiated. Educate yourselves. Look up what happened in 2016 2017 when state money was budgeted but did not come

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through. board members, you took on this responsibility. Half of you ran for these seats and the other half were appointed. You accepted those appointments. It is time for you to act. Stand up for the school system you would like to see. Regardless of the threats

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or promises, no matter what, it's time to stand up. I pray that 11 of you vote for the CEO's budget. Tell our members, the community, and 320,000 students that you care. Tell them that you you have 30 seconds >> are not willing to ask you are not

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willing to risk banking on unsecured state funds. Board members, we are asking you to meet the moment. We are asking you to lead with integrity today, no matter the potential personal consequences. Vote yes today to approve Dr. King's revised budget as written. No

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delays, no dependence on revenue that isn't secured, no reopening the door to furlow dates. Thousands of people are counting on you to do what is right. Thank you. >> Thank you for your comments. The next union rep is Kia Banks, CPAA

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president, who is here in person. Good morning. Last year, I stood before you and said something very simple. I asked that at the moment that we passed our budget, we will begin uh preparing the next one together.

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However, two things were true. I left this but uh podium and went back to our business as usual and you did too. See, I was a school leader in 2017. So, I too remember those dark days.

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However, today we're here again. And this is exactly why today's vote cannot simply be remembered as the day that Chicago public schools adopted another budget. I keep hearing that word together.

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It must be remembered today that this was the day that we, the collective, we decided to break this cycle. The day that we chose to lead beyond this room, beyond this fiscal year, and beyond the crisis.

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Because regardless of how you vote today, teachers and staff have not received a paycheck since early July. seekers and security have not received a paycheck since early July. Many of the employees who will welcome

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our students back in less than three weeks have no guarantee that they will receive a paycheck in September. I need you to really think about that. How welcoming is an environment for children when your own children couldn't go back

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to school shopping, didn't have what they needed to start school, and you don't know if you're going to get a check in two weeks. The very people preparing the meals for our students may be wondering how they're going to buy groceries for their own families.

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The educators preparing classrooms for learning are wondering whether or not their jobs will be secure. And there are principles, my colleagues, who are preparing to open schools without the assistant principles they have depended

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on for years to share this beautiful burden of leading a public school. That is so much bigger than today's vote because the people I represent don't experience budgets, they experience

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consequences. When you vote today, principles see more than line items. We see classrooms. We see children. We see the t the teacher who may not be there if assumptions don't become reality. We see the

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assistant principal who helped build school culture, mentor teachers, respond to crises, and support students. They may be gone and some of them are now gone because certainty for them did

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not arrive. When we see the counselor carrying impossible case loads, the lunchrooms that are operating short staff, the custodians doing everything possible to keep a building clean, and security keeping a building safe, we're the ones

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that hear the parents asking why my child's services have changed. And we are the ones that have to have an answer. See, that is what it means to lead through uncertainty.

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I recognize the difficulty of decision before you today. No one should ever pretend that this is easy. But see, difficult decisions are exactly what each of you signed up for. and difficult decisions cannot become an excuse for repeating the same cycle that

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has brought us back to this point year after year. A bill a budget built on assumptions may be necessary today, but a school district governed by assumptions cannot become our new

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reality. Assumptions don't create stability. Assumptions don't retain great educators. Assumptions don't reassure families who are deciding right now if CPS is the right place for their child.

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Assumptions don't build confidence with legislators, taxpayers, or our city. Only a plan does that. Real leadership that is committed to collective action

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does that. Our members are not asking anyone in this room for a miracle. We are asking for you today to this be the beginning and not the end of a fundamentally different approach. We need you to vote to pass this budget today, but tomorrow we need you to

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choose stability for our schools. Illinois already told us what our children need. The evidence-based funding formula was created to answer one question. What does it actually cost to educate every child? Today, by the state's own calculation, Chicago public

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schools remains nearly $1 billion dollar below adequacy funding. Those are not our numbers. Those are the state's own determination of what our schools need. Those numbers are real and the needs behind those numbers are real. The

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consequences of ignoring uh the the lack of those dollars um are absolutely real. Let's conclude your remarks. >> So tomorrow's work cannot simply be finding enough money to survive just one more year. It must be bringing the governor, the general assembly, this

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board, district leadership, the mayor, Cook County, all of our labor partners, parents, philanthropy around one common mission to accelerate the path toward fully funding our under uh under the evidencebased funding formula while

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building a long-term financial roadmap that finally brings stability to our schools. Because for too long we only respond in crisis. Every single moment morning principles and assistant principles have to bring together people with different perspectives,

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responsibilities, and pro priorities. We're able to get them to work together around one mission, educating our children. So now it's time that the district and this board does the same thing. It's time to prove that one CPS is not a slogan. It is whether or not

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the adults in this city finally choose to work together. We have to do more than pass a budget. We have to have a new direction and we have to end this annual cycle of uncertainty. Let this be the day that one CPS finally chooses to

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lead with a real plan instead of just an assumption. Thank you. >> Thank you for your comments. The last union rep is Toanda Murray, Unite Local One, Executive Board Member, who is here in person.

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Good morning everyone. Hello Dr. King, President Harden, and members of the board. My name is Towanda Murray. I serve as an executive board member at Unite Here Local One. I am a 30-year veteran at the United

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Center and I am I and my children were products of the CPS school system. Our union rep represent CPS lunchroom attendants, cooks, porters, and associate lunchroom managers. Our members love what they do every every

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day. They feed, care, and nurture our children. Many students receive their only meal from these workers. Yet these same people struggle to feed their own families. The survey of CPS lunchrooms workers was

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conducted and delivered to you last year that showed 47% of the workers reported having trouble paying for housing and 22% said their families had to visit food pantries.

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It was shameful last fall and more shameful today because the board has been aware of the crisis facing lunchroom workers for so long. For more than 12 months, the board of education

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has allowed Chicago lunchroom ladies to languish without a fair contract, rely on food pantries, struggle to make rent on CPS poverty wages. This is unacceptable.

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The negotiations over the lunchroom workers contract has gone on and bringing lunch ladies up to a equal wage to the minimum paid of other support staff has been delayed long enough. After months of delay, the lunch ladies

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have had enough. I have in my hand a letter from the local one negotiating committee for you guys. Can someone receive this? If you want to proceed your reading down, >> it reads, "Dear Dr. King, pursuant to

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Er, unite here local one hereby initiates fact findings for labor contracts with CPS. Please contact our council, Robert Blah, to select a qualified impartial factfinder.

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Best regards, CPS lunchroom workers unite here local one negotiating committee. The board of education should not approve any budget that fails to bring lunchroom workers up to the minimum that other workers inside CPS

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have. It is the past time for the board to settle a fair contract with CPS lunchroom that ends the inequality that have faced far too long. Thank you. >> Thank you for your comments,

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President Harden. We we are now ready to call registered speakers from the speakers list. will begin with the two speakers from the Chicago Westside branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Carl Brenson,

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board secretary, I think we have Senator Mark Wick here. Okay. Elected officials are call after registered speakers. >> Understood. Thanks, >> Carl Brinson.

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>> Good afternoon, board members, CEO King, CPS staff. Once again, I'm Carl Brinen, president of Meritus of the Westside branch in OP. Sitting here representing the Westside OP and other community organizations. We're here standing in total support of

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the budget that was presented to you by the administration and we're asking the board to also support this budget. Also, we know there's some difficult times, some difficult troubles ahead of us. We know we struggle with making hard decisions, but we know we selected an

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elected CEO to try to navigate this ship. We're into support of her in navigation of this and we ask you to support it. We also understand that we have to get more engaged in supporting and advocating in Springfield to get more support from our legislators and

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our governor in Springfield. We're willing to take on that task and we're willing to work hard to bring those kind of resources back to the CPS. But at this particular moment right in time, we're here and asking you to stand with us, the NWP and other community organizations to support the budget that

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has been presented before you by this administration. So, thank you. Welcome your support. and we believe that you will support because it is the right thing to do. Thank you. >> Thank you for your comments. The next speaker is Princess Shaw.

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Good morning everyone. Um I will say I have a child that is 25 and he has not been in um CPS school and I am not going to disclose my age because I was at a CPS school as well. But what I will say is it's very disheartening um to hear

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some of these stories and I will say for me to continue to see the overlay for the underlay as we say in the hood and also to continuously see this okie do that of a show that's continuously going on. Um [snorts] Miss King I applaud you for having um

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the grit and the guts to sit here through all of this because it's a lot. I'm just sitting here now for my first time and it's a lot for me. But one thing I will say is is that I continuously hear the same thing and the little the little snub comments and

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um I will say what I continuously see is a conditioned community on so many different levels, right? A lot of these people here said in this audience, even the children have been conditioned to learn how to survive, which we know for many black

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people and Hispanic too, but mostly black, we have to always find a way to survive. And it's sad um because one of the things I kept hearing about is something about being an assumed budget. And again, I'm still learning and I would do my research. But one thing I

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can say is my grandparents raised me and said, "If you're assuming anything, we know what the end of that comment means. That means that you don't have uh a bird in a hand, two in the bush, that type of analogy. >> You have 30 seconds remaining. >> Um but what I will say is is that I

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don't see the same push cuz I spent the entire month of May just about in Springfield. I didn't see the same push down there. And the only thing I keep hearing about is that Mayor Johnson has put up a billion dollars. But I keep hearing them say, "Oh, these state people are telling us we're going to

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support, but no dollar amount." And I think for us to continue to sit here and hear this over and over again, it it's very appalling. And I just uh I want to go ahead on and challenge people that when the veto session does happen, we need to get down there and let's say,

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"Hey, I need a dollar amount in hand to help with this schooling because we have people, you're doing a real budget and it's needed. That fat needs to be trimmed >> because at the end of the day, that means that since 2017, we've had people that have been going into work clocking

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in and again, I don't understand it all, but I would do my research. with only 27 kids in a classroom for a budget of a school that has 3,000 kids. And I will leave that at that. >> Thank you for your comments.

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The next speaker is Corey Blake. Good afternoon. My name is Dr. Corey Blake Lasano. I'm a music teacher and a gender and sexuality alliance or GSA adviser in the Belmont Craig community. I'm a Latina transwoman and I survived

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my youth only thanks to the availability of music and arts classes in my schools growing up for so many LGBTQ plus youth across the city of Chicago and especially in our most disinvested communities on the south and west sides

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where GSAs are harder to come by. Arts classes become the spaces where queer students can safely and creatively express themselves in a moment when their very identities are being attacked by politicians and dehumanized on the

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social media they access every day and in communities where they may not be accepted by their own families. By cutting arts teachers and programs when so many schools already don't have enough K through2 arts education. This

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budget as it stands only increases the harm that is already being inflicted onto queer youth. Our federal government is trying to kill trans people. Please don't help them. According to CPS's own youth risk behavior survey data, 29%

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almost a third of CPS students identify as LGBTQ plus and 1 in4 of those have considered suicide because of the failure of our schools and legislators to provide for them safe and affirming environments. But it doesn't have to be

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this way. And while I will continue to fight and organize to ensure that every single LGBTQ plus child in Chicago public schools has access to a GSA, today the board has the ability to make a decision that will make sure that all children have access to the music and

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arts that provide kids spaces where they can belong, build confidence, process traumas, and express themselves. It is exactly for this reason that I'm here today to demand the board of education and Chicago public schools to fix this

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budget and to exhaust all options to ensure that every single CPS student has access to the arts programs that are fundamental to survival for so many queer and trans kids as they did for me. Thank you. >> Thank you for your comment.

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The next speaker is Elizabeth Lundine. Good afternoon. My name is Libby Lundine. I'm a master's prepared second grade teacher in Austin. I spoke earlier this month at the special budget hearing and I'm back to continue to fight for my school and my students. Since the last

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time I spoke to this board, the five potential furlow days have been removed from the proposed budget by seeking additional funding from the city. While this is a great win, it does nothing to address the 2,000 educators who lost their jobs and the countless students

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who will be affected by these cuts. I stated last week that Dri lost first, second, third, and fourth grade teachers with no plan on how to fill these positions. only the disastrous proposition of having all four of these

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foundational grades being forced into one classroom each with 30 plus students and fourth grade with 45 students. Not only are these class sizes untenable, the loss of these particular teachers is devastating.

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Anyone who has looked back on their time as a student can name one educator who made a difference in their life. Be it a coach who believed in their abilities, a counselor who listened when no one else would, a math teacher who finally got numbers to make sense, or a reading

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teacher who opened up a universe of possibilities through books. We lost a teacher who joined every committee, including the local school council, to present solutions to improve our school while also running a beloved afterchool program. We also lost a teacher who

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started a snack program to ensure our students had the nutrition they needed to focus on their academics and was creating a back- to-school event to engage our parents. These layoffs may be numbers to you, but to the schools they serve, they are instrumental in keeping

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our schools running and our students learning. You found money from the city to remove the furlow days. Now join us to demand that the state pay its share and save our educators. Do not accept this current budget without exhausting all options. You have a choice. Choose

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our schools. Choose our students. Thank you. >> Thank you for your comments. The next speaker is Traybon at St. Good afternoon everyone. My name is Trayvon Estie. Uh I'm a Chicago public

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schools educator and a proud CPS graduate as well as a special education advocate. Um every morning parents entrust us with their most precious gifts. their children. They trust us to educate

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them, support them, and help them reach their full potential. That trust is sacred. As a CPS graduate, I know what can be accomplished when students are the priority. CPS invested in me. I b I benefited from special education services that helped me overcome

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challenges, discover my strengths, and shape my future. I had educators who believed in me and encouraged me to dream beyond my circumstances. Today I have the privilege privilege of giving back as a CPS educator. I work in a blended pre-K classroom where I see

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every day that early intervention and individualized support can change the trajectory of a child's life. I see what happens when students receive the resources and attention they deserve. I appreciate that the five furlow days were removed from this budget, but that

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is not enough. This proposal still permanently lays off approximately 2,000 CPS employees. Those are not just numbers on the page. They are teachers, clinicians, pair of professionals, and support staff who provide critical

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support for our students. When we cut staff, we cut opportunities. Educators are stretched thinner. Students receive less attention. And the children who need the most support, especially students with disabilities, are often the ones who feel the impact

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first. The the reality is that there are options. Educators, parents, and community members have been standing up for our students. They have traveled to Springfield, met with legislators, and called on our state leaders to fully fund public education. Some have been in

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this struggle much longer than I have. If our communities can continue showing up for our students, then our leaders must do the same. We need leaders willing to fight for the resources our schools deserve. A budget is more than just numbers on a page. It shows what we value. I urge you to fix this budget or

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vote it down. Call a special session and fight for the funding CPS schools need. Every morning for >> your remarks, >> parents place their trust in us. Today, we're asking you to earn theirs. Thank you. >> Thank you for your comments.

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The next three speakers are from Hide Park Academy. Anise Donald I waited for my paper to come on. Good morning. My name is Zarya. I am a upcoming sixth grader at Parkside and a youth leader with Southside Together. I

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am here because we are organizing for a peace room implanted into Parkside. The peace room is a space where students can express themsel and learn how to manage their emotions. I used to have bad anger issues. Because of this, I used to throw chairs

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and flip tables. when I couldn't control my emotions. Also, I didn't have the best relationships with my teachers. I didn't feel like I had the the space to express those emotions. We came up with an idea for the peace room. If I had a

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peace room that could been that that could been avoided, we have been organizing for a year. This summer organized a community meeting called more than a room. It happened on Tuesday night and we invited principal acitar.

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She didn't show up. Principal Aitar not showing up give us a message a message that she isn't her prioritize the needs of her students. We need the school board to put pressure on principal acitar to speed up the process

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of getting our peace room this year and to show up that we are serious about getting our needs met. Thank you for your comments. The next speaker is Javvante Robinson. Javante Robinson.

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It It's going to start. Oh, okay. Okay. I am a Southside Together youth leader and sophomore at High Park Academy. The reason I started organizing was to give back resources like the peace room in my school. Today, I am here to voice all the violence and to

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have people power and say changes that we need at the school for incoming and returning students. My principal Edinburg kicked out the peace room we had in school after three deaths. And ever since then, we've been feeling like school isn't a safe place anymore. We

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feel like now we don't have a voice or able to be heard about the situation. And we want our principal, Edinburg, to take accountability about her not being there for students when we needed her the most. But clearly, she doesn't show any emotional support or that she cares for the students or at least tried to

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make the school fun for the kids so that we won't be into all kind of drama and trouble. As teens, we felt as though we needed the peace room, a safe area in school during all lunches where we could express and talk about personal things that we couldn't hold in anymore. And

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she didn't make it no better by adding all security guards that don't do nothing but yell and send students to ISS every day. She didn't make her own students feel safe at her school. And we need a better support system as teens and young adults especially in a place

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where students want to st send their kids for education. >> Thank you. >> Thank you for your comments. >> The last speaker from Hide Park is Destiny Primer. Please proceed. >> Good afternoon. My name is Leah Wararez.

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I am a rising senior at H Park Academy and >> the speaker is Destiny Primer. Our adult organizers gave their spots to our youth leaders to speak. >> So, we can't see time to another

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speaker. >> We'll allow it. Thank you. >> Okay. >> I speak or not? Okay. We've been organizing over the summer to fight for our peace room in our school that was shut down after we started

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organizing to be heard. After three students passed away in April and May, everything went downhill. We felt like kids in our school was very upset on how our principal, Dr. Annberg, was handling things such as telling us things but not standing on her word. So, we organized to have a community meeting with High

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Park students. Dr. and the deputy mayor of education car Humphre and Otterman Yansy to talk about how we were feeling but she cancelled it and the network chief canceled it also Edinburgh said she would reschedule it but never did that meeting was never scheduled after

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that she agreed to a student town a studentled town hall of the support of Southside together during the town hall she took the mic trying to defend her name from the students saying she is not the principal we deserve after that town hall she shut down a peace room and kicked out southside sad together and

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other community groups that we that were our safe places to go for students. Dr. Annberg silenced us, so we planned to walk out to fight back for our voices to be heard. We walked out to have a press conference and went to the schoolboard meeting. During that, her and other

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staff members threatened to suspend us. Even though she threatened us, we still organized to fight for what we needed after the traumatic events to feel safe and respected in High Park Academy. This week we had a community meeting to organize a fight for our peace one back. We need your help to hold our principal

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Dr. Annber accountable for silencing us and trying to punish us by taking away our peace room. >> School started to feel draining with the relationships I built in the peace room. I felt like they were the only ones there for me during all the things that were going on. I don't understand how a person doesn't have emotions and they

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abuse their power. >> Rules get in strict when they should make us feel like school's a safe and good place to go to. I shouldn't feel like I'm in a juvenile center. We need a principal that cares for us. We need a principal who doesn't hide stuff from us. We need a principal that gives us the resources we deserve and need. Thank you.

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>> Thank you for your comments. >> That's right, girl. Let's go. >> The next speaker is Alex Rodriguez. Before the High Park students leave, there'll be senior leadership that'll talk to you. Good afternoon. My name is Alex

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Rodriguez. I'm a middle school social studies teacher at Lasal Language Academy and I'm also a CPS parent and I've lived in the city of Chicago my entire life. Today, an important decision rests on your shoulders. Will we invest in our schools, our students, and our communities, or will we continue

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asking our students to do more with less? The truth is our schools cannot continue doing more with less, and neither can our students. This summer, we spoke with educators and school staff from across the district. We heard about students who went without

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a special education teacher for an entire school year. Larger class sizes, programs being cut, classrooms with leaking ceilings and mice, and fewer adults available to support our students every single day. This budget is

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reckless. How can we expect our students to succeed when year after year we continue taking away the supports that they need? Join us. Call for a special session in Springfield. We have this urgency.

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Everyone's talked about it today. We are owed this money. We need you to walk the walk, not just talk the talk. We need you all in Springfield with our union fighting for the revenue that our students are owed. Amend this reckless budget. Instead,

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pass a budget that puts students first and gives every school the resources that our children deserve. and members of the board, >> I want you to understand this. Our communities are paying attention. We will remember this budget. We will speak

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to our colleagues, our neighbors, and our families. And on November 3rd, we will vote for leaders who stand with our students, our communities, and public education. Thank you. >> Thank you for your comments.

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The next speaker is Audrey Phillips who is joining virtually. Please enter star six to unmute. Audrey Phillips, please enter star six to unmute. Good afternoon to the board president and to all his members. Thank you for

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your continued commitment to Chicago students and families. I want to begin by acknowledging the difficulty of the budget decisions you face today. Your work directly shaped the futures of young people across the city.

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As you know, many of you many of our youth are navigating significant barriers, exposure to violence, trauma, disengagement from school, and limited access to supportive services. These challenges don't exist in isolation.

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They accumulate. They compound. And without intervention, they can set a young person on a path that becomes increasingly difficult to redirect. Choose to change works. Choose to change connects young youth with caring adults,

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individualized support, and consistent guidance. C2C is not simply a program. It is a pathway to stability, connection, and long-term opportunity. It provides young people with what research tells us is most pre protective

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trusted relationships, emotional support, and structured opportunity to grow. Cutting funding from C2C would limit the number of youth and families who can access these services at a time

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when the need for prevention and intervention remains significant. Choose to change work. You have 30 seconds. >> Change directly support CPS priorities, students, student well-being,

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student and school engagement and positive youth development. D2C strengthens the condition that allows students to learn, grow, and thrive. As you consider the budget before you, I respectfully urge the board to preserve

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the funding for Choose to change. And thank you for your touch. Thank you for your comments. The next speaker is Kelly Shade. Think I have other people coming. Please proceed. >> A child who is not embraced by the

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village will burn it down to fill its warmth. My name is Kelly Shade. I'm a veteran teacher. I am also a product of Chicago public schools. I wanted to talk briefly about the assumed funds that are also designated funds and I made a poem

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about it and it's called Where's the Money? Attention Chicago. Has anyone seen our money today? If you've seen it, please send it our way. We checked every budget. We checked every file. We

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checked every classroom mile after mile. Maybe it's grabbing popcorn lakeside and sunny. The question we have is where is the money? Chicago public schools. Our teachers showed up. Our students

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came too. We've all kept our promises. Now we're counting on you. Our children know names. They don't count the cost. They only know their favorite teacher got lost. Instead of pink slips, instead of will see, stand up and ask with us.

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Chicago Board of Education. The classrooms are ready. The school bells will ring. But promises are not better than what budgets can bring. Don't pass the problem. Don't pass the blame. Children don't care who's calling whose name. Because children deserve

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more than bad news. Keep your ceremonies and just tell us. Cook County, state of Illinois. If dollars were planned to help every school, >> 30 seconds remaining. >> Thank you. If dollars were planned to help every school, why are our

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classrooms still missing the tools? If help is available, help us understand. Why hasn't it reached the smallest of hands? No more fingerpointing, no more delays. This is far from funny.

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To every student and family, we're sorry your school year is starting this way. You deserve excitement, not questions today. You deserve every teacher who helped you believe. Not another August wondering who's going to leave. We will show up still. We still care. We still

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teach because we know you will be there. So you can paint the image bright and sunny, but the question remains and we know where the money is. It's in Springfield. And we just conclude your remarks. Absolutely. We just hope that uh those funds are released. Thank you.

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>> Thank you for your comments. The next speaker is Dennis Cass. >> Good afternoon um board and and Dr. King actually we worked at Courtney uh years ago in 2017 18 school year and I had six schools that year as a school nurse which was a wild ride and things have

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certainly improved much since then. I'm also a CPS parent of a 2026 uh graduate. Um and and I and I think that one of the things I would just briefly say is that some of the trust that we have as clinicians needs to be rebuilt um with with CPS to be honest with you. Um, we

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meet with the as a press practice committee with OSD and they they allow us to meet four times a year for for 90 minutes and six hours over the course of the school year is not enough. Also, this summer nurses wanted to meet with our uh leadership team and they told us they just didn't have the time to meet with us. So, I think that's something

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that needs to be improved. We're putting out time to meet with people to work together on staffing issues and um we want we want to have have have them meet with us too. It used to be three nurses running the entire district. Now there's 12 managers. So I don't like to understand how we can't find somebody to get together with us. Um so anyway, the

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rest of my message is really is for people the board and people in the audience about what what we can do uh to get more things that we need. Like we didn't win more nurses in 2019 by acting nicely or making arguments. We want it by fighting and that's what we got to do together, I think. And so my message is

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anyone here who who's ready to fight uh for the funding that our schools deserve. And I want to draw the lens back a little bit on the world we live in, as our as our previous speakers have done as well. We live in a world where there are billionaires becoming trillionaires. We live in a world that trillions of dollars are being spent

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bombing a school in Iran, setting people alive, burning alive in Gaza. And so we know there's money in this system, in this society, to give people what they deserve. And what I'm calling people to do is we need to start to fight and organize like we actually intend to get

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the resources that we all create and put them where they belong, which is in the classrooms, in our neighborhoods, in our schools. We have to be for a world that's for workers and students over billionaires and war profiters and anybody who wants to be part of that fight. Let's go. Let's fight together and what we deserve. Thank you.

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>> Thank you for your comments. The next speaker is Wendy Weinearten who is joining us virtually. Please enter star six to unmute. Good afternoon, Superintendent King, President Harden, and members of the board. I'm speaking today on an issue that directly impacts CTS student

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athletes. The sudden mandate prohibiting athletic directors from coaching teams. After months of negotiation, CTU and CPS are on the verge of reaching an agreement for terms for a new full-time athletic director position. But

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yesterday, the CPS office of sports administration declared that a CPU does not agree to a term by tomorrow that would immediately prohibit the long-standing practice of athletic directors serving as coaches. With principal approval, OSA will scrap the

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tenative agreements we have reached thus far and move ahead with its plan to hire solely educational support personnel as athletic directors. This would result in dozens of high schools losing their athletic director, a coach for both a key sports program or they might even

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lose both just days before fall practices begin. This includes the AD and football coach at Simeon, the AD and baseball coach at Whitney Young, the ADM boys basketball coach at Lindlum, the ADM football coach at Amenson, the AD boys basketball and girls flag football

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coach at Dunbar, the ADM baseball coach at Kennedy, the AD boys soccer coach and boys basketball coach at Wares, and more than a dozen other examples. The fact that OSA is either unaware of or is indifferent to this fact is very

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concerning to say the least. If OSA pushes ahead with this plan to only hire educational support personnel as athletic directors for the upcoming school year, more than 50 CPS high schools will lose their athletic directors. As I noted, we are on the

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verge of reaching an agreement on terms for the full-time school athletic director position, and there are a series of compromised proposals the union has made on the issues of AD's coaching that addresses OSA's concerns, but avoid leaving schools and student

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athletes in the lurch. >> ADS are the backbone of school sports, and we step up to coach for one simple reason. There are not enough coaches. Our joint sports committee is trying to work with CPS to remedy the lack of coaches, but this will take time. What

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ABS do when we coach is give student athletes a sense of belonging, [clears throat] a safe community, and a pride in their schools. If you bar ADS from coaching this school year, teams will be cancelled. Our kids will be left with no coach, no team, and nowhere to go.

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Please preserve the vital past practice and keep our teams alive for the upcoming season. On behalf of all CPS athletic directors, I am urging you to please direct OSA not to throw CPS sports into chaos as we head into this school into the new school year in the

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manner in which they are threatening. Thank you very much for your time. >> Thank you for your comments. The next speaker is Marielle Lauraniano. Good afternoon, President Harden, Vice President Veles,

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board members, and Superintendent King. I'm Maria Lariano from the Chicago Public Education Fund, and I don't get tired of saying, a former proud principal in CPS. As you know, in just under a month, more than 600 school teams will welcome more

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than 300,000 scholars. Before that day arrives, I want to recognize school leaders and LSC's for their work this summer. During one of the most difficult budget cycles in memory, they built fiscal year 27

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budgets under real constraints, made hard tradeoffs with their communities, and got them approved on time. That deserves our gratitude. As you complete this process, I want to

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highlight three points. First, stability. The budget this board is approving today honors the work principles and LSC's have already done. School teams made hard tradeoffs and builds plans their

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communities can count on. This budget holds those decisions intact and gives leaders the foundation to open the school year strong. Second, communication and transparency.

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Families and educators value being part of the conversation. The community conversations hosted in schools sitting by the suburbs offered an opportunity to provide just this. Third, long fiscal sa sustainability.

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Over the past two years, principles absorbed many cuts. They can manage this, but they are asking for a future where they don't have to. We've heard many of you and Dr. King highlight the need for a long-term solution, and we

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agree. The fund remains committed to partnering with you on a stable, inclusive, and sustainable path forward. Thank you for your leadership and commitment to Chicago's students.

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>> Thank you for your comments. The next speaker is Allison Jack. Good afternoon. I'm Allison Jack with the Illinois Network of Charter Schools. At Inks, we believe that every Chicago public school student deserves equitable funding and access to the resources they

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need to be successful, whether they're in a district managed school or a charter school. We've been up here saying this for years now. Charter schools receive only 83% of the statutoily required PCTC funding. And given that the PCTC number is actually

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two years old, charters lag even further behind. Charter public schools face the same cost pressures while serving tens of thousands of students, most of whom come from lowincome redu qualify for free or reduced price lunch and our students of color. The vast majority of

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charter schools are in our historically underinvested south and westside communities. The rules are different for charter schools. When district schools are underenrolled, the district ensures they have the resources and staffing they need. Charter schools are on their own. Yet many charter schools are

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significantly outperforming their neighborhood schools and the district. Consider the 2005 AR results for a lane lock charter school on the west side. In ELA, 60% of their students meet or met or

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exceeded proficiency. That's 17%age points higher than CPS and seven points ahead of the state. In math, they have 36.3% students proficient, which is nine points ahead of the of the district and closing in on the state average, which

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is 38%. With a budget exceeding $10 billion, CPS, >> you have 30 seconds remaining >> on ensuring public funding follows students and shouldn't be less because a student or their parents choose a charter school. We don't we want to partner with you to close these

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structural funding gaps and initable funding. On behalf of the 52,000 students in CPS charter schools, we urge this board to be financially fiscally responsible, and adopt realistic revenue assumptions, make sustainable financial

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decisions in a timely manner, and invest equitably in every Chicago public school student. We know you have hard decisions ahead and hope you continue to prioritize students and over the needs and wishes of the grown-ups. Thank you. >> Thank you for your comments.

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The next speaker is Kata Truss. >> Good afternoon, Dr. King. board members, I first want to start off by thanking board member Brown for coming out um well, inviting us out yesterday over in the Austin community to work on building

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uh better schools in the Austin community. We thank you for allowing us to collaborate with you and to come up with solutions for some of the things that we need in our community. That said, I want to stand in support of this budget. I understand that tough times

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are ahead and that this is a difficult decision and we have much work to be done. And as I poured over the budget, I noticed that we don't have the power to generate revenue within the board of education. But one of the things that I want to have us look at is look at

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taking some of the facilities that we have that we own that we are not utilizing and finding a way to make those sources of revenue. I would also implore us to talk with the county, the state as well as the city to make them

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fund the schools. I watched during the migrant crisis the city of Chicago, state of Illinois and Cook County find money to support those ones who are in need. Right now, our schools are in need and we need to them to do the same thing to employ those same details that they

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did to make money available for others to make available money available for our schools. Thank you. >> Thank you for your comments. The next two speakers are from Shy Arts, Phoebe Peterson. Hello, my name is Phoebe Peterson and

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I'm a special education teacher at Chai Arts. Thank you board member Blae for the resolution on the agenda today to restore the staff and programming at Chai Arts. Like school communities across CPS, we have been fighting to keep what is working at our school. We

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accept students from all 50 wards, including novice students with no previous artistic training, a model for equity and arts education, akin to flagship art schools in other major cities like LaGuardia High School in New York. Our fight as Chry Arts teachers,

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however, is bigger than just our beloved school. We know that all students deserve access to highquality arts programming as well as certified bilingual and special education teachers. That is why the CEO and this board need to exert more pressure on our governor to call a special legislative

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session and fully fund schools not only across the district but across the state. We cannot roll over and simply accept Pritskar's claim that the money isn't there. We know the money is there. It's a matter of political will. The budget should be balanced by making the

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wealthy pay their fair share, not by laying off bilingual and special education teachers, violating key provisions of ESSA and the IDEIDA. CPS would not be playing with the law like this if the Trump administration hadn't just dismantled special education oversight. While those in Washington may

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allow this district and our governor to get away with depriving our most vulnerable students of the services they're legally entitled to, the rank and file of this union will not. Step up and tell Pritsker to do the right thing because we are not backing down and vote yes on the resolution for Chai Arts to

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secure the future of equitable arts education in Chicago. Chicago students deserve to be our priority. Don't take away their resources, invest in them. Thank you. Thank you for your comments. The next speaker is Philip Lewendowski.

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Hello, my name is Philip Leandowski. I'm beginning my 12th year at SHIE Arts, a school providing worldclass pre-professional arts training to Chicago's diverse young artists. We understand the difficult financial decisions you have to face. Every school has needs. Every community deserves

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support. The district has cut thousands of uh positions across CPS schools and 70 teaching artists have lost their jobs at Shy Arts. When our students return in three weeks to a diminished arts program, your commitment to preserve Shy

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Arts will have been broken. We are asking you to vote yes on Member Blaze's resolution to invest in our schools and help prevent budget deficits in the future. This resolution does not uh seek a permanent funding commitment. It recognizes the unique funding

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transition facing Shy Arts and provides one year to complete it. It preserves the conservatory while Shy Arts stakeholders uh establish the partnerships and financial support needed to sustain it. It aligns with the district's goal of

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investing in and expanding arts education. So, why should you believe Shy Arts uh can build sustain a sustainable funding model? We're we've already begun the work. Shy Arts has been selected as a sustainable community school, bringing new partnerships and resources for our students. Uh last

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March, our parent uh support organization, raised more than $37,000 in one week. >> We have donors willing to continue their financial support and are pursuing new partnerships. People love this school and they want to invest, but not if it

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is dismantled. >> Shy Arts will bring in more revenue if CPS invests in its preservation. A yes vote today allows Shy Arts to maintain the conservatory while we establish a fiscally sustainable funding model. Give

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us one year. We're already securing their partnerships and funding needed to sustain Shy Arts and expand arts education to all CPS students. Please vote yes to help us succeed. Thank you. >> Thank you for your comments. >> The next speaker is Meg White.

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Thank you and good afternoon. You may remember me as the childless white woman from Albany Park who comes to board meetings to remind you that Halen Elementary is devastatingly overcrowded. Turns out some leaders are actually using people like me to deny our

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neighborhood schools the space that it deserves. Members of Unite for Our Schools Albany Park have been told that the board perceives Hogan as a white privileged school. But here are Hogan's real numbers. 93% minority,

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69% economically disadvantaged, more than a quarter receive IEP or specialized learning services, and almost three4s are uh English language learners. Privileged, predominantly white schools have mental health interventions in private offices, not in

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hallways or closets. Privileged, predominantly white schools store art supplies in a dedicated classroom, not a cart. their dual language certification is not being held hostage due to politics. Here's another false narrative uh that

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CPS is pushing that only rich white people are advocating for Hogan. The president of Unite for Our Schools, Albany Park, is a native Spanish speaker. Our meetings are held in both Spanish and English, and they are not scheduled at 10:30 on a Thursday morning. We plan around the busy

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schedules of working parents and neighbors to strive for equity in our effort to secure muchneeded resources for our neighborhood schools. >> Sadly, that is more than I can say for this board. When we filed an LSC election challenge, we had to agitate

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for translation services so that our Spanish speaking witnesses could testify. Every month, our group's Spanish speaking members register for board meetings, but they never get picked. Yet three out of four of the times my

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white privileged self has registered. I have been asked to speak. Listen, I know I'm privileged. I don't have to shuttle kids to and from school every day. I run my own business so I can elect to set aside a half a day just

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to have two minutes to speak to you. But don't you dare use my privilege as a reason not to give Albany Parks children the space that they deserve. Don't make it exceedingly difficult for non-privileged people to speak up. Act

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surprised when you don't hear from them and use that as a reason not to abide by your own mandate to fund neighborhood schools. Thank you for your time. >> Thank you for your comments. >> The next speaker is Carol

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Hello, my name is Carol Riley and I am a CPS school nurse. I want to address a challenge faced by many CPS clinicians. Clinicians are a group of educators including school nurses, social workers, speech pathologists, school psychologists, occupational therapists,

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and physical therapists. As citywide employees, clinicians are assigned to schools by management. However, clinicians can be removed from their school assignments at any time without explanation, even when neither the clinician nor the principal has

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requested a transfer. When clinicians seek clarification, they are often told only that they are city-wide employees and can be moved as needed. There is current there is currently no transparent allocation formula for clinician assignments

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despite state requirements for transparency. Clinicians believe continuity of care should be a primary consideration in assignment decisions. Nearly 250 nurses signed a petition this summer emphasizing the importance of

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maintaining consistent support for students. This petition was sent to nursing management and Dr. King. Continue continuity of care means providing consistent, coordinated, and uninterrupted support throughout a student's years at a school. We are

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long-term service providers. Clinicians build trusting relationships with students, families, and staff, gaining deep understanding of students needs. When clinicians are reassigned without clearification, >> students lose trusted providers and

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progress can be disrupted while new relationships are established. These changes affect not only students, but also parents, school staff, and the broader school community. We are asking Dr. King to require clinician management to implement transparent assignment

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formulas that prioritize continuity of care for students. I also urge the b the board and Dr. King to advocate for increased CPS funding. Students need you to advocate advocate in Springfield, in

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city hall, and in the media. Appropriate full funding, not austerity measures, is what best serves CPS students and schools. CBS has been underfunded for decades. We need to work on getting more money, not accepting and implementing

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cuts. Thank you very much. >> Thank you for your comments. The next speaker is Michael Alcantar, who is joining us virtually. Please enter star six to unmute. Good afternoon, board members in Chicago public schools

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community. My name is Michael Alcantar, a former CPS employee, and I am asking the board to improve accountability, transparency, and oversight with Chicago public schools. There are ongoing

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concerns regarding CPS departments not consistently following their own policies and procedures. I have witnessed repeated failures to follow CPS policies and procedures that can result in employees losing wages, benefits, and employee opport employment opportunities.

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Employees should not be financially harmed because departments fail to properly implement policies or provide accurate information about employee rights and procedures. I also ask the board to review how CPS handles employee compensation. Employees

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should receive fair consideration for their prior experience, qualifications, and years of relevant relevant service when determining pay. Policies regarding experience-based compensation should be consistently applied to ensure employees

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with similar qualifications are fairly treated. I am also concerned about the effectiveness of the current oversight systems including Chicago public school CEO's office and the board of education's office. If the including

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also the office of inspector general if the office of inspector general does not have the resources to address all mitted concerns that should be a process there should be >> 30 seconds remaining >> serious complaints are referred to appropriate agencies rather than

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remaining unresolved accountability requires that concerns receive a meaningful review. Finally, I ask the board to improve communication and access with the public. The board has provided opportunities for community engagement, including ways for members

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to speak with the public to speak with board members and representatives. If they are not consistently available or honored, the public trust will be affected. Thank you for your time. >> Thank you for your comments. The next speaker is Tanisha Higgins.

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Good afternoon. My name is Tanisha Higgins. I am a CPS middle school math teacher at Stag Elementary. I'm a CPS graduate and I'm a parent of two CPS students. Today, I'm asking you to vote no on this budget as it stands. A budget is more than numbers on a spreadsheet.

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It's a statement of our priorities. And this budget tells our students that the adults in charge are willing to balance the books on their backs. At least 2,000 positions are being eliminated. Those aren't just jobs. They are relationships, mentors,

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interventionists, counselors, coaches, and the adults who help children succeed each and every day. As a math teacher, I know the importance of what I teach, but I also know the importance of every other subject and program that our students encounter. I see the student

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who discovers art, confidence in art. The child who feels finally feels like they're be belonging in music. The athlete who comes to a school because of a coach that believes in them. And a student who finds healing through a counselor. Every adult in every program

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matters. When we cut teachers, we cut opportunities. We cut support staff. We cut student success. And when we cut resources, it is our children who pay the price. To make matters worse, neighboring states like Wisconsin and potentially Michigan

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are actively recruiting the very educators we're preparing to displace. >> At a time when schools across the country are struggling to retain qualified teachers, why would Chicago choose to push ours away? >> Once great educators leave, they don't

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always come back. And our students are the ones who lose. Our students deserve a budget that invests in them, not one that asks them to sacrifice again and again. I urge you to reject this proposal and return with a budget that protects the people and programs our children's need to thrive because every

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budget is a moral con a moral contract a document a history and history will remember whether we choose to invest in our children or abandon them and now is the time you get to decide which part of history you want to be on. >> Thank you for your comments.

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The next speaker is James Clark. My name is Dr. James Clark and I teach at Bonito Wararez Community Academy. Board member Lopez, it's always great to see you again. My sister Tanisha said it right. A budget is a moral document. Each of you as a member of this board

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have chosen to bear the responsibility of the public's trust to do right by our community on a moral level. A budget is a moral document because it expresses the values of an institution. So the question is what do you value?

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You know full well that we need adequately funded schools. The fact that CEO King and her staff have failed to create an adequate budget does not absolve the board of the responsibility to ensure an adequate public education for all of our students. The CEO and her

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staff have given you an inadequate budget featuring thousands of position cuts. That is not stability. That is thousands of relationships broken between staff and students. The CEO has demonstrated this week that it is not too late to change the budget

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by giving you revisions just within the last 48 hours. Now, Illinois House Speaker Chris Welch has committed 110% to increasing state funding before the calendar year ends, as reported yesterday in the Chicago Tribune. It is not too late to fix this

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budget. In closing, I want to remind each of you and to reiterate that your work on this board is a matter of the public trust. It is your duty to the public that gives you the authority to make the moral

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decision that faces you today. Today, you are called upon as a representative of our community to express our shared values. I will also remind you that the community is watching and it is members of the community who will have the moral decision to make in November to judge

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whether you've risen to this moment or not. Thank you for your time. >> Thank you for your comments. >> The next speaker is Brendan Morardi. Good afternoon board members. My name is Brendan Morari and I am a high school history teacher. I had my position cut

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from Julian last year where I was the third US history teacher that school year. Students were asking me if I would stay and it broke my heart when I found out from my principal that I wouldn't be able to keep the promise I had made to them. Almost 2,000 educators are going

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to be in the same position this August if you do not fix this budget. Illinois is not broke. They are simply refusing to do what they could. Trump's tax cuts put billions of dollars into the pockets of our richest residents while Medicaid,

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SNAP, and special education funding in our state has been cut. We could tax the rich to fully fund our schools, and they could still enjoy a net tax cut. Massachusetts is in their third year with the millionaire's tax and their millionaire population has grown by 39%

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since the search charge was passed. Meanwhile, workingclass parents are moving out of Chicago because their neighborhood schools are not properly funded. Board member Levas, 69 educators have been cut from school district schools in district 3B.

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Board member Lopez, 76 educators have been cut from schools in district 7B. Board member Bole, 63 educators have been cut from schools in District 9B. I could keep going, but if these layoffs are not reversed, how do you think

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parents in your school district are going to vote in November? Over,00 educators were laid off across the city. And this number doesn't even include the seeks, food prep staff, and assistant principles help create the conditions

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necessary for learning. This is not a done deal. You can call up state legislators and write letters to the editor for our newspapers to demand that Springfield meet its obligations under state law to provide the evidence-based

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funding that CPS needs. Partner with us to demand that the governor of Pritsker call a special session to tax the rich and fully fund our schools. You can start by voting to amend or reject this budget because students and workers

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deserve more. >> Thank you for your comments. The next speaker is Tena Brousard. Good afternoon. My name is Tena Brousard and I am a former graduate of Chicago public school and a Chicago public

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school educator with more than 20 years of experience and a passionate advocate for our students and our youngest learners. I appreciate Dr. King's decision to amend the proposed budget by removing furlow days, but the budget is still inadequate for meeting my students

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needs. It continues to rely on layoffs and the possibility of mid-year cuts that will cause lasting harm to our students and our schools. The board of education now has the opportunity and the responsibility to finish the

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assignment. You have already shown that changes can be made. Now, I urge you to take this next step by eliminating layoffs and mere cuts and by anticipating the funding owed to our schools by the state of Illinois. Every

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layoff represents more than a position. We are not only losing positions, we are losing trusted adults and the relationships that have been built over years. Those relationships are the foundation of student success. They

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create stability, foster trust, and help children feel safe, supported, and ready to learn. When those relationships are broken, the impact on students extend the classroom. At the same time, we cannot ignore the

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disparities that continue to exist across CPS. Many neighborhood schools and early childhood programs still lack the staffing, instructional resources, and enrichment opportunities, and student supports their children deserve. The quality of the child of a child's education should never depend on their

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zip code or the school they attend. Equity is not about taking opportunities away from one school to give them to another. It is about ensuring that every child, regardless of where they live, has access to the resources, relationships, and opportunities they need to succeed.

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I respectfully ask this board to only pass a budget that protects our educators, invest in neighborhood schools and early childhood programs, and truly put students first. Thank you. >> Thank you for your comments.

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>> The next speaker is Ashley Harris. All right. Good afternoon. My name is Ashley Harris and I'm going to into my seventh year as an educator and a national board certified one at that. However, I'm a lifelong CPS student. Every year when difficult financial decisions are made, somehow it's never

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the people furthest away from our children who are expected to sacrifice. Instead, it's the trusted adults our students rely on who are cut. Children don't understand line items. They understand the people who show up for them. So, I want to thank the board members who have stood firm and saying no to dismantling and yes to rebuilding

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and repairing public education by standing with us at Cook County, riding the bus to Springfield, and showing up alongside the communities. This is what representation looks like. Public office isn't about just casting votes. It's about showing up before the vote is ever cast. Unfortunately, not everyone has

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chosen that path. Some of the leaders entrusted with Steuart in public education have accepted millions of dollars from interest tied to privatization and the largest mass school closure in our nation's history. Something this budget will lead to. Again, these are not political

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donations. They're investments in a vision of public education that Chicago has already seen the consequences of. And when leaders align themselves with those same interests, our communities have every right to question whose vision they're advancing and whether they're willing to dismantle us, too. Imagine if those same financial

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investments had been authentically invested in our students, our neighborhoods, and our communities, coupled with you all's political will to put pressure on the governor to give what is owed. Maybe we wouldn't be having this budget deficit conversation at all. But every year, we're forced to have it. And every year, you all are

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dividing the communities against teachers. We're refusing to accept that educators deserve fair contracts and our students deserve fully funded schools. Stop dividing us and stop fighting with us for the funding our children are owed. Stop using fear to convince this city that investing in educators comes

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at the expense of investing in children. It doesn't. Our children deserve both. For years, educators have carried this district through crisis after crisis. And if this district is truly in crisis, then lead like it. Leave no tool on the table. Push for a special session and

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then show up to that special session. Demand every dollar our students are owed. Stop managing scarcity and start fighting for abundance. Then come back with a budget that reflects the courage our children deserve. A budget that invests in children instead of asking them and the people who love them, your

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true superheroes, which are educators, to continue paying the price. Thank you all. >> Thank you for your comments. The next speaker is Tamara Fushcher who is joining us virtually. Please enter star six to unmute.

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Hello. Uh my name is Tamara Fuche. I live close to Hogan Elementary and I'm a member of 33rd Ward Working Families, which is a independent political organization that advocates for our community. I and a bunch of us uh a bunch of community members and parents and teachers have been advocating for

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relief from overcrowding in Hogan. The board CPS leadership and the community knows that this is a severe issue in the midst of budget cuts. I know that this doesn't feel nearly as pressing as all the other issues we've addressed today, but this is an easy win for CPS. The

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space for overflow is one block away on Leland. There's an empty third floor that has been vacated by a Spir after they left the city high and dry. Perhaps adult egos are giving an an excuse to ignore children's needs, but

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that should literally never be the case. There's no reason why two school communities need to be at odds with each other over student needs. We must prioritize the needs of the kids first. We have been doing our part in educating board members. Thank you, Norma, Rio,

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Sarah, for your time with us late late last night. I want to encourage the rest of the board to have courage and not fall into the old neoliberal traps of limiting yourself in your advocacy. We are looking for you to advocate for us and loudly. You are representing people, not buildings. Speaking of representing

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people, we've been in front of Alderwoman Rosanna Rodriguez Sanchez and State Senator Guzman. Um, they know how loud parents and community are about this issue and Hogan has been speaking out. You have 30 seconds remaining. at the board board of education meetings for months and one thing that I've

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noticed like Meg said earlier is that only the English- speakaking white parents and then me I'm black have been chosen. We know that our Latinade parents have tried to speak at a multitude of board meetings every time they put in a speak they're never picked. So I don't know what kind of narrative is trying to be spun but it's

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absurd. At the budget hearing sessions a few weeks ago Dr. King committed to speak to Hogan parents and community members. We're asking you to hold yourself to that and come speak to us and come talk to North River parents too. We support both schools and we want you to do that as well. So, Dr. King, we invite you to come hear from our

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community directly so that you can take this lowhanging fruit, call it a win and move on. Thank you. >> Thank you for your comments. The last speaker from the speakers list is Grace Mahon Mahomie.

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My name is Grace Mahoney and last fall I began my journey as a first year teacher in CPS. As a fourth generation educator, I received plenty of advice and caution. Only do it if you love it and you serve your students and community and no one else. Unfortunately, no amount of love for our students can make up for the

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impact of continuous underfunding of our schools. So, I'm here to ask you to reject a budget that does not serve our students. With a collective near 200 years in Illinois education, including CPS, scandalridden suburbs, and impoverished rural areas, you'd think there wouldn't be much I could share

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with my family that would surprise them. However, when I tell them the experiences my students have, or rather are not afforded, their jaws drop. Everyone here should be embarrassed that Chicago students go without programs like art class, sports, clubs, and that this budget tells more students across

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the city that they don't deserve access to these programs that are integral to growing up as happy, cooperative citizens. The lack of opportunity hurts our students, but it's the destruction of relationships that is devastating. As I was warned, my first year teaching was far and away the most difficult thing

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I've ever done. >> [clears throat] >> Like my fifth graders, I walked into a new place full of unfamiliar people where I had so much to learn. Like my fifth graders, my lifeline during this time became my fellow teachers. I watched them empower, uplift, and completely transform our most discouraged and timid students into

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passionate, confident, and excited scholars. Despite the countless hours of care poured into their cherished positions, budget cuts meant our year ended in goodbyes through tears instead of see you next years. Almost half of early career teachers leave within their first 5 years.

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>> 30 seconds remaining. >> Now the ones who love it through the stress and the heartache are pushed out as the messages sent that we are expendable and our students do not deserve educators who are invested in them along with everything else they are stripped of. Reasonable class sizes, art, sports, consistency, and the bare

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minimum funding for their schools. It is not too late to change the narrative. Show our students how much you care. There should be no hesitation to reject this budget and join CTU in calling for attacks on billionaires for our children and our future. >> Thank you for your comments.

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>> President Hard Harden, we also have several elected officials who would like to address the board. We'll begin with Senator Robert Martwick Jr. from the 10th district who is here in person. Good afternoon, President Harden and

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members of the board of education. Uh despite the gravity of the circumstances of today, uh I will tell you that it is an honor to be here with you today and it is a a personal pleasure to see this board operating

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uh as truly an accountable and representative board to the constituents that it serves. Um, today I I appear before you and it is the first time that I've taken an opportunity to address you since the creation of this board. Um, and that is

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by design. I I do not wish to tell you how to do your jobs. Um, I am happy that you are here and that you can be responsive to your constituents. Um, and I look forward to the growth of this board, uh, and and as you continue

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to find your place in in this amazing new journey that you have as members of this board of education. Um, but I am here today as an elected official. Um, I am here today as a constituent of this district and a

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taxpayer. I'm here as the parent of two CPS students. and I wish to address you on from all three perspectives um because they are all important to me. Um I begin with an apology.

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Um I have lived through some very very difficult years in Springfield where we've had to deal with some very difficult budgets. I do not envy the position that you are in today. My apology is that we don't do enough in

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Springfield. Um, I concur with every speaker who has spoke before and has called for more from Springfield. Um, but to that end, I wish to assure you that I am not alone in fighting for more

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resources, not just for CPS, but for every school district in this state where a child does not have the education educational resources that they deserve and that they are frankly entitled to receive.

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While uh when I came into office in 2013, I had seen the devastation of the cuts that we made when we prrated is a nice way of saying we prorrated our educational spending to deal with the financial crisis that we were dealing

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with in Springfield. That that proration started before I came into office. But I saw the devastation as Illinois slipped to dead last in the country in terms of funding education. I saw how it not only affected in in the most deeply personal

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way the education that our children were receiving and and the experience that they would have at schools, but the rippling effect that it had throughout the those communities, be it economic development, crime, property values, as our schools slipped,

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as pressure mounted on local taxes, people were squeezed out of their homes with rising property taxes. It was the wrong thing to do. We have fought and we have made progress. But until we reach adequacy

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at a minimum, we are failing. And that failure is not limited to Springfield. We are decision makers in Springfield. We are elected officials just as you are. But that burden falls on everyone.

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It falls on Springfield for not having the courage to fix our revenue system and raise the revenues to fund properly fund education, but it falls on everyone for not joining that fight and that advocacy to get that across the finish line.

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Uh there are many dedicated leaders in Springfield who fight as I do for educational resources for our children, but as we're all aware, apparently we haven't done enough.

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Apparently, we can't get it across the finish line. Now, I as I hope you are, am encouraged because leadership has said we need to do more. And that's wonderful. That is good news

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because there are times throughout this advocacy where you wonder if we are just falling on deaf ears. But it would appear that we now have an opportunity. >> You have 30 seconds remaining. >> And I will fight and I ask you to fight

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and to join me in that fight. We will find those resources. We must do it together. Um it is important. Everything that these people have said is has been I've listened to it. I've taken in heart as I know you have and we

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need to fix this sooner than later. The pace that it's being done at is not acceptable. Every day that a child does not have the resources that they needed to succeed is a day that we all collectively fail. I will work with you. I hope you will come down and work with me. Let's get this done. Thank you.

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>> Thank you for your comments. The next elected official is Cook County Commissioner Tara Stamps from the first district. It's a long morning. All right. Good. Well, it's afternoon. It started

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off good morning. Um but good afternoon. um members um the CEO, educators, parents and students and members of the public. My name is Tara Stamps and I proudly serve as Cook County Commissioner of the First District. But

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before I was a commissioner and long before I entered elected office, I was and still am a public school teacher. 25 years later, I still wear my teacher hat every single day. But this morning

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02:48:55.439 --> 02:49:11.920
or this afternoon, I want to begin with gratitude because this day, this opportunity represents something generations of Chicagoans have fought to achieve. For the first time in our city's history, we now have an elected representative school board. That did

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not happen because power willingly surrendered itself. It happened because ordinary people organized. It happened because parents refused to give up. It happened because community organizations stayed in the fight. It happened because

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education advocates never stopped believing that democracy belongs to public education. And yes, it happened because the Chicago Teachers Union stood shouldertosh shoulder with elected officials and communities across this

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city to defend and expand democracy. So before we discuss or I discuss one moment of this budget, I want to say thank you. Thank you to CTU. Thank you to every parent. Thank you to every organizer. Thank you to every advocate who knocked

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doors, testified, marched, organized, meeting, built coalition, and refused to let the issue die and made this moment possible so that you all could be elected representative school board members and have this victory. But the elected board is not the finish line. It's the starting line. And that brings

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me to why I'm really here. I'm here because I'm deeply concerned about a budget that appears to balance the budget again on the backs of teachers, school employees, and ultimately our children. We have we we've become far too comfortable asking educators to

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absorb the consequences of political failure. We've become far too comfortable with asking children to wait while adults debate whether they deserve the fully funded schools that they were promised. That cannot be the answer. You all, as

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Cook County Commissioner, I sit in board meetings where municipalities, libraries, park districts, villages, school districts, and other taxing bodies come before us and demand what they are legally owed. I have watched elected officials advocate unapologetically for their residents. I

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have watched people insist that government meet its obligation. That is democracy. During the property tax crisis, I watched community organizations and the Chicago Teachers Union, parents, commissioners, committed members of the Cook Board, Cook County Board of Commissioners petition the Cook

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County Treasurer to release the money that rightfully belonged to Chicago public schools. People organized, people advocated, people demanded action. again. CTU showed up, community showed up, parents showed up, commissioners showed up, and

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or but respectfully, I have not consistently seen elected leadership of the Chicago public schools participate in that same democratic practice with the same urgency. If I had my teacher hat on, which

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02:51:52.000 --> 02:52:07.840
truthfully I always do, I would probably tell this board sometime something my students have heard many times. Well, maybe not this way, but you get it. It looks like CTU is doing your homework

538
02:52:07.840 --> 02:52:22.640
and you're putting your name on the paper. So, and as a teacher, I would have had to write one comment across that assignment. Show your work. Show your advocacy. Show your courage.

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Show your willingness to fight for every single dollar our children deserve. Because I don't want an elective representative school board that simply inherits the bad habits of an appointed board. WE DID NOT FIGHT for elections just to preserve the status quo. And

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whenever I say fight, I always think, and you don't have to answer this right now, I'm going to give you some wait time. That's a teacher thing. So those who know no. So this is the wait time. Where were you when we were fighting to keep these schools open? Where were you

541
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when we were fighting for an elected representative school board? Where were you? So this moment demands greater transparency, greater accountability, greater courage, greater advocacy, and we expect representatives who publicly demand what our children are old to don't be quiet and accept what they are

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given. If the only thing that change is how you get the seat, then you have missed the entire moment. I've spent 25 years teaching children that when something is wrong, you don't simply complain about it. You organize, you advocate, you build coalition, and you change it. So, I'm asking the board to

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model the very civic engagement we hope our students learn in classrooms. Don't wait for CTU to raise their hand and raise the alarm. Don't wait for parents to organize an at rally. Don't wait for community organizations to write a press

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release. lead organize the cake fight and demand that the state fully fund the evidence-based formula as promised as law. Demand that Springfield honor its commitment to Chicago's children. Demand

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the dollars we are owed. Demand progressive revenue. Demand solutions. Demand that the billionaires put babies before billionaires. That they put our children before politics. demand that the wealthiest pay their fair share and instead of balancing the budgets on the

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backs of working people, educators, and our children, fight up, not down, because children and teachers are not the problem. >> Thank you for your comments. >> The next elected official is Alderman

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02:54:29.439 --> 02:55:05.600
Byron Siko Lopez from the 25th Ward. Good afternoon dear members of the board. Dr. King, the many teachers and constituents, parents who are here today

548
02:55:05.600 --> 02:55:21.279
demanding better. I think it is heartbreaking to see the headlines time after time. I just read a few. Latino high schools

549
02:55:21.279 --> 02:55:41.200
getting cuts that are going to affect them hard by losing teachers. Milwaukee looking to hire laid off CPS teachers. I mean, this is the irony

550
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that we hear oftent times, and I'm glad to see more elected officials today. I'm glad to see Senator Marwitz and K County, my sister, K County Commissioner Tara Stamps.

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And I tell you that today we need you more than ever. Many of us collected petitions fought hard so that we have an elected school board but not to listen to Lincolnwood base billionaire Michael Sachs.

552
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We did not campaign to have billionaires telling our parents what's possible. What is Lincolnwood based billionaire Michael Sachs have a stake in this? As a father of triplets in Chicago

553
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public schools, I tell you that our parents today sadly do not have prek, full day prek for the most part. Imagine working parents that are asking the bare minimum, do I

554
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have to choose between working or having the ability to send my kids to school? Yet we have billionaires who have thousands and thousands of dollars to pour in elections, we cannot have democracy and billionaires at the same time.

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Billionaires are the problem. And I tell you that when we see in other states like Wisconsin, we're going to have a new governor in Wisconsin that actually is going to win. Franchesca Hol is going to win on the same premise that we've been demanding for years here in

556
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Illinois. tax the millionaires. We have over h over over a 100,000 millionaires who have moved to the city of Chicago. Lincolnwood based billionaire Michael Sachs believes that the city is only for

557
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the rich and powerful and they're taking us down systemically. The same people who close the schools in the poorest areas of the city of Chicago now tell us that this is a moral budget. ALDERMAN THAT ARE CALLING MANY of you telling you that this balanced budget is

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okay to pass that you can count on the city. Where is the state in all of this? And mayor 3% of these millionaires can make sure that our kids have prek that we have decent dignified food after

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school program. We are losing filters. We're losing parents. We're losing teachers. 2,000 teachers. You cannot pass this budget like this. You cannot fail our parents like this. I hear politicians time after TIME TELL US

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THAT THEY'RE FIGHTING TRUMP everywhere and this is it. This is how we fighting Trump. We need you. I see a senator here telling us we can do better. We have a C county commissioner telling

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us we can do better. As a city council, I told you, don't you trust those aldermen who blew up our budget by $130 million and are putting a risk another 2,000 city workers because they listen to the same billionaire pitching us against each other. Who

562
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suffers but our children? Who suffer but OUR PARENTS WHO SUFFER BY THE SAME TEACHERS and staff THAT EVERY DAY WELCOME our kids THAT EVERY DAY DESPITE OF THE LACK OF FUNDING AND support are there ARE SHOWING UP EVERY day and we

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going to lay them off. No, this is it. You can count on us to go to Springfield. If the if the House and the Senate can do a veto session for the Chicago Bears,

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I tell you, WE SURE AS HELL KNOW THAT WE CAN DO A VETO SESSION FOR OUR CHILDREN IN CHICAGO BECAUSE IT'S ABOUT TIME. FOR EVERY DOLLAR THAT WE PAY THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, WE GET 75 cents back. THE INEQUITY WAY TOO LONG. THE PROMISES,

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02:59:51.279 --> 03:00:07.200
EMPTY PROMISES, NEVER DELIVERING. GOVERNOR PRRISKER, the money IS THERE. THE MONEY ACTUALLY LAYS WITH YOUR OWN FAMILY. A BILLIONAIRE FAMILY. YOUR FAMILY ALSO HAS TO TAKE AND PAY THE FAIR SHARE. JUST LIKE MANY OF US, WE PAY

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the fair share. Treat Chicago THE WAY THAT YOU SAY YOU DO. BRAGGING ABOUT THE GAINS that the teachers have made, that the teachers have negotiated. DON'T FILL YOUR MOUTH WITH EMPTY PLATITUDES. DELIVER you have the POWER A

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MILLIONAIRE TAX will gave those funds to make sure that we don't have a deficit and once and for all we cheat we treat our children with the dignity OF RESPECT THAT EVERY CHILD LACKING LING Lincolnwood we DESERVE IN CHICAGO LINGUAL MET WE DESERVE IN CHICAGO WE

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DESERVE BETTER GOVERNOR PRRISKER DO BETTER AND WE WOULD YOU COUNT ON US I'LL BE HERE AS WE DONE last week EVERY DAY UNTIL WE PASS A MORAL BUDGET THIS BUDGET IS FAILING our children that ARE BEING CHASED BY DEAD SQUATS THAT

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HAVE SEEN THE SEPARATION OF FAMILIES, THE TRAUMA. YOU KNOW WHERE THE KIDS HAVE THE only meal in our schools. YOU KNOW WHERE THEY GET TREATMENT IN OUR SCHOOLS. YOU KNOW WHERE THEY GET SOME LOVE AND CARE IN OUR SCHOOLS. Governor Prrisker, I'm waiting for that call, too.

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>> I'm waiting for that call. >> Marks. >> We're going to find you. We're going to FIND HIM IN SPRINGFIELD or anywhere. WE'RE GOING TO FIND YOU, GOVERNOR. WE NEED THOSE MILLIONAIRES TO PAY THE FAIR SHARE. WE'RE GOING TO FIND YOU. SISTER, PLEASE PASS AN AMENDMENT. THIS IS IMMORAL. THANK YOU SO MUCH.

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>> President Harden, this concludes public participation. >> Thank you. We'll now move into a short recess. Board member Kuster, you have motion mo1. >> Yes. I move we take a two-hour recess. >> I I begrudgingly second the motion.

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>> We'll now proceed with the electronic voting. Board members, please cast your vote. Where? The voting is closed. >> The eyes have it. 11 eyes, seven nays, and zero abstensions.

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We'll now go into a recess. The meeting of board of education is reconvened. We'll now proceed with the business portion of the meeting. Dr. King, we're ready for your presentation. Thank you, President Harden. The first uh presentation will be the whole school

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safety update by Chief uh Shableski. As Chief Shableski approaches the podium, I do want to recognize that board member Pope has joined the meeting virtually as of 3:42 p.m. This going high enough for me?

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All right. So, good afternoon, President Harden, board members of the members of the board, and CEO, Dr. King. Uh, my name is Ronan Shabbaski. I'm the chief of safety and security uh for CPS. Um so every child deserves to walk into

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school knowing they are safe. Not only safe from physical harm, but safe to learn, safe to ask questions, safe to make mistakes, and safe to build meaningful relationships with the adults around them. That is the vision of whole school safety. Today we are providing an

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update on how we are moving that vision from policy to practice. The central message is simple. Safety is everyone's responsibility. Old school safety is not only a security initiative is a cultural transformation in how an entire school community

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understands, creates, and sustains safety. The whole school safety framework is built on three interconnected pillars. Physical safety, emotional safety, and relational trust. Physical safety means that school leaders and staff are prepared to prevent and respond to

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threats, neighborhood incidents, as well as emergencies. Emotional safety means students and staff feel secure expressing themselves, seeking help, taking appropriate risks, and fully participating in learning. Relational trust means that the

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relationships among students, families, educators, administrators, security personnel, and staff are built on mutual respect and confidence. Throughout my career, I've learned that the safest schools are not defined by one resource or one position. They are

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schools where adults work together, students are known, concerns are recognized early, and people trust one another enough to ask for help. That is why all three pillars matter and why safety belongs to all of us. The purpose of the policy is to support

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the holistic safety, health, and well-being of every student. It builds on existing district uh work and wellness, social emotional learning, mental health, and healing. It also maintains the importance of strong partnerships with city agencies that

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provide critical support to our schools. Whole school safety does not lessen the importance of physical protection, emergency preparedness, or professional security. It broadens the work by recognizing that prevention, belonging, wellness, and trusted relationships are

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also essential safety strategies. In other words, this policy does not transfer responsibility from one group to another. It expands responsibility so that every part of the school community understands its own role. For the policy to have meaning, it must

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change practice. Our implementation is therefore focused on four critical components. First, we are supporting school leaders and school communities through training tools and technical assistance as well as examples of effective practice. Second, we are building ongoing

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community engagement with particular emphasis on the voices of students, parents, and those most affected by school safety decisions. Third, we are strengthening transparency and success tracking to schools can measure uh progress, monitor needs, and

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make adjustments. And fourth, we are building sustainability by aligning whole school safety with systems schools already to use, including culture and climate teams and the continuous improvement work plan process. The goal is not to create one

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more compliance requirement. The goal is to build lasting ownership. [clears throat] Whole school safety is not separate from the district's academic and student support priorities. It helps create the conditions those priorities require.

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Students learn best when they feel connected, supported, affirmed, and valued. A student who trusts the adults in the building is more likely to attend, participate, report a concern, accept support, and remain engaged in school.

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That is why this work aligns with our commitments to the whole child. equity, academic excellence, student centered decision-making, and community partnership. Separate safety is not separate from learning. Safety is a

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condition for learning. The research highlighted here reinforces the value of safe and supportive environments, stable adult relationships, and targeted resources. A caring, mentor-like adult can have a

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profound effect on a child's well-being. School connectedness can protect young people from emotional distress and other harmful outcomes. And strong social and emotional skills can help students manage stress, solve problems, regulate emotions, and develop healthy

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relationships. This is where whole school safety becomes visible in every everyday moments. A lunchroom worker who notices a student is unusually quiet. A security officer who knows every student by name. a teacher who creates a space for a

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student to ask for help or a parent who shares information before a concern escalates. These actions may not sound like traditional security measures, but they are key to prevention and prevention is one of the most powerful forms of safety.

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[clears throat] We are committed to learning as we implement this work. Our research partnership with the University of Chicago consortium examines the removal of school resource officers, how stakeholders understand whole school safety, what schools include in their

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plans, how reinvestment funds have been used, and how schools school communities experience the process. This partnership helps us move beyond assumptions. It gives us evidence about what is working, where implementation is

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uneven, and where schools need additional support. A cultural transformation cannot be managed by intention alone. It requires honest feedback, careful measurement, and willingness to improve. The stakeholder recommendations are

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clear. School communities want greater transparency about decisions, plans, progress, outcomes, and effective practices. They want strong collaboration among schools. And they want students, parents, and community members to have meaningful roles in

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decision-making and implementation. They also want us to continue reflecting to collect feedback regularly, expand these conversations across the district, and ensure that relationship among CPS, CPD, schools, and communities remain productive.

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The common thread is shared ownership. Stakeholders are not asking to stand outside the work and receive updates. They're asking to help shape the work. That is exactly what we mean when we say safety is everyone's responsibility. Another

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important part of implementation is alignment. Schools should not experience physical safety, healing centered practices, mental health, suicide prevention, student success, an equitable equitable discipline as separate or competing initiatives. Whole

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school safety creates a common structure that connects these efforts around the needs of the student. This alignment also supports our broader district goals, including reducing the disproportionate use of exclusionary practices for black students and students with disabilities.

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When our policies and strategies reinforce one another, schools can respond more consistently and focus less on navigating separate systems. This work has been intentionally phased because meaningful culture change takes time. The initial implementation began with

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the transition away from the SRO program and the development of alternative whole school safety supports. It then moved into baseline assessments, the review and refinement of school plans and tiered support based on student and school needs.

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Over time, schools are establishing whole school safety committees, developing plans, expanding student voice, and connecting security officer allocations to the broader framework. The important point is that implementation is not defined by whether a school has completed a document. It is

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defined by whether the school has built the relationships, structures, and habits needed to continuously identify and address safety needs. Again, the goal is not compliance. The goal is [snorts] ownership. The next three years will move schools

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through a cycle of assessment, action, reflection, and improvement. Schools will convene whole school safety committees, assess practices across the three pillars, identify supports and resources, track those actions in their

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plans, and revisit the work each year. By the school year 2030, whole school safety planning will be fully integrated into each school's continuous improvement work plan. High schools will have student voice committees. Security offer officer allocations will be budgeted through the whole school safety

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and limitation pro process. that integration matters. Old school safety should not live in a binder or occur only when there is an incident. It should become part of how schools plan, make decisions, allocate resources, engage families, and support students

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every day. That is how policy becomes practice and how practice becomes culture. Throughout this presentation, I've discussed the framework, the policy, the research, and the implementation process. But whole school safety will not succeed simply because central

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office establishes a framework. It will succeed when students feel heard. Parents know their voices matter and community organizations are welcomed as trusted partners. Students and families are not simply recipients of school safety decisions. They are experts in their own

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experiences and they must be co-creators of the solutions. I have shared what this work means from the district and implementation perspective. It's now important that you hear what it means to the people this work is intended to serve. At this time, I would like to turn the presentation

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over to our community partners who will share perspectives of parents and students and discuss why their engagement is essential to whole school safety. I'd also like to have our whole school safety steering committee to stand up who've been supporting this over the last several years. So, you can see the faces of those who've been

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supporting this work. Um, hello. My name is Lisa Russell. Thank you. Um, I am a parent um that leaves with Kofi Power Pack Illinois. So um

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and I'm from the west side [laughter] branch. Uh I definitely proud and represent that. But um for decades power pack parents have um advocated to reduce um suspension uh the primitive

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discipline um and polices in schools and instead implement restorative justice. Um the whole school safety is a milestone that builds on this legacy.

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My personal connection to this education in CPS is deep. I am a part of three decades of um educators in the CPS system as well as um have went and was educated by CPS.

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Now, four of my so it's my mother, myself, and now four out of four of my children, three are giving back into the district and their own communities. Um, with that being said, um,

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as my children was giving back, I also have three grandchildren that that's in the school system now. Um my experience came with my two youngest sons who um when we lost my husband,

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their dad um it had an impact on their life. So quite naturally um I noticed some change and as we was advocating in the school um the impact came to there. It was a

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mental health deeply u involved with this. So of course they were being labeled to different things but uh and so many other children in the community as well from trauma um and dealing with these trauma situations. But for me my

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sons was basically feeling like they were never heard and you know suspicion was definitely not the answer and just the whole thing. But anyway, so a lot of times I would get um what do you mean? I said, well, let me hear his side of the story. So the bottom line with that was

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that um while they was talking, I'm trying to rush this up y'all. Okay. So they um felt that their voice was not heard. So I think what's an important with this building relationships is a very important part of what they needed

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and um and at that part the pillar as he was speaking um saying with the whole school safety that is why me and this work is very important and personal the whole school safety is a positive shift

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giving voice and power to students and parents um to be part of determining what our whole school what does our schools need to feel safe at Kofi uh power pan the

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power pack parents we are um excited I'm definitely excited to see that this whole uh the work that I have been doing um for years now the stage implementing um the invitation for moving forward in

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the coming school year it feels like to me personally, decades of long work is finally coming to life and I'm seeing it firsthand. Um, we are committed to supporting our communities to understand the process and use their

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voices to re-imagine safety in their own schools, in our own communities. And so with that, thank you. And I would like to pass it on to Ariana with voice. Good afternoon everyone. My name is Ariana Brent and I'm a proud member of

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Waist which stands for voices of youth in Chicago's education. I'm very happy to be here today. I've been a part of the whole school safety steering committee since my sophomore year high school and I'm a current graduate. As we continue to talk about our implementation guide and how important

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it is to be inside of schools, I want to highlight how this work is has been done with young people. And when we have conversations about youth safety, we have to continue to keep the ones impacted directly. I'm sorry, a part of this conversation

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as we continue to talk about implementation guide youth safety shouldn't be compromised. We should be included. This is not only a model our city should be used, but a model for other school districts to use. Being a part of this work truly has been shaped the future of what all districts can

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look like when we listen to young people. Thank you. No. So, thank you for sharing those perspectives and helping lead the work uh alongside us. Um, as we move forward, I I hope one

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message remains clear. Uh, whole school safety is not asking one department to do more. It is asking every one of us to do our own part. Security remains essential. Emergency preparedness remains essential. Strong public safety partnership remains essential. But lasting safety also depends on whether

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students are known, whether families are heard, whether concerns are identified early, and whether every adult understands the role they play in creating belonging and trust. When that shared responsibility becomes part of how a school operates every day, whole school safety becomes more than a

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policy. It becomes the culture of the school. And ultimately that culture is what helps keep students safe, supported, and ready to learn. Um, thank you very much, and open any questions. >> Thank you, Chief. >> No questions for you at this time.

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>> Congratulations. >> Thank you. >> Congratulations. Yeah. Next we will have the FY27 budget. >> Okay. should I go ahead? Okay. Good afternoon. Thank you all for being here. My name is Emmy Lazoko, acting chief budget officer. I'm joined here by

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Wally Stock, our acting chief financial officer. I'm here today with an overview of our proposed FY27 budget, which totals $9.96 billion across capital, debt, and operating funds. In the face of

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persistent revenue shortfalls, growing costs, and a deficit of over $732 million, we published a budget for yours and the public's consideration that protects our most important investments. This number is higher than the last time I was before you due to revisions which

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we'll discuss in the next slide. What hasn't changed is that this budget includes $330 million in structural deficit reduction, helping our long-term financial picture for CPS. This budget puts students first, reflecting choices that center our students needs,

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prioritize equitable resource distribution across the district, and protect the investments that have the most direct and measurable impact on students day-to-day lives at school. In the tenative budget published on July 15th, the district proposed implementing

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three measures to realize an additional $297.6 $6 million in deficit reduction. We assumed 100 million more in assumed tiff surplus increasing the total to 200 million. We proposed five furlow days

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for all CPS employees beginning in January on non-instructional days for savings of 85 million. We proposed a district-wide mid-year spending freeze and procurement savings initiatives for an estimated savings of 112.6 million.

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Based on the public feedback received during the statutory budget review period, the district revised its proposed budget on July 28th, eliminating the five proposed furls and increasing its stiff surplus assumption by another 85 million to a total of 285

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million. Based on these changes, our budgets increase our budget increased by 85 million both in the expenditures and in revenues in order to remain balanced. Over the next couple of slides, I'll show you updated breakdowns of the budget. Here you can see how the

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operational budget increased as well as the proportion going to personnel, 63% overall. Similar to what we looked at last week, our operating funding primarily goes to schools. 64 cents on every dollar goes directly

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to schools, both our district managed and our charter and contract schools. Another 32 cents on every dollar goes to citywide supports, the vast majority of which also support schools and students directly. And about 4% on 4% on every dollar um goes to our central office and

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network infrastructure. Local revenues are a primary source of revenue at 64%. Another 25% comes from state revenues primarily in the form of EBF and categorical grants. About 10% of our budget comes from federal grants for specific purposes and specific

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populations. And a small piece comes from other sources of revenue. And so you can see here how those breakdowns have changed from FY26 to FY27. There's a slight increase in the share of our budget that's going to district managed schools and a small decrease in

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the share that's going to charter schools. That's primarily that's primarily driven by the number of uh schools that have moving and transitioned from charter and contract management to district management. Our citywide and network and central office budgets have also decreased over time by

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about 7% for a slightly decreased budget year-over-year by about 1%. School budgets overall are up $143 million compared to FY26. And this is largely due to annual salary increases for unionized school-based

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employees. Compared to FY26, the number of positions in schools is projected to remain about flat. We are down 164 positions for an overall reduction of approximately 1%. The figures here reflect shifts in the

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types of budgeted positions needed to better serve the students that are part of our current student population. This is our responsibility and this is the charge of equity. It's making sure their resources go not where they make sure their resources go where they are

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needed, not where they've historically gone, not where the preference may be, but where they are needed today. I'd like to call out two rows in particular. The core funding allocations in the first row and the special education allocations in the third row. The core

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foundational allocations include positions allocated through our formulas for schools instructional and administrative foundation. These include principles, assistant principles, counselors, clerks, foundational teachers, holistic teachers, operational

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staff, RJC's and lead coaches. You can see that there has been a decrease here in almost a thousand positions. In the third row, you can see how the special education staffing levels have increased by almost a thousand positions, a shift that reflects the

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changing needs of our students. You can see here how our budget pictures um we've shared this type of information before, how our budgets compare from FY19 to FY26. So over the course of kind of pre and post pandemic in that time our enrollment has decreased by about 12

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a.5% by 45,000 students while our staff has increased by 26% and our budget has increased by 71%. when you include FY27, you can see that while FY27 is slightly down compared to FY26, it's not that far off um in terms

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of the comparison to FY19. While aggregate funding has remained whole, many individual school budgets changed. Principles in partnerships with their local school councils tailor staffing to meet their community's unique needs, balancing enrollment shifts, programmatic changes, and

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budgetary realities, including updated district-wide allocation formulas. As part of this year's process, 1,602 school-based staff were impacted. for special education staff included in that total. The district has established

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retention pools where over 500 special education teachers and classroom assistants are secured to help ensure that the district maintains these in- demand professionals. At the time that we implemented the impacts, there were 1,700 vacancies

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across the district again for 1,600 impacted staff. We currently have about 1,400 school-based teacher vacancies, which means that we are on our historical trend of about 65 to 85% of teachers that are impacted over the summer able

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to find new roles within the district by the time school starts. It's the responsibility of the finance team to make recommendations to you as the decision makers that are grounded in the best available data and supported by rigorous analysis. That's my

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professional obligation to you as well as to the students and taxpayers of the city and it's one I take very seriously. The school code requires the budget to meet certain requirements. And I'd like to just read a portion of the school code here that's really that's been really important as we've developed the

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budget. The several estimates of assets, liabilities, and expenditure requirements required or authorized to be made by this shall be made on the basis of information known to the board at the close of the preceding fiscal year. In addition to these school code

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requirements that require us to balance the budget based on the best information analysis we have on hand at the time, we work according to a number of professional standards and requirements, generally accepted accounting principles, uniform grant guidance, and government finance officers association

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good budgeting principles. So, I'd like to take a few minutes and walk through how we've used data and analysis to make reasonable revenue assumptions for this budget. Again, as required by state code. Based on an analysis of publicly available data, we project that there's

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over $3 billion available currently in TIFF accounts. This is despite last year's record surplus. The accounts appear to be replenishing themselves at a rate of over a billion dollars each year. TIFF surplus distributions are governed

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by state law and city policy. When the city declares a tiff surplus, about half automatically goes to CPS and about one quarter goes to the city. The annual distribution percentages are based on state law. The city determines the total amount of

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surplus by following the policy outlined in their budget, which is bulleted here. So, taking all of this into account, we also know that last year's surplus was historic. We also know that the final tip surplus amount is determined as part of the city's annual budget process and that we

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won't have a final figure by the time that ends at the end of the calendar year. And this is why we've continued to be very conservative in our assumed amount. So if you look at the tables here, the one with the purple header shows the amount of tiff surplus received by CPS

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every year since 2020. And so you can see how our $285 million assumption fits in with the historical picture. Um, and that every year since 2023, we received at least $200 million in TIFF surplus. If you look at the chart to the right

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under the green header, you can see see that TIFF fund balances have been hovering around $3 billion for years. Despite the historic surpluses, some estimates put next year's fund balance close to $4 billion. The accounts continue to replenish themselves with taxpayer funds every

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year. Our assumptions of available state revenue for 2027 are similarly based on data reviews, historical trend analysis, and a review of applicable policy and legislation.

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The state has already passed its FY27 budget, giving us a reasonable idea of what we can expect to receive this fiscal year from established funding sources. We're continuing our advocacy with the state around long-term solutions. The upcoming veto session starts on November

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17th. Even if in this session the state approved additional funding for CPS, it wouldn't come in until FY28. It would not help this year's budget. We understand that there may be a motion to amend the proposed budget

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by adding $50 million in additional state revenue in the form of mandated categorical grants as well as a h 100red million in additional evidence-based funding. In our opinion, an amended budget that included new state revenues could not be considered balanced.

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This is of course the standard required by state law. If we used unrealized state revenue to balance the budget, this would put the district in immediate and long-term financial jeopardy. In recent conversations with lenders, it's clear that while they're comfortable

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with the $285 million TIFF assumption and see that as reasonable, they would not look favorably on the addition of anticipated new revenue from the state. And this would lead to credit downgrades, higher higher borrowing

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costs, failure to secure short-term financing, and missed payroll as soon as September. Medium-term financial considerations would lead to severe mid-year disruption to school operations and the potential for additional cuts. In the long term,

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we could see higher debt burdens and future cuts to staff and to programming. There is a difference between making different types of assumptions for different types of revenues. The tip surplus assumption in the budget is based on a decadel long trend of

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growing revenue from the city that has helped CPS close its budget gap. The state does not have any track record of passing additional revenue to help CPS close its budget. We can pass the budget as is and continue advocating for additional state revenue. And if it

682
03:36:14.640 --> 03:36:31.200
comes through, we can avoid mid-year spending freezes and make additional investments. But if we count on this revenue and it fails to come through, then it will be a disaster. We saw this in FY17 when the district budgeted for expenses using unrealized

683
03:36:31.200 --> 03:36:48.319
state revenue. And when it fell through, the consequences resulted in mid-year reopening of school budgets, which led to mid-year cuts and layoffs, no cost of living adjustments for two years, furlow days, crisis borrowing, and credit downgrades. And we're still paying for

684
03:36:48.319 --> 03:37:07.439
this. There's money coming out of the classroom today to pay for this exact mistake from a decade ago. Looking at the impact on our credit rating and the impact that has had on our cost of borrowing in the mid 2010 CPS engaged in crisis borrowing which

685
03:37:07.439 --> 03:37:27.279
led to 34 credit downgrades. We pay $200 million annually to pay off this debt. You can see here that while we've made great strides in restoring our credit rating, we're still far below investment grade. We still have urgent cash flow

686
03:37:27.279 --> 03:37:42.239
pressures. Without an approved budget and the new FY27 short-term borrowing authority, the district will not make payroll for staff in September. We're reaching its legal limits on available FY26 tax anticipation notes and the

687
03:37:42.239 --> 03:37:58.880
current $1.25 billion borrowing capacity will be fully exhausted in August. TANS borrowing is different from other kinds of borrowing for capital or operational expenses. They help us with these cash flow issues that are caused by misalignment between when revenues

688
03:37:58.880 --> 03:38:15.040
come in and expend expenditures have to go out the door. An approved FY27 [snorts and clears throat] budget with an approved tax levy are required in order for lenders to provide us financing under a new authorization. And without an approved budget this month, CPS will not have enough time to

689
03:38:15.040 --> 03:38:32.479
engage with lenders in order to secure financing and will be in danger of not making payroll in September. The problem is made more urgent by the systemic delays in CPS receiving property tax revenue from Cook County. We are owed somewhere between 175 and

690
03:38:32.479 --> 03:38:50.000
$250 million in delayed revenue. CPS leaders are continuing to talk with the county and last week the county told CPS that they would distribute about $72 million next week um stemming from that first installment this year. While this is a step in the right direction, the

691
03:38:50.000 --> 03:39:04.880
$72 million will not ensure enough cash flow for the district to delay the passage of the budget. County funding will also not solve our FY27 budget deficit. This is FY26 property tax revenue owed to CPS from

692
03:39:04.880 --> 03:39:23.680
earlier this year. There's an urgency around approving the budget as proposed today. Inschool staff report on August 17th and school opens the following week. Staff is expecting their first paycheck on September 4th covering time worked during the period

693
03:39:23.680 --> 03:39:40.640
of school opening. With the budget passing today, we estimate that we'll receive the short-term financing in our bank account on September 2nd, 2 days before checks go out. Delaying the budget means the CPS will fail to receive this financing in time to make payroll.

694
03:39:40.640 --> 03:39:56.640
Missing payroll would put us in violation of our collective bargaining agreements, multiple state statutes, and would likely require us to pay fines and increase costs on the back end. It may also impact our credit rating and limit our ability to achieve financing in the future. and not just for TANS, but also

695
03:39:56.640 --> 03:40:12.560
for our $600 million capital budget that's coming to you today as well. This would essentially result in a district-wide shutdown when we should be preparing for a smooth opening to school. Today, we are presenting to you four

696
03:40:12.560 --> 03:40:30.239
related resolutions. the FY27 budget, the FY27 capital improvement plan, the FY27 property tax levy, and the authorization of a new a new TAN authorization in the amount of $1.65

697
03:40:30.239 --> 03:40:47.680
billion. Favorable votes on these items as presented will ensure that the district can avoid the financial, operational, and other risks as have been described to you and focus on smooth, strong opening of the upcoming school year for our students, families, and staff. Thank

698
03:40:47.680 --> 03:41:08.160
you. And with that, I'm happy to answer any questions. >> Kuster, >> thank you, board president. Um, I have, I guess, two questions. Um if you had mentioned this upcoming amendment and if this amendment were to

699
03:41:08.160 --> 03:41:25.200
come through and to pass and we had we'll call it this fictitious revenue in the budget line um do do we consider this budget to be balanced? >> I would not know. >> Thank you. My second question um is regarding the TANS um and if for

700
03:41:25.200 --> 03:41:40.960
whatever reason this budget does not get passed today and we don't come back until middle of August or end of August, how does that affect our ability to um close this TANS u in time to make this first payroll?

701
03:41:40.960 --> 03:41:58.239
>> Each day that we don't pass the budget makes it much more difficult to be realistic about the ability to close on a transaction. It typically takes four weeks or more to close on these transactions. So there's not a lot of wiggle room between now and when we would look to close. So uh

702
03:41:58.239 --> 03:42:13.920
creditors have to look at the budget. They have to assess it. They have to understand what kind of risk there is associated with that. What interest rates they will charge us. We have to negotiate that. We have to put documents together, multiple documents,

703
03:42:13.920 --> 03:42:29.520
indentures, credit agreements, supporting documents. We need legal opinions that talk to the validity of what it is that we're doing. These take again several weeks to go back and forth to negotiate with multiple parties at the table. And then when that's all

704
03:42:29.520 --> 03:42:45.600
secured, we still need another week to be able to produce final documents for leadership to sign and put the bank in a position where they're ready to fund the loan. So, it's definitely not something where you can go in and think you want to buy a car and you walk out with that

705
03:42:45.600 --> 03:43:01.840
car. This is a much more complicated process that takes several weeks. That's why we've presented the budget at this point in time and we think it is the most realistic path towards success. >> So, even middle of August is too late. I cannot make a guarantee at that point that we would succeed. >> All right, we have to consider

706
03:43:01.840 --> 03:43:36.319
everyone's paychecks. Thank you. >> Or member Smith. >> Thank you. Uh I want to ask about uh you know I was advised that an amended budget may even be potentially illegal and not uh be able to uh qualify us for

707
03:43:36.319 --> 03:43:54.160
shortterm financing. My question is with the uh 1,000 employees that we want to hire uh with whatever $150 million would hire uh in in terms of uh staff. What

708
03:43:54.160 --> 03:44:11.920
kind of cuts would we see uh if this amended budget was not uh could not get the financing that it is assuming? What would it be like? What kind of job furlows and and job uh cuts would we

709
03:44:11.920 --> 03:44:30.479
see? >> Um so it would take time to do that analysis to to fully understand the impact but I think the example of 2017 is a really powerful one. Um, and I think that we would see the same situation that we had there where there

710
03:44:30.479 --> 03:44:46.000
would um be the potential to have to reopen school budgets. When we look at how our budget is set up, I showed you the graphs and the dollars where most of our budget is in schools, most of our budget is in personnel at schools. And so in the need to make significant

711
03:44:46.000 --> 03:45:02.960
reductions, um we've really gone as deep as we can in other areas in terms of central office, citywide, we've looked at every other source of revenue and savings that we have. And so there really unfortunately wouldn't be anywhere else to go. >> And let me let me just say I think

712
03:45:02.960 --> 03:45:17.439
there's two parts to your question, right? I look at it like with what we've described is, you know, a near-term uh immediate need for cash flow with the short-term borrowing, right? It's not unusual that the board passes a budget

713
03:45:17.439 --> 03:45:34.800
before August this year. Uh what is making it a little bit more difficult is the fact that the property taxes have been delayed and they don't give us that cushion of money that we need to start the fiscal year. So, we're compromised by that and we have significant

714
03:45:34.800 --> 03:45:50.560
short-term money outstanding from that revenue that's due to us and really nothing else to pull on. And as we get into September, we have nearly projected $700 million in obligations, $500 million which is payroll

715
03:45:50.560 --> 03:46:07.120
and without property taxes. Our major source of revenue is state aid that comes in on time every two weeks and some other grants and some other local revenues, but that's only estimated at about $300 million. There's a $400 million gap that essentially needs to be

716
03:46:07.120 --> 03:46:24.479
financed through short-term loans until that tax money is received and we can repay that back. So, that's number one. Will the lenders look at the budget as it was presented and approve a loan based on what they think is the creditworthiness of that? Then you get

717
03:46:24.479 --> 03:46:40.399
into if we can get past that, you get into the next aspect of it. Will the revenues that would put in the budget, if they are changed, will they materialize? And when will that come to a halt? Like when essentially will we have to say that those revenues aren't

718
03:46:40.399 --> 03:46:56.960
going to materialize? Will it be the end of the year? Well, the calendar year, will it be December? And if it is something like that, we only have half of the fiscal year left. So, in order to make up any kind of gap, if we were to budget, say an additional $150 million in revenues, that clearly isn't

719
03:46:56.960 --> 03:47:13.840
materializing by December, you're looking at $300 million in cuts to be able to make that happen. So, that's the kind of scenario I think that quickly responding to your question that I would I would say. And then the my last question is how would that affect you know I'm concerned about a lot of the

720
03:47:13.840 --> 03:47:29.600
old deteriorating buildings that I walk into. Uh how would that infect affect our capital invest investments? >> That that's an excellent question. You know a majority of our debt we do have some of the debt that we took on when uh

721
03:47:29.600 --> 03:47:46.399
you know we we needed to do working capital. Um we're not contemplating that thankfully this year but we do need to borrow each year. So we have the $600 million capital plan. Each year we're trying to borrow between $5 and $600 million to fund that P plan. So um an

722
03:47:46.399 --> 03:48:02.640
estimate is if you look at the potential of a ratings downgrade and there might be not only one ratings downgrade but two ratings downgrades uh and and the market itself is actually not in a super great space as appears as

723
03:48:02.640 --> 03:48:18.800
opposed to where it was at last year. Interest rates are trending higher. We all hear about mortgage loans and how those are almost near 7%. Well, our borrowing costs are higher, too, right? But if you look at how we finance our debt, you look at a $600 million issue. We did some calculations on this. And if

724
03:48:18.800 --> 03:48:35.680
we had to pay, say 3/4 of a percentage point more, if we can even access the market, you're looking at something like 80 to$100 million more in interest expense that you would pay on that loan that we would take out this fall. So that's a result of what it is that would

725
03:48:35.680 --> 03:48:50.960
be being done here with the budget with an amendment and how lenders and how the rating agency rating agencies would look at that. You could also look at it in terms of our TANS and our short-term borrowing. If there's a say a half of a percentage point increase on something like that, I think that could be $6

726
03:48:50.960 --> 03:49:06.239
million a year extra that we could end up paying. That could be $500,000 a month. That could be 20 almost $17,000 a day. These are real life implications. As you think about the salaries and the workers that we have and what $6 million would do, I think we're, you know, we

727
03:49:06.239 --> 03:49:22.399
would all like an extra $6 million in this budget as opposed to paying extra interest on loans with that. So, that's what we're trying to do. We're trying to present a budget that will kind of hold all that off and let us do our our job and our work and keep things flowing. >> Thank you very much. I got one more

728
03:49:22.399 --> 03:49:38.880
addition to that is when we presented to the board, you know, the capital improvement plan and just the state of our buildings again, we still have a 16.3 billion with a B in deferred maintenance. So any increase in let's

729
03:49:38.880 --> 03:49:56.560
call it uh interest is taken away. Those are funds that are actually taken away from building repairs that we can actually do. Also keep in mind that the capital improvement plan is is just not about fixing buildings. It's also about modernizing our technology. And so we

730
03:49:56.560 --> 03:50:12.800
use dollars to upgrade our systems. Uh we have three big projects in the queue right now that you've heard several times. Bridge uh and and WAN making sure our internet is is working as quickly as possible because the needs always increase

731
03:50:12.800 --> 03:50:29.680
year-over-year. So those would be impacted to where we would have less dollars to use towards modernizing our technology. >> Thank you, Chief Mayfield. >> Board Macker, >> thanks. Um I heard that um city budget

732
03:50:29.680 --> 03:50:45.600
experts are actually saying that uh the TIF funds are not available in the amounts that you're talking about and that you've actually been informed of that. Is that uh true? We've been in conversation with the city. Um I showed you the data and the

733
03:50:45.600 --> 03:51:02.000
balances and the trend data that is publicly available and that we're going on. Um and so that's what we're basing our recommendation on. >> So you're ignoring what the city is telling you. >> We've been transparent with the city. We've been discussing what it is that

734
03:51:02.000 --> 03:51:17.279
we've been doing with the TIFF revenues in hopes of trying to find a a common path forward. That's why when we first initially opened up the budget and what our recommendations were, we started out with uh discussion about $und00 million.

735
03:51:17.279 --> 03:51:33.600
We walked it up to $200 million. We're trying to have those conversations. It's an incredibly complex situation with lots of ideas and I think there's um information that is still uh not known about something. So, while there may be

736
03:51:33.600 --> 03:51:49.439
some uh budget analysis or something, I was not made aware of anything like that. All I can go by is the reports that the city has online and some of the surpluses that they've declared and make reasonable assumptions about how those will grow over time. We have been

737
03:51:49.439 --> 03:52:06.080
consistently seeing over $1.2 billion in incremental revenue, but not that same amount flowing out. It was only in this last year where we had the record surplus that that came even close to the amount of incremental revenues that was being brought in. But the projects, all

738
03:52:06.080 --> 03:52:21.760
the things that happened such as the stadium with the Chicago Fire, um I've been doing this for quite a long time before doing my work here at CPS for 25 years. I was an investment banker. I did multiple tiff financings all over the state of Illinois. I did a number of

739
03:52:21.760 --> 03:52:37.600
tiff projects all over Melrose Park, all over Rosemont. So tiff projects don't come in at the same time. So the $400 million that we're talking about that'll take time to go out. So while there may be differences of opinions, um while you know all the information may not be out

740
03:52:37.600 --> 03:52:53.680
there based on our projections and what we put together, we do really feel that these are reasonable amounts of money that we can rely on that we can say that the balanced the budget is balanced. Well, um, forgive me for saying, but it kind of sounds like you're saying that we're not going to listen to what the

741
03:52:53.680 --> 03:53:09.120
city is telling us there is for TIFF money and go with the information that is before us. But when the state is telling us literally that they're willing to fight for funds, you want us to ignore them.

742
03:53:09.120 --> 03:53:25.040
I think the only other thing I would say to this point is going back um to a couple sides in my presentation. There is a process to tiff. It involves input from the mayor's office. It involves the city alderman. It's part of the city budget process and we have to

743
03:53:25.040 --> 03:53:41.359
respect that process playing out which is why we structured the budget the way we did with some things taking place in January when we would know by that point exactly how much um the revenue would be after the city budget played out. Um there's also these points here that

744
03:53:41.359 --> 03:53:56.640
determine every year based on city policy and state law how much of the balances are surplus based on different criteria. So again, I go back to what I said in the presentation that with TIFF, we have publicly available data. We have trend data. We've looked at this. We

745
03:53:56.640 --> 03:54:20.399
know the policies. We've checked with outside experts. We've had conversations with other stakeholders. For the city revenue, we've included everything where we have those same data points for um >> Rosfeld.

746
03:54:20.399 --> 03:54:35.920
>> Uh thank you. Uh three quick questions. One, and this was sort of answered, but I just want to get a really fine point on it. So why exactly is it that you think we can rely on future tiff money and we revenue and we cannot rely on

747
03:54:35.920 --> 03:54:57.279
future revenue from the state. So again the standard is the information that you have the best information that you have available at the time. And so I just went through tiff. We know tiff policy. We've had people inside and outside of the district looking at the

748
03:54:57.279 --> 03:55:13.359
balances, doing projections. We're looking at the amount that we've been surplused over time, the amount in the fund balances, their rate of replenishment. For the state revenue, we've done the same. We've gone through based on the state budget, based on the

749
03:55:13.359 --> 03:55:29.120
funding sources we know are coming through, based on the different inputs that we know could could impact different revenue streams, based on the fact that the city's that the state's budget is final, we've included those in the in the budget. Um, anything new, we don't have

750
03:55:29.120 --> 03:55:44.640
anything new to go by. Um, we're continuing our advocacy with the state, but as far as I know from the last conversations with our team, we don't have any commitments. there isn't any pending legislation. Um, and so that's the difference.

751
03:55:44.640 --> 03:56:00.479
>> So if this sort of magical thinking, maybe potentially illegal, fiscally irresponsible budgeting happens and if that money doesn't come through, and I believe Dr. King said this in her statement, we'll have to go to school budgets, right? The cuts will midyear

752
03:56:00.479 --> 03:56:17.279
come to school budgets, which will not in fact be student centered because it will lead to mid-year cuts. Is that what you're predicting? Yes. Yes, that's absolutely correct. >> Okay. I just want to be clear about that. So, not student centered because it leads to ultimately we have nowhere

753
03:56:17.279 --> 03:56:32.880
else to go but school budgets. >> That That's correct. >> Okay. And then finally, and this is probably more for the general counsel, Liz, but um so we can't pretend to have money that we don't have. Chicago public schools, right? and approving a budget based on

754
03:56:32.880 --> 03:56:48.800
unsupported revenue would violate my fiduciary responsibility from what I understand and would put me and other board members at risk basically of personal liability. Um, is that correct? Would you agree

755
03:56:48.800 --> 03:57:04.479
with that statement? Um, I would say what I can say publicly is that the school code requires this board to pass a balanced budget >> within 60 days of the beginning of the

756
03:57:04.479 --> 03:57:21.120
fiscal year. The school code also requires that the budget estimates or any estimates in the budget including revenue and liabilities uh must be made upon information known to the board at the time of this vote.

757
03:57:21.120 --> 03:57:36.080
>> And I will also say publicly that the school code require or um lists out various uh sanctions for willful violation of the budget provisions in the Illinois school code. um and I have advised the board accordingly.

758
03:57:36.080 --> 03:57:51.520
>> Thank you. And this budget is not balanced with the state revenue assumption. Correct. >> That is not um an opinion that I'm able to make. Um I rely on the budget and financial officers before you. >> All right. So I'll ask you if th this

759
03:57:51.520 --> 03:58:12.319
budget then is not considered balanced >> with the state revenue assumption. Correct. >> That's my opinion. Yes. >> Thank you. member Gutierrez. >> So last year we did this budget in August

760
03:58:12.319 --> 03:58:29.120
and this year in July. Um can you run that for me again? Why we're a month early? >> Sure. Well, let me back it up even a little bit farther. I've been here for a few years. Um I think since 2020, I

761
03:58:29.120 --> 03:58:45.040
believe. And in four of the last five years, we've passed the budget in June or July. It was only last year that we actually passed it in August. I mean, so it it goes back and forth, right? Um during many of those years when we

762
03:58:45.040 --> 03:59:01.199
passed the budget earlier, we were having COVID money, right? And each year, of course, we were doing short-term loans, uh, TANS, but the ability to pull the COVID money in at the beginning of the school year let us delay when we were looking at some of

763
03:59:01.199 --> 03:59:19.279
the the TANS financing. So, last year, uh, you know, taxes were delayed, but there were a number of other different factors. There was, uh, the financial performance was slightly better. That gave us a little bit more window. We also did a bond financing in September

764
03:59:19.279 --> 03:59:35.199
that brought in a lot of money that was a able to reimburse some of the expenses that were out there, but we did ultimately do short-term borrowing and start drawing on TANS in October. So, we are a little bit earlier, but it's not, you know, it's not like it's six months earlier or anything like that. And and

765
03:59:35.199 --> 03:59:51.040
again, it's we're here because we're trying to plan, right? We can't react um to putting, you know, half a billion dollars, a billion dollars worth of loans in place over the weekend. This is a process that has to take place and we

766
03:59:51.040 --> 04:00:06.319
want to make sure that we give ourselves enough time to succeed. So that's why we're here in July. >> And my second question is really for legal counsel. Um, so to follow up on board member Rosenthal's question is it

767
04:00:06.319 --> 04:00:22.479
is also my understanding if we don't pass through school code um not only would potentially me and my colleagues be uh liable uh legally liable uh for passing a budget that's not balanced um

768
04:00:22.479 --> 04:00:37.920
but also officers of our corporation that being the Chicago Board of Education and its members. Correct. >> So again, I'll say that the school code requires this board to pass a balanced budget. The school code also sets forth

769
04:00:37.920 --> 04:00:55.840
the sanctions for willful violation of the budget provisions in the school code. And those sanctions may apply to any board member or any officer thereof, which would include the chief executive officer, chief financial officer, etc.

770
04:00:55.840 --> 04:01:13.279
>> Thank you. Rivas. >> Uh, thank you, Mr. President. Um, I So, we we've talked about this. First off, uh, I was hoping you could just spell it out for us one more time what

771
04:01:13.279 --> 04:01:30.239
it would mean for us in terms of credit downgrades, uh, possible credit downgrades if we are unable to pass a balanced budget today. Well, it's hard to exactly say like how

772
04:01:30.239 --> 04:01:46.880
uh far we could go or what could happen. I don't have a crystal ball, but there has been um concerted more attention in the recent rating reports uh by um the credit rating agencies as I've gone through the process with them. Last

773
04:01:46.880 --> 04:02:04.560
year, we did receive uh a downgrade from Croll uh bond rating. um we maintained our standard and pores ratings. I think we have a number of negative outlooks also on our credit profile. So those things need to be resolved. Um but going

774
04:02:04.560 --> 04:02:21.840
through this process and financing billions of dollars of transactions, I am extremely concerned that a budget other than what we have presented will lead to a downgrade. And that's basically what I spelled out when I was asked the question about the capital. So

775
04:02:21.840 --> 04:02:37.199
it could be one notch, it may be a two notch, it could be multiple agencies and all our borrowings after that. It's really quick for you to go down and it takes a really long time for the elevator to go back up. You saw the chart that Emila did with the 34 that

776
04:02:37.199 --> 04:02:52.479
happened really quick and now we've been struggling for like what over 10 years trying to get our rating back up. We had eight years of financial overperform where we basically took our fund balance from

777
04:02:52.479 --> 04:03:10.319
negative to positive and we still are not fully investment grade on our general obligation bond across the board. So consequences of actions today will have longterm impacts on the future. Our classrooms all the things that we need

778
04:03:10.319 --> 04:03:27.120
to do involve money unfortunately in the borrowing. >> Waldi, how many years have you been doing this at CPS? I've been here for 13 years and before that about 25 years and as an investment banker in the state of Illinois. Um the last thing I I want to end on because it's been mentioned several

779
04:03:27.120 --> 04:03:42.479
times but it hasn't been spelled out and this is not private information. This is um Illinois school code uh but Illinois school code section 34-52 willful violation of budget provisions. any member of the board or any officer

780
04:03:42.479 --> 04:03:59.120
thereof or of the city or any other person holding any trust or employment under the board or city who willfully violates any of the provisions of section 34-43 through 34-51 which is includes passing an unbalanced

781
04:03:59.120 --> 04:04:14.560
budget. shall be guilty of business offense and may be fined not exceeding $10,000 and shall forfeit his right to his office, trust or employment and shall be removed there from. Any such member, officer or

782
04:04:14.560 --> 04:04:30.160
person shall be liable personal liability for the amount of any loss or damage suffered by the board resulting from any act of his in violation of the terms of any of the of those sections to

783
04:04:30.160 --> 04:04:48.319
be recovered by the board. Thank you. >> Member Biggs. >> Thank you. Um connected to the first part of member reebus's question I too was a principal in 201617 and very much remember the

784
04:04:48.319 --> 04:05:03.840
furlows I remember the layoffs uh what I think I didn't understand as clearly then that I very much understand the impact of now was the borrowing that we did during that time and I now understand that that borrowing has a

785
04:05:03.840 --> 04:05:20.800
very real financial impact on the revenue that we have avail available to direct to schools. Now, could you talk us through some of that? >> Sure. Um, a lot of what we faced was coming back from the pension holiday.

786
04:05:20.800 --> 04:05:38.000
Let's not forget about that. We had seven, eight years where we had not made, you know, a teacher's pension payment. the fund was close to 90 or n over 90% funded and they determined that you know we could take a holiday and and

787
04:05:38.000 --> 04:05:52.720
so that occurred for a number of years. There were a number of different changes in budgets that happened over those years but when the need to make the pension payment came back it was upwards of a600 700 million annual obligation

788
04:05:52.720 --> 04:06:08.720
that had to be faced. So it began to be faced uh by I think first a change in a revenue recognition period uh to count additional revenues into the fiscal year. A little bit of accounting

789
04:06:08.720 --> 04:06:24.560
wonkiness if you will that depleted cash very quickly when uh it really wasn't it wasn't there. It was just an accounting mover maneuver. uh it then subsequently, if my memory serves me, moved on to um

790
04:06:24.560 --> 04:06:40.640
budgeting for more state revenue, right? And at that point in time, I believe there was legislation approved. I think this went on for a number of years. I think at one point there was a bill that was awaiting um you know, for the governor's signature. Um and you know,

791
04:06:40.640 --> 04:06:57.840
those things just didn't happen. So, um, that's basically when the cash ran out and we needed to start doing the short-term borrowing to make ends meet, right? Um, it got so bad that there really wasn't anybody that would lend to us also. And, and so we were kind of a going to

792
04:06:57.840 --> 04:07:14.560
lender of last resorts and we couldn't get all of everything that we needed to get done done. So then we started to take out a longer term loan to plug the hole, but the longer term loan was paid back over 20 years and that's what's outstanding. And our credit rating at

793
04:07:14.560 --> 04:07:30.960
that point had dropped so low that those loans were costing seven seven and a half 8%. Right? So I the refinancing that I did last year saved I think over $130 million. and effectively refinanced a lot of that

794
04:07:30.960 --> 04:07:46.479
debt at more market uh reasonable interest rates, right? But that same thing could occur again. That's what that's what we're fearful of, right? Is that if lenders don't agree to what it is that we're doing, they don't think it's structurally sound.

795
04:07:46.479 --> 04:08:02.080
>> I have I have, you know, relationships now that I've cultivated with three lenders. There's still lenders that won't talk to us that are large lenders in the United States. There's only a few that we can go to. If any of those lenders drop out, then we run the risk that we can't even get all of the

796
04:08:02.080 --> 04:08:15.920
short-term financing that we need and we'll have to do something else, too. So, these are the things that we're like really trying to um stop from happening. >> Yeah. And about how much are we paying now each year on the debt service on the

797
04:08:15.920 --> 04:08:32.479
borrowing that we did during that time? >> I'd have to go back and check with you, but I mean I think we've quoted last year that it was upwards of $200 million. It may have gone down a little bit because we refinanced it, but we really took most of the savings up front. So, it probably didn't go down

798
04:08:32.479 --> 04:08:48.640
too much in terms of the cost to carry over the remaining life because when you refinance, you can take the savings annually, you can take them in the back. We chose to take them up front because we didn't want to make additional expenditure reductions in the classroom.

799
04:08:48.640 --> 04:09:04.239
That was really an important thing. I think it was the right thing to do. it doesn't change the present value of how much you're saving. Um, so I think the cost of carrying is still probably close to that $200 million mark for, you know, another 10 or more years, 15 years,

800
04:09:04.239 --> 04:09:20.239
>> right? To be clear though, if we had not engaged in that borrowing, that would free up about $200 million in resources today that we could direct to schools and classrooms. Correct. >> Yeah, sure. or any you know we would have at that point in time needed to

801
04:09:20.239 --> 04:09:37.199
make those adjustments in in the budget and then they would have flowed through and yes then of course we wouldn't have that that debt outstanding. So those are the difficult things that happen like this is what we went through last year talking about how to close the gap with long-term borrowing those come back

802
04:09:37.199 --> 04:09:53.199
right you get you get a benefit the current year but then you do have to pay that debt back and it turns into more cost for you over a 10 or 15 year horizon. That's what's occurring right now with that debt. >> Got it. And very quickly, big picture, total debt service that we're paying in

803
04:09:53.199 --> 04:10:11.520
this year's budget is what percentage of the total budget? >> It I believe it's it's uh around $900ish million dollars. It's probably about in a 10 15% range is what it >> of our total budget. Got it. >> Thank you.

804
04:10:11.520 --> 04:10:29.040
>> In one of the slides. >> Thank you. >> [clears throat] >> I'm going recognize uh board member Pope who's joining us virtually. >> Hello. >> I'm sorry. Hello. Can you hear me? >> Yes.

805
04:10:29.040 --> 04:10:46.479
>> Uh so here's my concern and I've mentioned this concern before. We are relying on a very optimistic projection. I know you say it's conservative, but last year we had letters from dozens of alders saying we will get we will get a

806
04:10:46.479 --> 04:11:02.160
big [clears throat] tiff surplus to you. This year I have not heard that from the alders. I haven't seen any evidence of that kind of funding coming through. So it makes me very nervous to count on that. We've just seen an increasing

807
04:11:02.160 --> 04:11:19.040
number of state legislators committing to a fight on behalf of getting some of the additional state revenue that everybody recognizes we deserve and are entitled to and that we all know that our children are entitled to. So this is

808
04:11:19.040 --> 04:11:36.800
an important fight for us to have and we have a bunch of allies who have declared themselves today and I think we need to keep that in our considerations. So to me I am very I have a question here. I'm I'm a little

809
04:11:36.800 --> 04:11:53.120
confused about it. We said, I believe last week, that if we eliminated midyear cuts and eliminated furlows, the total on that would be something like $200 million

810
04:11:53.120 --> 04:12:09.760
in savings. Could we not say we are going to pass this budget with the state projections? If we do not get that money in the veto session, then we would have to deal with reconsidering and possibly

811
04:12:09.760 --> 04:12:24.239
re-implementing, say, a midyear freeze if we only got part of it, for example. Why do we have to hamstring ourselves, for lack of a better word, now with an assumption that

812
04:12:24.239 --> 04:12:46.239
we will not get any money from the state and yet continue to assume that we will get money that no one is promising us from the city? I'm just I'm a little baffled by it to be honest. Thank you, board member Pope. Um, you

813
04:12:46.239 --> 04:13:02.720
know, again, I think it's a lot of the things that we went over in the presentation, what the realistic assumptions are. I understand that there could be differences of opinion that you may not agree. Um, the state has only done anything to the

814
04:13:02.720 --> 04:13:18.800
education formula once in I don't know 20 years or more. I mean, before they before they changed EBF, I'm not sure how long the existing formula was in place. So, they don't have a great track record. I mean, I find it encouraging

815
04:13:18.800 --> 04:13:34.960
that you're having these conversations. I'm curious if the conversations are a result of all the conversations we're having here in the public, quite frankly, um that are really getting others to listen, which is great. Um but they still don't give me um comfort in

816
04:13:34.960 --> 04:13:50.319
the fact that the state will move especially in the fact that uh if they did move and they did want to make the revenue available to us in the fiscal year uh my understanding is that they have to amend their own budget and they need a super majority to do that. So,

817
04:13:50.319 --> 04:14:05.920
while you know we may be successful in getting some categorical grants or some other changes, um these are really um significant things to try to get that revenue in the current fiscal year that we're in. In addition, I would just

818
04:14:05.920 --> 04:14:22.880
think about what the state has been doing and what and how CPS has benefited. So I believe $350 million in new state aid was put into the formula this year and that resulted in $65 million in revenue for CPS. So you just

819
04:14:22.880 --> 04:14:39.680
think about how much they would potentially have to put into EBF because it would have to be shared with all of the school districts throughout the state be talking about a number an additional number you know close to another half a billion dollars before CPS would be getting a hund00 million of

820
04:14:39.680 --> 04:14:56.720
that and then again uh the supermajority to make that revenue available. So I find that to be a very risky proposition and not one that I can I can comfortably get behind. But the TIFF on the other hand, I see those numbers. I see those

821
04:14:56.720 --> 04:15:12.159
amounts in the bank account. I know there's a lot of voices and a lot of opinions. Last year again, I think was a much different space because essentially was a much larger amount and it was much more contentious at this point. Um this

822
04:15:12.159 --> 04:15:29.120
amount is half of what we received this year and it is in line with amounts that we've received since you know the last 2000 beginning $200 million which we put up on the board since 23. But at that point the balances were half of what

823
04:15:29.120 --> 04:15:45.199
they are now. So there's pretty significant amounts of information that are available to us that seem to make it clear to me that it's more logical to put the revenue assumption into the tiff versus the state of Illinois and

824
04:15:45.199 --> 04:16:04.000
especially considering all the other mitigating factors that would come into play with the operations, the cash flow, the loans, all those other things. Okay, just to follow up if I may, you had kind of convinced me that the 200

825
04:16:04.000 --> 04:16:20.560
million figure was not that unrealistic and not overly optimistic. And then we all want to eliminate furloss. I'm a teacher. I was victim I was a victim of furlows. I don't want any of our lowest paid workers, whether they be

826
04:16:20.560 --> 04:16:36.159
custodians, lunchroom staff, etc. to have to suffer from the uncertainty of lost pay and the way that can affect people's lives and people's budgets. I want that less than anybody else wants it. But how did we then suddenly come up

827
04:16:36.159 --> 04:16:53.520
with another $85 million which just happened to be the amount uh involved in the tiff that I mean in the uh furlow and that that that really made it seem more unrealistic to me I have to say just because it's so conveniently came

828
04:16:53.520 --> 04:17:11.520
up and matched up and stuff. >> Could you clarify? You know, I well, what I would say to that is you think about the the messaging and how we've rolled out the budget initially on the 15th and how we crafted where the furlow

829
04:17:11.520 --> 04:17:27.439
days were going to be, how we crafted where the midyear spending freeze, uh, where the hiring freeze would be, it was all in the second half of the year. So, wholeheartedly, Emila and I always believed there would be more tiff revenue. We were just trying to find a

830
04:17:27.439 --> 04:17:44.720
shared experience in reductions of expenditures across the district and see where that could go. Uh it it resulted in quite a large push back. It was not our ideal state to be recommending furlows. Uh but when we went out and did

831
04:17:44.720 --> 04:18:00.880
the community engagement, when we started talking to our labor partners, we saw what um you know what what it resulted in. it seemed like we needed to go back up and look at where we were at with our assumptions. That was going to involve either additional uh reductions,

832
04:18:00.880 --> 04:18:17.760
which we knew were really difficult to do, or to look at the revenue. And all along we were trying to put the revenue number on the tiff as low as possible. um even though we knew it would be higher and we knew there was a possibility that some of the things we were looking at could be rolled back but

833
04:18:17.760 --> 04:18:34.159
when faced with the possibility of would we have enough support for the budget or not it seemed like the logical space to go was to look at the tiff revenue and make that I know it's not making everybody happy but it seems like something that well I know it's something that I can live with and and

834
04:18:34.159 --> 04:18:52.800
something that I hope that some of the board members can support as well >> member member Lopez. >> Thank you, board president. And my question is, you already touched up on this. So whether it be either of you or um the district leadership, I'm just

835
04:18:52.800 --> 04:19:10.159
trying to figure out how realistic or what the path forward is. Uh given that I'm just reviewing the language that I received today during the meeting for this uh potential proposed amendment and seeing here right 150 from the state just for Chicago district. um knowing

836
04:19:10.159 --> 04:19:27.600
veto session six days uh that have been scheduled on the calendar uh and per the Illinois constitution as it was mentioned in order to pass any supplemental funding to go into effect right away and something that gets passed after May 31st it does require

837
04:19:27.600 --> 04:19:44.560
the super majority which looking at numbers we're looking at a 107 from both chambers um and that will include getting individuals legislators from outside of Chicago on board if we are just 150. Uh but potentially they will be asking also

838
04:19:44.560 --> 04:20:00.960
funding for their local districts which we know that this across the board where there needs more support from special education to other to other areas. Um and also it will require to find a new line of revenue for the state in order or or propose where are they going to

839
04:20:00.960 --> 04:20:16.000
get that money from? Which other budget lines are they going to remove it from the state in either to move it to these new items while at the city and please someone who knows more than me can correct me 26 votes are needed for a

840
04:20:16.000 --> 04:20:31.600
budget approval at the city level right 26 alder people that represent the city of Chicago that also individuals have schools public schools in their wards it might be an easier conversation than me going trying to talk with I don't know a

841
04:20:31.600 --> 04:20:49.239
member of of uh the general assembly that represents the Quad Cities for example, right? Um so just to put those numbers in perspective and but is there a plan already? Is there a plan how we can make this possible in six days?

842
04:20:51.920 --> 04:21:07.439
>> I I think it puts an incredible amount of pressure um on the district. I think what we're trying to do is give us a path to succeed and not fail. Um, I know there's optimism. I'm I would think it would be fantastic if it if it could occur. Don't don't get me wrong here.

843
04:21:07.439 --> 04:21:24.000
Um, I think we're also just, you know, trying to come to terms. I know we've recently approved our legislative agenda. I know we're trying to get an IG chief on board. Um, so there's a there's a number of things. I mean, I I believe the current team will be, you know,

844
04:21:24.000 --> 04:21:40.640
supportive and aggressive on what it is that they can do. Um, but there's still some things that that need need to really be aligned. Um, >> and you know, the other point I would make is that the budget is designed to allow the the budget as it stands is designed to allow for this kind of

845
04:21:40.640 --> 04:21:57.520
advocacy and this kind of work between now and the end of the year um to secure revenue from any source that we can. And I think we're all on the same page and I'm encouraged to hear the progress with the state legislators. Um but I think we have to balance that against

846
04:21:57.520 --> 04:22:15.040
um both the requirement to have a balanced budget for the fiscal year at the start of the year and also some of the real operational risks that we're facing to not approving to not having an approved balance budget today.

847
04:22:15.040 --> 04:22:30.159
>> Thank you. I think at least for me it will be seeing what a plan looks like so we can get this going and that we are setting up everyone for success. Thank you >> member boy. >> Wow. >> Yeah. Um

848
04:22:30.159 --> 04:22:45.760
probably the thing that speaking loudly to me is this uh fear of not making payroll um on September 4th. I got a lot of friends that are working in the schools, a lot of family members,

849
04:22:45.760 --> 04:23:00.720
uh, colleagues, and I know that after not getting paid all summer, about this time, people are starting to scrape the bottom of the barrel in their their personal finances. And it's right at the

850
04:23:00.720 --> 04:23:17.600
same time when staff teachers need to spend extra money because they're all getting ready to not only send their own children back to school, but they're they're trying to get their classrooms ready and teachers spend a lot of money getting their classrooms ready every

851
04:23:17.600 --> 04:23:33.120
year as well. Um, so I know that's part of my fear of not not passing today of that impact. But I heard you say something that beyond the impact to our staff that the district would face

852
04:23:33.120 --> 04:23:50.600
consequences for not making payroll. Like can you explain about that? Like what what are the consequences to the district? Um, I think it's best if I kick this over to um to Liz.

853
04:23:52.239 --> 04:24:10.960
I can say publicly um that failing to make payroll could bring potential sanctions and consequences under several Illinois state laws as well as our collective bargaining agreements um which require us to pay employees for

854
04:24:10.960 --> 04:24:40.080
the work that they've done. Thank you. Member Brown. Uh, thank you, Mr. President. Um, I I have um deep concerns about getting a $10 billion budget in 10 days and being told that we don't have a choice

855
04:24:40.080 --> 04:24:57.120
but to pass it by the end of the month, basically to rubber stamp a budget. Um, I have deep problems with being told that originally there were only 750 uh cuts to teachers and roughly 400 cuts

856
04:24:57.120 --> 04:25:14.479
to teacher age. And then when you peel back the onion is is more like 2,000 cuts. I have deep concerns about fear-mongering and um being pulled all of a sudden into a

857
04:25:14.479 --> 04:25:29.120
2-hour break because there's a particular proposal. I have deep concerns about legal telling us that somehow we're breaking the law when there was precedence not only in

858
04:25:29.120 --> 04:25:49.680
2017 but 2015. It concerns me that and I don't like disagreeing with our superintendent because I respect our superintendent, but it concerns me

859
04:25:49.680 --> 04:26:08.880
that we are missing the biggest difference between 2017 and today and that's political will. In 2017, Bruce Roner was the governor.

860
04:26:08.880 --> 04:26:24.080
And so, anything that was going to be pro public education, he was swinging a hatchet to it. And you're not acknowledging the fact that never before, even before Bruce Ronner, you had Michael Madakin and John Catton. John

861
04:26:24.080 --> 04:26:38.000
Catton blocked the bill for this elected school board four times. Four times. So the political will was not there. What you're not acknowledging is never before have you had the speaker of the

862
04:26:38.000 --> 04:26:59.120
house and the senate president say we will find the revenue. Um I feel disrespected. I feel insult profoundly insulted.

863
04:26:59.120 --> 04:27:14.479
Um, and and as a board member, I'm I'm you know, don't call me in any rooms like that because I'm not going to I'm not going to do it. Don't call me any rooms like that. Don't don't fearonger with us.

864
04:27:14.479 --> 04:27:31.640
Because I know a little bit about Chicago public schools history. I was in those board meetings when a lot of those decisions were made. It's dishonest. It's disingenuous. And I I really don't appreciate it. um

865
04:27:34.239 --> 04:27:57.199
didn't volunteer for this to be manipulated. And so, and it's it's it's kind of deep when people try to spin you and they don't think that you they they don't think that you see them. I see you.

866
04:27:57.199 --> 04:28:14.319
I see you and my BS meter is very sharp and so and Dr. King, I respect you more than this. I I I I respect you more than this. I fought for you and I'm hurt.

867
04:28:14.319 --> 04:28:39.520
And many of the people that are in your ear did not did not. And so I'll stop there. Mr. President, >> member Boyce, >> I wrote a speech and it says, "I'm so

868
04:28:39.520 --> 04:28:55.760
glad to have the opportunity to be here today." But that anyway, I just thought I'd throw that out there. Um, I know I'm surrounded by people who love our schools and kids. Um, I want to thank Dr. King and her staff for the first iteration of this budget. I want to

869
04:28:55.760 --> 04:29:11.279
thank my school leaders who shared their concerns and opened up about the challenges that this budget created for them. Um, I also have to say that I always have to be rooted in my values.

870
04:29:11.279 --> 04:29:29.359
Um, when I first got on the board, President Stacy Davis Gates looked me like dead in my eyes and she said, "Do you know your northstar?" And I had to I was taken a little bit of back cuz I I don't think I could articulate it and and I know that to be a super important

871
04:29:29.359 --> 04:29:46.399
part of this journey. And so when I when I started um this volunteer job, I knew my job was to make certain that um I was a good steward of the Westside um schools. I've visited most of the 64 schools in my district and I've been

872
04:29:46.399 --> 04:30:02.239
immersed in their accomplishments and challenges. And when I look at our budget and see $20 million in cuts just to my district, just to 5B, I feel like a failure. When I know this budget asks me to fire

873
04:30:02.239 --> 04:30:18.239
2400 people, I h I feel like I've lost my way. Um I still I'll be honest with you, I still feel the loss of the 100 safe passage workers that we let go of last year in addition to the other staff cuts. We

874
04:30:18.239 --> 04:30:35.120
know those um folks just their mere presence equates to 15% reduction in crime, but I wonder if there's a a kid who never made it home based on on the votes that happen in this room. Um but there's nothing in me that thinks

875
04:30:35.120 --> 04:30:52.319
removing 2400 people from our schools makes anything better. Um and you know, I understand people talk about the changes in population. Um, the population has changed over the last 10 years, but 10 years ago, our schools

876
04:30:52.319 --> 04:31:08.000
were not staffed appropriately either. We were 49th in the country in funding. So, comparing what we're supposed to have with what was going on 10 years ago is a sham. Um,

877
04:31:08.000 --> 04:31:24.239
so, uh, so I'm I'm listening to the budget as it develops. I see there's a hundred a $100 TIFF um request from this body to

878
04:31:24.239 --> 04:31:41.359
to to the city. I call some people at the city. I'm like, "You guys got 100 million?" Cuz everything everything that happens, I I make a phone call or two just to double check. And they're like, "It's going to be really tough." Um so then

879
04:31:41.359 --> 04:31:56.960
a week later, the number just goes up to 200. And then I say I called that person at the city. I was like, "Oh, you found some more money." And they were like, "No, I don't know how we're supposed to get to 200." Um, and I called another person cuz that person might have been

880
04:31:56.960 --> 04:32:14.399
like maybe uninformed. So I called another person and they were like, "Dude." Um, so in the collo the colloquial language. So then um Diane Palmer by all rights and God bless you for fighting for um our special ed

881
04:32:14.399 --> 04:32:30.239
students and for seekas. Um she writes a letter I think we got it on Tuesday and on Wednesday 85 million more dollars of tiff money showed up like $285 million in tiff money when we don't have any

882
04:32:30.239 --> 04:32:47.920
asurances for anybody at the city in the offices. I haven't heard it from any of the aldermen. I haven't seen any letters. I haven't seen any information saying that that 285 is available. But you know what we do have? We have the education mayor. We his legendary tiff

883
04:32:47.920 --> 04:33:03.279
surpluses have bailed us out for the last two years. And so we're assuming he's going to find that 285. But Tiff fund will not fix our structural deficit problems. We need to talk to the state

884
04:33:03.279 --> 04:33:18.160
and um I'm not sure how long Wally that you worked with at the state or you were a legislator but I think there are opportun you're not okay. I just wanted to make sure because um

885
04:33:18.160 --> 04:33:34.719
I I I know that there's opportunities on the state level for them to give us money and it's the money that we're owed and it's the money that we need and it's the money that we keep asking for. But as soon as we even allude to the fact

886
04:33:34.719 --> 04:33:50.000
that we're going to throw it into the CPS budget, the Senate the um speaker of the house says we got you. I'm 110% sure we got you. All of a sudden, Don Harmon's talking about it. And then I

887
04:33:50.000 --> 04:34:04.959
see the the the governor, Governor Pritsker, who said, "We don't have any money for CPS." There's a paragraph in capital facts you wouldn't believe. It's it's like half a page long. Now he's talking about CPS.

888
04:34:04.959 --> 04:34:20.639
We have to keep us in the conversation and cowtowing and bowing down and pretending like these aren't real, that these cuts aren't real. 2400 teachers, educators, assistant principal, let me

889
04:34:20.639 --> 04:34:37.680
tell you about the assistant principal, my favorite one, my um two little boys coming to the office. Three little boys come in the office. They said that girl, she's scratching my face and she beat me up. And um they it was my daughter, my youngest. They said, "Bring her in

890
04:34:37.680 --> 04:34:53.520
here." And um she came in furious. She was stomping her and everything. And she was pissed. And she said, "I didn't do it. They came after me." Blah blah blah. They had a whole conversation. The boys ended up admitting that they hit her

891
04:34:53.520 --> 04:35:10.639
first. But that assistant principal is the one who kept her out of trouble, who kept her from her name being on a list or and kept her belief that she was safe in her own school. These little this 2400 is a lot and we

892
04:35:10.639 --> 04:35:28.160
have to act like we care. And just because you don't the amendment came late, I'm I'm a I'm I'm You're right. We should have been talking about this earlier, but we found $85 million in 24 hours um on Tuesday. Can we find some

893
04:35:28.160 --> 04:35:44.959
more money that allows for the state to give us what they owe us? That's what I'm asking. And so I had a whole long speech and it was so pleasant, but I just got so frustrated. But I'm I'm telling you, we have to do

894
04:35:44.959 --> 04:36:00.240
this. This is important. This isn't a game of let's see who can who can get out of what. I this is important and it's going to make a difference. Be bold. Be courageous. You will be part of

895
04:36:00.240 --> 04:36:16.799
changing history. You will be part of making sure that the state knows that they are part of this whole system and they owe us money. It's not [clears throat] a handout. Thank you. >> Member Smith.

896
04:36:16.799 --> 04:36:32.719
Thank you, Mr. President. Uh, I want to ask you, 285 million in TIFF is a conservative estimate based on all of the previous years, would you say? >> I would. Yes. And considering that the

897
04:36:32.719 --> 04:36:50.000
city is having its own uh budget uh problems, uh it will be probably dipping into that surplus, which means that they probably owe us more than 285 legally if they dip into that their surplus to fill

898
04:36:50.000 --> 04:37:08.080
up their budget. Is that correct? >> It's impossible to say for sure, but I imagine that'll be part of the conversation during the city budget process. >> Okay. So, it's it's really odd to me that we're complaining about getting $85 million from the city when really we're

899
04:37:08.080 --> 04:37:23.920
probably owed more. It's really odd to me that we're saying we can't depend we have to really pound the state, pound the state when we're going to need a in the general assembly, we'll need a 71-

900
04:37:23.920 --> 04:37:40.879
36 vote uh in order to make that happen. just in the uh state, not the not the Senate, just in the rep house. Uh so that's a real uphill battle. I I want to I I'm hearing these things about the uh speaker of the house, Welch, who made

901
04:37:40.879 --> 04:37:57.119
the statement that he is in full support of us. I I saw that clip and he looked like he was in duress and he looked like uh when I when I saw it, I said, "Brother, blink twink twice if you need me." And I'll tell you exactly what the

902
04:37:57.119 --> 04:38:13.199
brother said because some of his statement is being said, but the whole statement is not being said. The whole statement was, I don't know if we can do a special session. I can commit to a veto session in November. We got to pass

903
04:38:13.199 --> 04:38:28.240
a budget so people can get paid now. I want my teachers paid now. I want the I want special ed teachers now. I want that extra $143 million in this balanced budget right now. I don't I just told

904
04:38:28.240 --> 04:38:43.840
you I want it now. I I'm I'm not tripping. I'm not tripping. I love y'all. You y'all know it's our love. But what I'm saying is we deserve it now. And so I'm not saying we're not going to fight in Springfield. Yes, we got to do that. But why are we

905
04:38:43.840 --> 04:39:00.080
limit if we say we want fully funded schools? You fight Maria Poppins, you go to Brandon Johnson, you go to the governor, you go everywhere because our kids deserve it. And I agree with member Blae. It ain't welfare or a handout. It's my mama. It's my uh grandmama

906
04:39:00.080 --> 04:39:19.199
property tax money and she deserve it because tiffs come from her property taxes. Thank you. >> We will close out this discussion. I I just want to make one statement though as as we we close this out.

907
04:39:19.199 --> 04:39:36.080
It's a cautionary tale as as I sit here and listen to the different analysis. I think the board is right to evaluate everything closely to determine the likelihood of one source of revenue over the other. But I think the part that

908
04:39:36.080 --> 04:39:51.280
concerns me is that we become a little bit too cavalier over the expectation of tiff. And just looking linearly at the data, looking at what has happened historically totally

909
04:39:51.280 --> 04:40:07.360
uh takes away the reality of the politics of the moment. And that is a factor that contributes to what has happened historically over the last couple years. We can't take that out and just look directly at the data and have

910
04:40:07.360 --> 04:40:25.440
that as our sole source of assurance. I could tell you as a board member, as president, that doesn't give me the assurance that you think that it may. the conversations directly with the mayor's office, the

911
04:40:25.440 --> 04:40:43.280
budget director, and everyone associated has not shared the same sentiment that we should be comfortable in this assessment. So my only cautionary tale to the entire board is do not rest with an assurance that the 285 is coming and

912
04:40:43.280 --> 04:40:58.878
everything else we should just be focusing on. that too has an element of risk that has not been substantiated by any account that I can have determined and I've looked forward. I've this is something that I want. I don't care

913
04:40:58.878 --> 04:41:14.480
where the money comes from um quite frankly, but it has to be if we're going to evaluate risk. I just want it to be underscored that that 2852 is risky. And as we talk about it, we

914
04:41:14.480 --> 04:41:30.560
talk about it with a certainty and assurance that could leave us in a in a desperate situation if th those resources aren't fully realized. So that's my only comment. There's no need to respond. Um we can

915
04:41:30.560 --> 04:41:59.280
move on. Thank you both for your presentation. Thank you. We'll now open the floor for questions or comments on the public agenda. Beginning with RS1, adopt the annual school budget for

916
04:41:59.280 --> 04:42:17.360
fiscal year 2027. RS2 resolution adopting a final one-year capital improvement plan of the board of education of the city of Chicago for fiscal year 2027. RS3, a resolution levying property tax

917
04:42:17.360 --> 04:42:35.280
and authorizing and directing the filing of a controller certificate for the fiscal year 2027 for school and capital improvement purposes of the board of education of the city of Chicago. RS4 resolution authorizing the issuance of

918
04:42:35.280 --> 04:42:50.638
educa educational purposes tax anticipation warrants and notes of the board of education of the city of Chicago and a maximum principal amount not to exceed 1 bill650 million outstanding

919
04:42:50.638 --> 04:43:13.120
are six resend board report 25-104-EX2 established Chicago High School for the Arts as a district- managed fine and performing arts school and adopt a new resolution to invest in arts education, support the Chicago High School for the

920
04:43:13.120 --> 04:43:36.798
Arts School community, and preserve the pre-professional arts training. There'll be a separate vote taken after MO3. So you can provide your questions and comments for that item before we

921
04:43:36.798 --> 04:43:55.520
proceed with the separate vote or board members. Are there any comments or questions or any of the items on the public agenda? Are there reports that you wish to be removed from the consent agenda as a separate vote? Member Kuster. Uh,

922
04:43:55.520 --> 04:44:12.040
>> thank you, board president. Um, I am going to motion to take a quick 20-minute recess. It's my understanding that there is an updated legal brief for us in our emails that should be read. >> Is there a second? >> I second.

923
04:44:12.240 --> 04:44:56.878
>> We'll move to a vote. >> We'll now proceed with the electronic voting. Board members, please cast your vote. Board member Pope, can you let us know what your vote is? Board member Po, can you let us know yes

924
04:44:56.878 --> 04:45:37.240
or no to take a 20 minute recess? I'm trying to say no. I'm sorry. I had trouble unmuting. Did you hear me? Yes, we cast the vote for you. >> Thank you so much.

925
04:45:48.240 --> 04:46:30.840
>> Not everyone has voted. This is for recess. >> This is for a 20 minute recess. The remaining board members aren't in the boardroom at this point. You can close the voting.

926
04:46:34.240 --> 04:47:19.520
This fails of adoption. We have how many eyes? Eight eyes. Zero abstensions. Nine nays. Nose. Members, please via your email. >> We'll now proceed with the vote on public agenda items. Board Secretary,

927
04:47:19.520 --> 04:47:35.040
please proceed. >> Thank you, President Har. I'll proceed with the items on the public agenda. Read the board report numbers and the brief titles. I believe board member Bole has motion MO2 regarding the record of proceedings. I move that the record of proceedings of the agenda review

928
04:47:35.040 --> 04:47:52.718
committee meeting of June 10th, 2026 and the board meeting of June 25th, 2026 prepared by the board secretary be approved and that such records of proceedings be posted on the Chicago Board of Education website in accordance with section 2.06B

929
04:47:52.718 --> 04:48:10.798
of the Open Meetings Act. >> Is there a second? >> I second the motion, Lopez. We'll now proceed with the electronic voting. Board members, please cast your vote. Board member Pope, can you let us know

930
04:48:10.798 --> 04:49:04.600
what your vote will be? Yes or no? Yes. >> Board member Pope. Yes. All members present have cast their vote. It can be closed. The eyes have it. 17 eyes, zero nays, zero abstensions.

931
04:49:09.200 --> 04:49:23.920
President Harden, I'll continue with items that do require a vote. RS5, resolution authorize appointment of members to local school councils for the new terms of office. PO1 rescend and adopt new concussion

932
04:49:23.920 --> 04:49:41.040
management policy. PO2 rescend and adopt new op a new option school academic accountability policy. EX1 transfer of funds. EX2 amend the fifth final option to renew the intergovernmental agreement with the Department of Family and

933
04:49:41.040 --> 04:49:56.080
Support Services. President Harden, this amendment is necessary to extend the agreement to August 31st, 2026. I'll continue with PR1, authorize a new agreement with SAGA Innovations, Inc. PR2, authorize a new

934
04:49:56.080 --> 04:50:13.280
agreement with Arbiter Sports LLC. PR3, authorize the first renewal agreement with various vendors for managing environmental consulting services. PR4, report on the award of construction contracts and changes to construction contracts for the board's capital

935
04:50:13.280 --> 04:50:28.958
improvement program. PR5 authorize a new agreement with various vendors for field support services. PR6 authorize the first and second final renewal agreements with various technical services consultants. President Harden, for the record, I would like to note an

936
04:50:28.958 --> 04:50:44.878
extension by Vice President VeZ on PR6 for the following vendor CDW government LLC vendor number three. I'll continue with PR7. authorize the pre-qualification status of and new agreements with various

937
04:50:44.878 --> 04:50:59.680
vendors to provide safe passage services. President Harden, for the record, I would like to note an extension by board member Gutierrez on PR7 for the whole report and board member Lopez for the following vendors. Catholic Bishop Catholic Bishop of

938
04:50:59.680 --> 04:51:22.760
Chicago DBA St. Sabina Church vendor number seven and SGA Youth Family Services NFP vendor number 14. Is there a motion? >> Is there a second? >> Second.

939
04:51:23.040 --> 04:51:51.280
>> We'll now proceed with the electronic voting with the noted abstensions on PR6 and PR7. Board members, please cast your votes. Board member Pope, can you let us know what your vote will be? >> Yes, please.

940
04:51:51.280 --> 04:52:19.120
>> Thank you. It's It's not show. >> Oh, yeah. Sorry. >> Voting is closed. [laughter] Oh. >> Oh, I thought I did. Oh, sorry. It's

941
04:52:19.120 --> 04:52:35.920
locked. Oh, that's >> the eyes have it. >> What's the button? >> 18 eyes, zero nays, zero abstensions for board reports RS5, P1 and P2, EX1 and

942
04:52:35.920 --> 04:53:00.160
EX2, PR1 through PR6. For PR7, it's 17 eyes, zero Naz, and one abstension. President Harden, I will continue with additional items on the public agenda that do not require a vote. P8 chief chief procurement officer delegation of

943
04:53:00.160 --> 04:53:17.760
authority report for May 2026 and chief financial officer report for May 2026. EX3 report on principal contracts new. EX4 report on principal contracts renewals. AR1 report on board report recisions. President Harden, these items

944
04:53:17.760 --> 04:53:34.320
just need to be accepted by the board. >> Please mark received a file. >> President Harden, I'll continue with items from the general counsel that do require a vote. AR2, appoint assistant general counsel, Department of Law, Alexander J. Smith. AR3, authorize new

945
04:53:34.320 --> 04:53:51.920
retention of various outside council law firms. AR4 authorized continue retention of various outside council law firms. President Harden, I would like to note an extension for board member Gutierrez for the following law firms on AR4. Burke, Warren, McKay, and Saratella PC,

946
04:53:51.920 --> 04:54:09.520
Meer, Brown LLP, and Greenberg Trrow LLP. AR5 workers compensation payment for lumpsum settlement for Will Barker. AR6, approved payment of proposed settlement regarding claims brought by Mary Terry on behalf of ZG.

947
04:54:09.520 --> 04:54:26.878
AR7 approves settlement between the board of education of the city of Chicago and Chicago teachers union on behalf of all affected coaches, athletic directors, and sports leaison. AR8 property tax appeal refund authorized settlement for 3750 North

948
04:54:26.878 --> 04:54:43.920
Lakeshore Drive, Inc. President Harden, these items do require a vote. >> Is there a motion? >> So moved. >> Is there a second? >> I second the motion. We'll now proceed with the electronic voting with the noted abstensions on AR4. Board members, please cast your vote. [laughter]

949
04:54:43.920 --> 04:55:16.000
>> Yes, please. >> Thank you. >> Voting is closed. >> The eyes have it. 19 eyes, zero nazs, zero abstensions. President Harden, I'll continue with items from the board that do require a

950
04:55:16.000 --> 04:55:32.958
vote. RS7, resolution approving interim superintendent, chief executive officer's recommendation to dismiss educational support personnel. President Hart, this resolution is being updated to rem remove Tyiana Campbell from the dismissal resolution. Tyiana Campbell

951
04:55:32.958 --> 04:55:50.240
resigned effective July 27th, 2026. The final resolution will will be included in the agenda of action. RS8 resolution approving interim superintendent chief executive officer's recommendation to dismiss probationary appointed teachers. President Harden, these items do require

952
04:55:50.240 --> 04:56:26.480
a vote. >> Is there a motion? >> So moved. >> Is there a second? >> We'll now proceed with the electronic voting. >> Board members, please cast your vote. Yes, please. We can close the voting.

953
04:56:26.480 --> 04:56:47.600
The eyes have it. 19 I's, zero nays, zero abstensions. President Hart, I believe board member Rio Sierra has motion MO3. I move that the board adopt the minutes of the close session meetings of June 10th, 2026 and June 25th, 2026 pursuant

954
04:56:47.600 --> 04:57:03.040
to section 2.06 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 June 10th, 2026 and June 25th, 2026 shall be maintained as confidential and

955
04:57:03.040 --> 04:57:25.120
not available for public inspection. >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> We will now proceed with the electronic voting. Board members, please cast your vote. >> Yes. Voting is closed.

956
04:57:25.120 --> 04:57:50.400
>> The eyes have it. 19 eyes, zero nays, zero abstensions. President Harden will now proceed with the separate votes as noted earlier with a separate vote on RS1 adopt the annual school budget for fiscal year 2027. This

957
04:57:50.400 --> 04:58:07.360
item does require a vote. >> Is there a motion? >> So moved. >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> This matter is now open for discussion. Any any comments before proceeding to the vote? >> [snorts]

958
04:58:07.360 --> 04:58:22.480
>> Member Boyce. >> I move to amend the budget to respond to community concerns and recent developments in the news by increasing anticipated state revenue by $150 million and using those funds to avoid

959
04:58:22.480 --> 04:58:39.042
making thousands of recent layoffs permanent and to protect students from challenges caused by additional mid-year hiring spending and service cuts. If I receive a second, I will speak to the motion. >> Second. >> Second.

960
04:58:39.042 --> 04:58:55.680
[clears throat] >> Um, again, we are being asked to bake in nearly 2,000 staff cuts that just rolled out and make them permanent after saying we do not want cuts to the classroom. We do not want cuts to the classroom. We do

961
04:58:55.680 --> 04:59:13.280
not want cuts to the classroom. It's it's getting to be almost like the word equity around here. Like just we say it all the time and we're not thoughtful about how we move. We are still being asked to sign off on a one-time funding fix of TIFF funds that

962
04:59:13.280 --> 04:59:29.600
are completely unsecured and we're giving a pass to the state who have a constitutional duty to fund our schools and are the only path to longterm structural solutions. These are real cuts to real people and

963
04:59:29.600 --> 04:59:45.840
real schools. They have an impact on real students. Over 75% of the staff laid off are people of color and in my district 5B saw more positions cut than any other. Um yesterday we received a historic invitation from the speaker of

964
04:59:45.840 --> 05:00:02.080
the house to push through additional funding. I need to take every step possible to restore and protect the schools in my district. We each have that duty. And I'm sorry I sound upset. right now, but I have been threatened. I have been put off. I have been told uh

965
05:00:02.080 --> 05:00:18.958
uh they don't have any information by board staff. And I'm I'm just trying to at least have this conversation. It's hurtful. The state owes us money. The funding formula is going down. We've

966
05:00:18.958 --> 05:00:36.160
gone from 87% down to 74% and the cost of everything is going up. and all we want to do is talk about the city. Uh, member Smith, I will go with you to the city. We're going to demand that 285. But if we're not doing the same, if we're not including the state in this

967
05:00:36.160 --> 05:00:51.760
conversation, we are fooling ourselves and we are robbing our kids of opportunities. So, let's work together to make it clear to our students that cuts to school communities will not come lightly. Let's show our dedicated staff that we also

968
05:00:51.760 --> 05:01:06.160
are dedicated to fighting for them. Let's show families that we will leave no stone unturned to fight for the funding their students need and deserve. Thank you. >> Member Smith.

969
05:01:06.160 --> 05:01:24.878
>> Thank you. I was um today I heard a I heard a CTu member say a poem and it really inspired me and it inspired me so much that I wrote a remix. >> It don't matter. It's my turn to speak.

970
05:01:24.878 --> 05:01:40.320
So the the poem that was written was called Where's the money? This poem is called The Money is There Politics is wild and the system ain't fair. State, city, and county. The money is there.

971
05:01:40.320 --> 05:01:55.680
TIFF dollars are our tax dollars, not CPS welfare. Teachers know the truth. The money is there. Everybody owes our children. They say the mayor gave a billy. Give it again and again and don't

972
05:01:55.680 --> 05:02:13.360
make our city look silly. I will fight with you, member Blae, because I know that we all care. Let's tell Johnson and Pritsker we know the money is there. Now, today we have a choice and that

973
05:02:13.360 --> 05:02:30.400
choice is between a fully realized balanced budget that funds our schools, adds 143 million dollars more to the schools, 1,700 new positions uh for excellent uh schools like Pole Classical, who the

974
05:02:30.400 --> 05:02:45.760
last time I spoke to the principal, they do need their AP back. They do need special ed teachers. They do need that they lost. And whether or not they have them, August 24th, the doors are opening and they are going to be ready to teach.

975
05:02:45.760 --> 05:03:02.958
And that's all schools whether they have it or not. This is not the time to be playing chicken with people's paychecks at the state. I've never said I wouldn't go to the state. I've never said billionaires uh over uh we shouldn't do

976
05:03:02.958 --> 05:03:17.760
uh uh babies over billionaires or uh people over profits. I agree with you totally. All I'm saying is that this is not a eitheror. This is a both and. And if we're going to be really, really honest with ourselves.

977
05:03:17.760 --> 05:03:33.600
When we saw Speaker Welch yesterday, he specifically said in November, what we heard today, all I can go off of is the experts that we pay, is the superintendent that we hired. I believe that they know more with her

978
05:03:33.600 --> 05:03:51.600
superintendent's lure about how to run schools than I know about how to manage a budget than I know. So I look at the data that's given to me from the experts that we hire. That's what I know. And from what we're seeing, we wouldn't get

979
05:03:51.600 --> 05:04:07.920
that money until next year. Let's not play with your paycheck today. Let's Yes. Let's fight. I agree. Let's go. Let's get it. I am down with you. But let's not cut our nose to spite our face. That's called a spherical victory.

980
05:04:07.920 --> 05:04:25.200
When you win, but you lose at the same time. There's a way that we can all win together. And if we're going to all win together, we got to all work together. And all of this stuff people doing about who's on this side and who's on that side and who's with this person or that person, that's silliness.

981
05:04:25.200 --> 05:04:41.440
That's silliness. And it's propaganda. Now, y'all know me. I am accessible. I do office hours. I be in every school more than a lot of people. And the people in the community know me. If you want to fight together, I'm with you. But let's get all the money, not

982
05:04:41.440 --> 05:05:05.040
half of it. Thank you, >> Member Brown. >> Thank you, Mr. President. Um, I want to speak in favor of the amendment. Um, I want to say that I was one of the board members who lobbyed the mayor hard

983
05:05:05.040 --> 05:05:21.920
last year for the tiff surplus. So, I agree with board member Smith. I think uh I I agree with what Commissioner Stamp said when she was here. She said you got to look at, you know, there's an old saying from the

984
05:05:21.920 --> 05:05:37.680
black power movement, Dr. Malana Coringa the creative Kwanza one of his teachings is Kazzy is the blackest of all and that means the work you do is a lot more important than the work the words that you say. So I can stand here before you and say I have lobbyed the mayor not

985
05:05:37.680 --> 05:05:52.878
letting the mayor off the hook but it seems to me in this space all we talk about is the mayor. All we talk about is tiffs. And I want to I want to do a little history because values are beliefs that govern your behavior.

986
05:05:52.878 --> 05:06:09.680
What you believe is what you do. So for three decades, Illinois was 49th in public education due to an over reliance on property taxes despite the fact of having an international city within his midst. This was foundational to creating an

987
05:06:09.680 --> 05:06:25.360
apartheid school system. But schools in Streetville and Lincoln Park by design were far more resourced than schools in Austin and Aguil Gardens. Then in 1995, despite this inequity, former mayor Daly

988
05:06:25.360 --> 05:06:41.280
ignored the progress that was made for the first five years of local school councils and he invented an education crisis and the state of Illinois passed the amendatory act which gave daily mayoral control over the Chicago public

989
05:06:41.280 --> 05:06:58.878
schools as the second city in the United States to have mayoral control. Boston was first. There was no political will to hold Springfield accountable at that time. The result, over 161 school closings,

990
05:06:58.878 --> 05:07:16.200
88% of them in black communities. The purging of black teachers out of Chicago public schools from 44% in 2000 to roughly 19% today. Thousands of children in the wave of school closings lost and unidentified.

991
05:07:17.520 --> 05:07:32.320
And at this moment, I want to speak to the spiritual memory of Darien Albert who died on September 24th, 2009 as he was going to Finger High School because his school, Carver High School

992
05:07:32.320 --> 05:07:48.958
in Aguil Gardens was closed. I want to speak to the spiritual memory of Edwin Anderson who I knew who went to Diet High School after Inglewood High School closed because as a community we understood that if you get off that third and King Drive bus and you below

993
05:07:48.958 --> 05:08:05.440
25 you gang affiliated whether you gang affiliated or not. That community wisdom was ignored and I went to Edward's funeral. And I want to say at that time the political will was not there to hold the state accountable.

994
05:08:05.440 --> 05:08:21.840
As our community suffered, the state ignored our pleas for a moratorum on school closings. Three different years, 2009, 2010, 2012, we went to the state begging them for a moratorium on school closures and

995
05:08:21.840 --> 05:08:39.120
they refused. My point in this is that the state has caused harm and they owe us values. Well, the former Senate President of the State Senate killed four bills

996
05:08:39.120 --> 05:08:53.840
calling for democracy in Chicago education. I want to say again, values are beliefs that govern your behavior. What you believe is what you do. So when I when I hear an aversion

997
05:08:53.840 --> 05:09:10.240
to truly holding accountable all the people that owe us money and we going at one target, the mayor, I want you to know I see through it. We see through it. Values are beliefs that govern your behavior. Who are you

998
05:09:10.240 --> 05:09:26.958
protecting? Who don't you want to be held accountable? This isn't looking for a handout from the state. Have we ever seen the speaker of the house invite us in supporting supplemental school funding like this and then the Senate President backing

999
05:09:26.958 --> 05:09:42.400
him up? One of my mentors taught me this lesson that sticks with me in different parts of my life. He said, "All you need to make change is time, space, and will." The political will was

1000
05:09:42.400 --> 05:09:59.680
not there in 2017. We sit in these seats not respecting the political will that we forced to create this opportunity. There's an arrogance in that. There's a deep arrogance in that. For the people that went to jail for the right for you to sit in these

1001
05:09:59.680 --> 05:10:14.878
seats. For the people who sat outside in the cold and froze in front of Chicago public schools. Who took over John Cullton's bar on Rush Street and demanded the right to have an elected school board. who wrote the referendum

1002
05:10:14.878 --> 05:10:31.200
to prove that Chicago can have an elected school board. There's an arrogance and I want you to know I see you. I see you. You're not fooling nobody. So what we're calling for in this moment

1003
05:10:31.200 --> 05:10:46.560
is not letting the city off the hook. There's no evidence that we've ever done that >> ever. >> There's no evidence. But there is evidence of people for some reason not wanting to hold accountable the body that actually owes us a billion dollars.

1004
05:10:46.560 --> 05:11:03.920
The the the body that has actually done harm. We need and and so I want to say to you, one of my goals, if I'm if I'm blessed enough to be reelected, one of my goals is to end the year with CPS in the black, with CPS not having a $500

1005
05:11:03.920 --> 05:11:19.840
million deficit, a $400 million deficit. And in order to do that, we must fix the structural uh uh break that is in Chicago public schools. We need progressive revenue, real structural solutions, not political theater. Beyond

1006
05:11:19.840 --> 05:11:34.560
this immediate crisis, this is the time to heal the wound of structural underfunding of Illinois schools. If you look at other large urban districts, Los Angeles funds between 58 and 70% of their schools from the state of

1007
05:11:34.560 --> 05:11:52.000
California. New York 40 to 48%. Chicago 29%. Legitimate progressive revenue legislation has been proposed by Senator Martwick, Representative Theres Ma, and others. I am reminded and I'll close with this of one of the quotes from one

1008
05:11:52.000 --> 05:12:07.520
of my heroes Elhaj Malik El Shabbaz Malcolm X. If you stick a knife in my back 9 in and you pull it out 6 in, there's no progress. If you pull it all the way out, that's not progress.

1009
05:12:07.520 --> 05:12:25.520
The progress is healing the wound that the blow made. And they don't even want to admit that the knife is there. It's important that when we have conversations, we have honest conversations about where the deficit lies. And I'm really concerned about our

1010
05:12:25.520 --> 05:12:43.560
aversion to having a holistic approach. We passed a legislative agenda finally and we are hoping that Chicago public schools will work in coalition with the people that are that have created this moment.

1011
05:12:44.000 --> 05:12:58.798
values, our beliefs that govern your behavior. What you believe is what you do. We have no excuse not to be working together to win this for our school. That's it. Thank you, >> Vice President Bas.

1012
05:12:58.798 --> 05:13:14.560
>> Uh, thank you so much, President Harden. Um, this is a difficult time and I know we have had a lot of conversations, but I'm I rise in support of this amendment. Um, I also would like to take a page from

1013
05:13:14.560 --> 05:13:32.560
board member Smith and I try to do my remix but a little bit different. I title it they not like us. >> Copy right there. >> Fear is what you sell when you have nothing to offer. And Chicago that's what you are about to

1014
05:13:32.560 --> 05:13:48.798
hear that the sky is falling doom disaster. Earlier we were being threatened from board members who are backed by billionaires. The same crowd that has been closing schools in the black and brown communities for decades since the

1015
05:13:48.798 --> 05:14:06.400
dailies. They mentioned earlier that our plan rely on assumptions. But let me tell you how their number was born. A letter showed up and 10 minutes later calls started ringing. But I didn't get a call. Some members

1016
05:14:06.400 --> 05:14:23.280
did. They were counting votes. They were just two splitters apart. Somehow they assume an extra $85 million into existence. Took a number from 200 to 285 off a piece of paper. Did they get a commitment from the city

1017
05:14:23.280 --> 05:14:40.638
council? Nope. Did they talk to city's budget director? Nope. Assumptions for some, not for others. That's not budgeting. That's politics. And that's irresponsible. Well, but us fighting for every classroom, we have a track record of

1018
05:14:40.638 --> 05:14:57.360
that. But why the have they done in 12 months barely anything? That's not leadership. That's obstruction with a name plate. They're not like us. But this isn't about them. It's about our children. I have a kid in CPS, by the way.

1019
05:14:57.360 --> 05:15:14.400
This is not a classroom. A classroom is not a line item. It is a promise. It is our responsibility. you know, a kid with IP should should be getting a commitment uh to getting the help they need to thrive. Uh but we believe in abundance.

1020
05:15:14.400 --> 05:15:30.080
I don't believe in scarcity. I believe in account accountability for everyone. City Hall, our central office, and Springfield, which wrote a funding promise into law and walked away from his bill. But I'm glad to see that

1021
05:15:30.080 --> 05:15:46.878
they're trying to make amends and and that's really wonderful. Uh 2,000 position cuts, it touches the classroom. Um I want my son to have the best education, you know, that any kid in one of the top

1022
05:15:46.878 --> 05:16:02.638
private schools could ever have. Um care taxes are not a budget plan, but this amendment is. And I I really rise in support because we have fought we have walked with many union members outside the lunchroom workers who who

1023
05:16:02.638 --> 05:16:17.360
were outside. We stood up with them. We stand with you know uh with CTU. We stand with SEIU. We stand in getting all those positions back because this really impacts all of us and our children just

1024
05:16:17.360 --> 05:16:36.480
deserve better. Thank you. Member Wallace. >> Thank you, Mr. President. I um I just wanted to share some frustrations that were on my heart. It's the last uh 72 hours or so. I apologize for anyone who has heard those frustrations

1025
05:16:36.480 --> 05:16:53.120
already. Um but I'm going to speak as a parent volunteer that I am. I uh sit among some amazing people, some activists, teachers, um principles, doctors. Um, but I come as as just a parent and that's the the perspective I

1026
05:16:53.120 --> 05:17:10.480
have. So, um, I'm frustrated because we're here again looking at a budget that reflects cuts because we don't have the money that we are owed. Um, I'm frustrated to be governed by a different set of rules where if I don't pay my bills or make the obligations I promised

1027
05:17:10.480 --> 05:17:26.798
on time, I have repercussions. >> I'd have my lights cut off, a lean put on my house, my credit ruined. Um, I along with my neighbors paid at my taxes uh that have continued to go up expecting them to be used to fund

1028
05:17:26.798 --> 05:17:44.160
various things including our schools. And as I look at the rest of the state, I can't even lament and say that they're giving it to the rest of the state because it doesn't look like any of our school districts are being funded the way they're supposed to be. Um, so as Miss Shade said, where is our money?

1029
05:17:44.160 --> 05:18:00.718
It is not enough to tell us what we are owed or even how much you've already given, especially when you have not yet made us whole. I don't have the luxury of telling those coming to collect on my bills that it will be late or I don't have it without suffering what much Miss Shaw mentioned, consequences to my

1030
05:18:00.718 --> 05:18:18.000
family. And the consequences have thus far seemingly not been felt by the entities unable or unwilling to offer what is owed to our students. They are being felt by our families and students that paid their fair share, that did their part in maintaining public schools, expecting the entities that

1031
05:18:18.000 --> 05:18:33.360
impact our funds to uphold and do their part. And look, I'm aware we haven't had the greatest funding situation in our district since at least the 70s. But I can't help but notice it feels like that now that our Chicago students are getting what they actually deserve, we

1032
05:18:33.360 --> 05:18:48.480
suddenly aren't even receiving the less than complete funding we had been getting in a timely manner. It is often the way of those who see something is working and are afraid of changing the status quo or outright don't want progress to slow or remove funding from

1033
05:18:48.480 --> 05:19:04.240
it. We have been incredibly reactive as a district, something I've brought up before and I'm hoping we can become more proactive. I don't see that happening though until we stop focusing on all the reasons we believe something can't be done and start focusing on the ways in which we

1034
05:19:04.240 --> 05:19:25.760
could actually make it happen. member Ozano. >> Thank you, Mr. President. I too am feeling a lot of frustration and anxiety. Uh, and I'm a bit nervous. Uh, but I will say what I have to say, what's in my heart. I want to let you

1035
05:19:25.760 --> 05:19:43.280
all know that we've been told, I've been told, and families have been told in the barios that uh, don't fight for that because you're not going to get it. They're not going to listen to you impossibly. They're giants and we're too little. But

1036
05:19:43.280 --> 05:20:01.440
then I remember my brother Rudy Loausano and he said, "There are no great men or women in the world, only great challenges that ordinary people must take on." And I remember Cesa Chavez saying C. I know people talk about him now, but Cece

1037
05:20:01.440 --> 05:20:17.440
and I'm just saying to the governor and the state of Illinois, pay your bills. You owe us the money. And we here arguing with each other. Good people. Every single one of you here has a good heart and you love the children. And I

1038
05:20:17.440 --> 05:20:33.760
respect each and every one of you. But we cannot get played and fight each other because the state of Illinois doesn't want to pay their bills. We have to make them pay their bills. And we're not going to do that just keep throwing it back on the mayor. He's a good guy. He did it last time. He's going to do it

1039
05:20:33.760 --> 05:20:52.638
again this time. We know he will because we're going to pressure him to do so. But what I'm saying now is that we need to make sure period. Pay your bills. We can't let them off the hook. Our children deserve

1040
05:20:52.638 --> 05:21:08.480
it. And we and my schools in 7A, Cardinz, Chicago Tech High School, Chicago Language, Cooper, where I went to school, Corkery, Farragate, Fina, all of our schools deserve not to get any cuts. And that's what we're about. No

1041
05:21:08.480 --> 05:21:26.480
cuts, no closings, no furlows, no BS. So, we're calling on the state of Illinois to do this and we will do what we have to do today to make sure that happens. Gracias. >> Member Gutierrez.

1042
05:21:26.480 --> 05:21:40.718
>> You know, every member of the Chicago Board of Education wants the same outcome. Protecting classrooms, supporting educators, and ensuring every child receives the education they deserve. I appreciate the passion of my colleagues advocating on behalf of our

1043
05:21:40.718 --> 05:21:55.920
students. They are right about one thing. Illinois has not [clears throat] fully funded Chicago public school under the evidence-based funding formula. That remains a broken promise. Where we disagree is not on the destination. It

1044
05:21:55.920 --> 05:22:13.120
is on how we responsibly get there. The question before us is not whether Springfield owes us Chicago more. It does. The question is whether the board of education should adopt a budget that depends on revenue that have not yet

1045
05:22:13.120 --> 05:22:29.600
been approved, appropriated or guaranteed. Ironically, this is not a new debate. Nearly a decade ago, the Chicago Teachers Union star strongly criticized CPS for building budgets

1046
05:22:29.600 --> 05:22:45.360
around what it called at the time phantom money. In 2017, CTU argued that relying on uncertain state revenue created instability, delayed difficult decisions, and place

1047
05:22:45.360 --> 05:22:59.920
schools in jeopardy if they were promised dollars failed to materialize. The union's warning was straightforward. Budgets should reflect resources that are actually available, not simply those

1048
05:22:59.920 --> 05:23:15.760
we hope will arrive. The historical lesson deserves consideration today. Advocating for additional state investment is not incompatible with adopting a financially responsible

1049
05:23:15.760 --> 05:23:32.000
budget. In fact, the two should go hand in hand. What concerns me is the timing. If additional legislation authority, new state appropriations, expanded county financing, or significant new local re

1050
05:23:32.000 --> 05:23:47.040
revenues were essentially to balancing the budget, then those conversations should have begun months ago. And I think this body has argued that not in the final days before the board has been asked to vote. Legislation does not move

1051
05:23:47.040 --> 05:24:04.560
overnight. Coalitions are not built overnight. Appropriations are not negotiated overnight. The general assembly operates on calendars, committee deadlines, fiscal notes, and negotiated compromises. Successful

1052
05:24:04.560 --> 05:24:21.200
legislative agendas require months of planning, coalition building, and discipline advocacy. Imagine where we might be today had we coordinated a legislative strategy beginning last fall. Imagine

1053
05:24:21.200 --> 05:24:38.240
if board members, city hall, labor partners, parents, business leaders, and Springfield legislators had spent the past year advancing a unified package of solutions. Imagine if we had entered the budget

1054
05:24:38.240 --> 05:24:54.718
season with enacted authority instead of hope for authority. Those are fair questions, not because the ideas are wrong, but because leadership requires acting early enough for good ideas to become reality.

1055
05:24:54.718 --> 05:25:11.200
That does not mean we stop advocating. Far from it. We should continue demanding that Illinois fully fund public education under the evidence-based funding formula. We should continue urging the city of Chicago to declare a meaningful tiff

1056
05:25:11.200 --> 05:25:26.798
surplus. We should continue exploring reasonable financial tools that reduce borrowing costs. We should continue pursuing long-term structural revenue solutions. But advocacy and budgeting

1057
05:25:26.798 --> 05:25:43.280
serve different purposes. Advocacy asks what should happen. Budgeting requires us to decide based on what we know today while we're preparing for what will happen tomorrow. Our district already

1058
05:25:43.280 --> 05:25:59.440
faces significant cash flows. Existing borrowing authority is nearing its legal limits and delaying budget approval risk the district's ability to authorize financing needed to meet payroll and

1059
05:25:59.440 --> 05:26:15.200
maintain operations in the coming months. Those are practical realities that cannot simply be wished away. I have consistently argued that we should exhaust every available re revenue option before asking classrooms

1060
05:26:15.200 --> 05:26:30.878
to absorb the burden. That includes calling on the city to declare a substantially larger tiff surplus and begin long-term planning for FY28 immediately after adopting the FY27

1061
05:26:30.878 --> 05:26:47.760
budget. Those positions are not inconsistent with fiscal responsibility. They reinforce it. The students of Chicago deserve more than annual budget crisis. They deserve predictable funding. They deserve honest planning.

1062
05:26:47.760 --> 05:27:03.680
They deserve a board that advocates aggressively while budgeting reasonably. More importantly, they deserve leaders who will begin to solve next year's problems long before next year's budget arrives. If there is one lesson we

1063
05:27:03.680 --> 05:27:21.120
should all take from this year's debate is this. The work to balance the FY28 budget must begin the day again after FY27 budgets adopted. Not next spring, not next summer, and certainly not the

1064
05:27:21.120 --> 05:27:36.718
week before another difficult vote. That is how we protect classrooms, restore public confidence, and fulfill our responsibility to the students and taxpayers of Chicago. >> Member Rosenfeld.

1065
05:27:36.718 --> 05:27:51.520
>> Uh I have there is no aversion to a holistic support, a holistic strategy. We just have to live in our reality right now. One of the most frustrating things here for me today is as a board, we voted almost unanimously

1066
05:27:51.520 --> 05:28:07.040
in favor of Dr. King. She presents us with a budget and we come right at it where I value I value district leaders. I value the people that have worked hard on this. I value Dr. King as the CEO and

1067
05:28:07.040 --> 05:28:24.718
superintendent of CPS. The first time she does this for us, we all come at it. It makes no sense. Where is the faith in the district leadership? the budget isn't balanced with the state revenue assumption. Dr. King made it

1068
05:28:24.718 --> 05:28:43.040
clear, our our our um CFO made it clear. If that money doesn't come through that money from Springfield, we will have to go to school budgets. There will be mid-year cuts. I'll be in this seat in the middle of next school year. I don't want to clean that up. I don't want to

1069
05:28:43.040 --> 05:29:00.080
have to deal that. Let's do the right thing now. Um, I want to make sure that everybody understands that there is no state special session right now. It's not coming in time to solve for the FY27

1070
05:29:00.080 --> 05:29:15.600
school year budget. We have to pass this budget right now. 100 million added to EBF for CPS costs about 500 million because we are one district in Illinois. We are here in Chicago. We need to take care of ourselves here. I agree. Let's

1071
05:29:15.600 --> 05:29:31.200
go to Springfield. I think Speaker Welch does want to talk to us. He did invite us in. Let's begin those conversations at veto session, but that's not going to pass this budget. I value people getting paid. I value our workers getting paid on time so that they can pay their

1072
05:29:31.200 --> 05:29:48.240
bills. That's what we need to do today to pass this budget. >> Member Bigs, >> thank you. Um, so we tried this exact move nearly a decade ago and the results were catastrophic. I clearly remember the furlow days that came. I remember

1073
05:29:48.240 --> 05:30:03.840
the layoffs. I remember how staff lost hard-earned cost of living adjustments. I don't understand why we're proposing the same thing that Rahm Emanuel and Forest Clayool did and expecting a different outcome. This amendment is

1074
05:30:03.840 --> 05:30:20.558
delusional at best and deeply harmful to students and working people at worst. This amendment will result in twice as many layoffs as are in the current budget. It will ensure furls for the entire district. This amendment will increase our debt service costs and

1075
05:30:20.558 --> 05:30:36.638
force CPS to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in borrowing costs each year, diverting desperately needed funds away from our classrooms. and any member voting for this amendment is ensuring this eventuality. Nothing in

1076
05:30:36.638 --> 05:30:53.440
the budget, as it's proposed, prevents us from advocating together in Springfield for fully funded schools. This board cannot repeat the mistakes of the past. So, let's reject the amendment, pass Dr. King's budget as it is currently proposed, and come together to work with our legislature and our

1077
05:30:53.440 --> 05:31:12.718
governor for the funds that we so desperately need. Member Zachor. >> Thank you, President Harden. We are a representative school board, the the first representative school board ever. We represent the parents, students, and

1078
05:31:12.718 --> 05:31:29.520
staff of the schools in each of our districts as as well as of the city. What I have heard from my schools is deep concern about the impacts the cuts they are experiencing already will have. Some principles in my district have expressed doubt that they will be able

1079
05:31:29.520 --> 05:31:44.718
to ensure the same quality of education given the magnitude of the cuts. I believe them. They are in their schools every day and they know. Newspaper articles are referencing 4% staff cuts across the district on average and the

1080
05:31:44.718 --> 05:32:01.840
budget as is would make those cuts permanent. It is not fiscal responsibility to fill a budget gap by making cuts that will harm our children when there is a pot of money that is literally owed to our schools that we have not made a concerted effort to get.

1081
05:32:01.840 --> 05:32:17.120
If we are fine anticipating money from the city that has not been voted on, then it makes sense to anticipate that we can get funds that are rightfully ours from Springfield when Speaker Welch, President Harmon, and a team of legislators as well as others are

1082
05:32:17.120 --> 05:32:32.400
reaching out to work together with us and saying explicitly they are going to make it happen. As Frederick Douglas said, power conceds nothing without a demand. Our demands are moving the needle. So now is not the time to ease

1083
05:32:32.400 --> 05:32:48.000
off. Now is not the time to be satisfied with business as usual. This is not 2017 and our governor is not rounder. We should not be running scared now because of the circumstances then. I wanted to be on this board to fight for the

1084
05:32:48.000 --> 05:33:05.680
resources our students deserve. And I knew it would be a fight and it is. I will be voting yes for this amendment. >> Member Bannon. [clears throat] Uh, I want to recognize the work of Dr. King, budget staff, all the network chiefs, principles, and

1085
05:33:05.680 --> 05:33:20.480
LSC's for getting the budget to this point. They have our students interest at heart. And I think they went as far as they could with this budget. As a board, however, we can do more. We must do more. We can pass a budget that spotlights the chronic underfunding by

1086
05:33:20.480 --> 05:33:36.558
the state. This revenue projection is backed by recent comments of legislative leaders including my state senator Senator Martwick here today and by state law that says it will fully fund EBF by 2027. Adding this revenue to the budget is not reckless or irresponsible. It's saying to the students, parents, and

1087
05:33:36.558 --> 05:33:52.718
staff of this district that we will do everything we can do to fight for them. What's reckless and irresponsible as a board is doing the same thing and expecting a different result. I'll admit that adding this projection to the budget makes me a little uncomfortable, but not as uncomfortable

1088
05:33:52.718 --> 05:34:08.718
as failing falling into a cycle of balancing our budget with cuts. We cannot cut our way to student success. Uh in my district alone, there's 145 position cuts, 16 at Dirkson, four at Norard Park, nine at Hitch. I'm sure a lot of schools all over the city are

1089
05:34:08.718 --> 05:34:24.958
experiencing that. We can't continue to cut and expect uh parents to want to send their school students to our schools. The state's own funding formula says CPS and other schools across the state are not receiving the minimum state funding that they need to adequately serve students. The state constitution says the state has the primary responsibility to fund

1090
05:34:24.958 --> 05:34:41.718
education, but the state contributions only make up 29% of CPS revenue. This budget amendment says loud and clear that forcing us to cut because of state underfunding is no longer acceptable.

1091
05:34:42.638 --> 05:35:12.798
I recognize member Pope remember member Pope if you can enter or press star six to unmute. >> Can you hear me now? >> Yes, please proceed. Please proceed. Oh, I'm so sorry. Thank you. Uh, yes. I

1092
05:35:12.798 --> 05:35:27.840
spent my career teaching at woefully underfunded neighborhood high schools. We're wonderful students. Many of them from challenging situations in their home lives. Many of them immigrant students who have had a rough way to go

1093
05:35:27.840 --> 05:35:43.840
getting to Chicago. Many of them kids who did not have the kind of support at home because their parents were working two and three jobs. I know the effects of underfunding our schools and those effects are devastating on the lives of

1094
05:35:43.840 --> 05:36:01.440
young people and I cannot in good conscience support a budget that slashes jobs and that slashes opportunities for our youth. It is wrong to do this, especially when we have finally gotten a

1095
05:36:01.440 --> 05:36:18.480
group of very important legislators to commit to joining us arm-in- arm in this fight for our children. This is not just a fight for our children, too. When people say, "Oh, well, other districts are going to want some, too." Well, absolutely, other districts should have

1096
05:36:18.480 --> 05:36:36.080
some, too. We have districts around Chicago where people have moved due to the cost of housing in Chicago and many people are struggling. We have districts downstate near St. Louis where many folks are struggling. We have rural districts where rural poverty is a real

1097
05:36:36.080 --> 05:36:52.160
thing and we need to fund those districts too. We have a Democratic majority and a Democratic supermajority. This is the time for our governor to step up and be a beacon of light for education. This is the time for our

1098
05:36:52.160 --> 05:37:08.958
legislature to show what they can do to help the children of Illinois, whether those children live in Rosland or whether those children live in East St. Louis, Peoria, or anywhere in between. Please support this amendment because

1099
05:37:08.958 --> 05:37:26.000
this amendment is the way forward to getting actual sustainable funding and not to be begging and counting on things that we don't know that we can count on for the future of our children. My children went to CPS. My granddaughter

1100
05:37:26.000 --> 05:37:43.312
is in CPS and I was a teacher for decades. So please hear my cry on behalf of our children. Thank you. Member Kuster. >> Thank you, board president. Um, someone told me once that arguing logic here is pointless. Um, but I would be

1101
05:37:43.312 --> 05:37:59.600
[clears throat] remiss if I didn't at least acknowledge that, um, school code, Illinois school code 344 is pretty clear on what our role here is and school code 3452 is pretty clear on the ramifications.

1102
05:37:59.600 --> 05:38:15.600
This amendment completely fabricates revenue that's not even based on any real good faith estimates, let alone actual revenues. And it's really just pure hallucination. It's not a mistake and it seems like a pretty intentional attempt to place revenue numbers in our budget in order

1103
05:38:15.600 --> 05:38:32.400
to offset undesired spending, but it doesn't take into consideration what happens when those real revenue numbers uh are put into action and the district runs out of money mid year. If the board members are voting yes on this, um it's likefully that you you are willfully

1104
05:38:32.400 --> 05:38:47.200
violating the budget provision of the school code and having this actual knowledge of proposed revenue figures are not based anywhere in reality. Um and we've been put on notice already about this, but I don't expect that

1105
05:38:47.200 --> 05:39:02.558
logic to sink in. But I know that many of you have children in the district and some of you have much older children or you've already seen your children go through the district. Um I have three children. Many of you have met them, been to our home, been a part of our

1106
05:39:02.558 --> 05:39:17.680
life for the last two years. Um my oldest is going into first grade. So whatever the ramifications are from tonight, I will be living with that child for the next decade. And I will have to somehow explain to

1107
05:39:17.680 --> 05:39:34.000
him why he loses teachers midy year, why he loses programming midyear, why his brother will never experience those things or his sister will never experience those things. And there are 60,000 children first grade and under that

1108
05:39:34.000 --> 05:39:50.080
their parents will have to do exactly the same thing. I'm perfectly willing to bring them here and one of you can explain it. But I'm just starting in my children's educational journey and so many of you are on your way out. And this is a real

1109
05:39:50.080 --> 05:40:07.200
reality for me and so many families like mine. 60,000 children like mine. I came here to try to make their experience and all of these children's experience better with the knowledge and experience that I have for my professional career.

1110
05:40:07.200 --> 05:40:24.400
And this makes me incredibly fearful about what my students educational future will look like. So if the logic doesn't work, those of you who have met my children and looked at their smiles, you can think about that, too. Before

1111
05:40:24.400 --> 05:40:42.080
we move to a vote, I just want to remind the board that multiple things can be true and we have a responsibility to be analytical, empathetic, and thoughtful in our decision-m.

1112
05:40:42.080 --> 05:40:58.400
But I'm going to challenge us as we continue to look at difficult decisions that we do so in a way that does not become disrespectful. There's a way that we can convey our convictions

1113
05:40:58.400 --> 05:41:15.200
without it becoming personal attacks on perspectives. We show up here. This is what democracy looks like. 20 different perspectives converging trying to reach a consensus on very challenging matters.

1114
05:41:15.200 --> 05:41:33.200
It does not help the situation when we are attacking each other's perspectives because they are heartfelt. There are lived experiences and that's why we are a diverse board. So, I'm going to challenge us to take a moment to think about how we convey our feelings and

1115
05:41:33.200 --> 05:41:53.920
thoughts in a way that does not offer attacks to our fellow board members. And with that, we'll go to a vote. We will be taking a vote on the amended language as uh motioned by board member Blae and seconded by board member

1116
05:41:53.920 --> 05:42:09.760
Lozano. I do want to clarify though uh for the amended language board member Blae is it increasing anticipated state revenue by 150 million as you noted or is it based

1117
05:42:09.760 --> 05:42:30.160
on the materials that were was shared earlier this morning? >> It's based on the materials. The amended language is on page 10 of the budget book

1118
05:42:30.160 --> 05:42:46.240
at the paragraph starting at the end of this process. After that sentence, it's adding the sentence, after reviewing the impact on students and school communities of over 1,600 position closures and layoffs. And

1119
05:42:46.240 --> 05:43:02.958
given this district's commitment to continued investments in special education, this budget will use additional resources to add back 100 million in funding to resend layoffs and maintain staffing across schools. It is also

1120
05:43:02.958 --> 05:43:20.320
adding number two in that section increase the state funding assumption by $150 million including $50 million additional funding in mandated categorical grants and $100 million in

1121
05:43:20.320 --> 05:43:38.000
additional evidence-based funding. The state of Illinois reports FY2026 revenue exceeded projections by 1.00 003 billion and there are active legislative proposals for additional revenue streams

1122
05:43:38.000 --> 05:43:54.718
and additional public education aotments striking institute five furlow days for all CPS employees to be taken on a non-instructional days between January and June 2027 resulting in 80 million in savings striking that

1123
05:43:54.718 --> 05:44:10.760
out also >> sorry Susan the parentheses we took that out The state of Illinois reports FY 2026, the portion that's in parenthesis >> that's being stricken. >> Yes, please. >> Okay.

1124
05:44:16.958 --> 05:44:38.000
>> It's not necessary. I have a question. Uh I have a question. I just want to know uh if voting yes on this budget uh maybe this is for the superintendent. Would this be considered a balanced

1125
05:44:38.000 --> 05:44:57.360
budget if we v vote yes on this budget? The amendment the amendment >> I have not seen the amendment in its entirety and based on uh the CFO and uh the budget director they're re they're telling me no. it would not be

1126
05:44:57.360 --> 05:45:11.760
considered a balanced budget. >> That's according to what I've been told. >> Okay. Thank you. >> I do want to note that um the first part of the amended language reads proposed amendment language for the budget

1127
05:45:11.760 --> 05:45:27.920
resolution 260730 RS1 amending section two of the resolution adopting the annual school budget for fiscal year 2027. Section two, budget approval. the annual school budget for fiscal year 2027 incorporating exhibit A of this

1128
05:45:27.920 --> 05:45:47.360
resolution and the website at cps.edu/budget as amended by exhibit B is adopted. Uh continuing on where I left off, the section starting with implement

1129
05:45:47.360 --> 05:46:04.718
strikeout a combination strikeout and a district-wide midyear spending and hiring freeze strikeout 112.6 million and adding 62.6 million.

1130
05:46:04.718 --> 05:46:21.400
In the table noted as balancing the FY2027 budget, adding under FY2027 beginning deficit, rescending of layoffs and position closures

1131
05:46:21.760 --> 05:46:40.080
100 million updated remaining deficit 397.6 six uh million increase under updated remaining deficit I'm sorry

1132
05:46:40.080 --> 05:46:56.160
in that section strikeout districtwide midyear spending and hiring freezes with 62.6 6 million adding in increasing state funding assumption

1133
05:46:56.160 --> 05:47:14.000
150 million. Striking out the midyear spending freeze is a measure of last resort. By delaying the implement implementation of this measure until the second half of the school year, we created a critical window between now and December 31st,

1134
05:47:14.000 --> 05:47:28.400
2026. striking out in the next sentence timeline gives adding in at the very end of this paragraph protect our school communities and prevent permanent harm.

1135
05:47:28.400 --> 05:47:44.558
This is the amended language for RS1 adopt the annual school budget for fiscal year 2027. the vote. Can Can we get our CFO or chief budget officer on the record clearly stating whether or not this

1136
05:47:44.558 --> 05:48:07.680
presents a balanced budget proposal? >> We're done with questions already. We're ready to a vote. >> We're in the vote. >> Please proceed. We will now proceed with the electronic voting for the amended language for RS1.

1137
05:48:07.680 --> 05:48:51.798
Board members, please cast your vote. >> Board member Pope, what is your vote? >> Yes. I'm sorry, Susan. Did you hear me? >> Yes, we heard. Your vote has been recorded. >> Thank you. Thank you.

1138
05:48:54.878 --> 05:49:29.760
>> Voting is closed. The eyes have it for the amended language to be added to RS1 with 11 eyes's, seven nazs, and one abstension. We will now need to take a vote on RS1,

1139
05:49:29.760 --> 05:49:50.160
adopt the annual school budget for fiscal year 2027 with that amended language. We'll need a motion. >> So moved. >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> Was that board member Brown that

1140
05:49:50.160 --> 05:50:14.200
seconded? >> Yes, ma'am. We'll now proceed with the electronic voting for RS1 with the amended language added. Board members, please cast your vote.

1141
05:50:17.040 --> 05:50:42.718
Board member Pope, can you let us know what your vote is? Yes, please. Yes. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. All votes have been cast. The voting is

1142
05:50:42.718 --> 05:51:03.558
closed. The eyes have it. Uh with 11 I's, seven nazs, one abstension for RS1, adopt the annual school budget for fiscal year 2027 with amended language.

1143
05:51:11.280 --> 05:51:25.520
President Horn will continue with a separate vote on RS2 resolution adopting a final one-year capital improvement plan of the board of education of the city of Chicago for fiscal year 2027. >> Is there a motion? >> So moved.

1144
05:51:25.520 --> 05:51:44.000
>> Is there a second? >> Second. >> Second. >> I'm sorry. Who's seconded? Vice President V. >> The matter is now open for discussion. Member Brown. >> No, I'm sorry, Mr. President. What What

1145
05:51:44.000 --> 05:52:03.920
M what what what item are we on? I'm sorry. >> We are looking at the capital improvement plan RS2. >> Member Kuster. Um, we didn't really discuss if there's any ramifications of the passing of this

1146
05:52:03.920 --> 05:52:41.520
budget with the amendment on this capital budget. Um, is there any way to know if there's any ramifications of that? Member Custer, your question was directed to whom? >> Anyone who can answer it, I guess. Um, I

1147
05:52:41.520 --> 05:52:58.798
mean, we've just changed, we've passed an illegal budget and changed budget fundamentally. And so, I don't know if that action is going to have an impact now on the proposed capital budget. So, I don't I don't know if anyone can answer that. Maybe there is no answer

1148
05:52:58.798 --> 05:53:25.680
because we don't know what is going to happen. But um even a hypothetical would be appreciated if anyone can answer it. >> I I can say there will be an impact, but right now we're in uncharted territory. So I can't definitively give you a

1149
05:53:25.680 --> 05:53:45.760
response right now. Uh that's something that we'll have to take back as uh we assess next steps with the initial vote and now with this we'll see the decision of this next vote member boy. Are any other questions or comments

1150
05:53:45.760 --> 05:54:04.558
related to the capital plan? >> There being none we'll move to a vote. >> We will now proceed with the electronic voting for RS2. Board members, please cast your vote. >> Board member Pope, can you let us know what your vote is?

1151
05:54:04.558 --> 05:54:28.680
>> Yes. Yes. >> Thank you. >> Voting is closed. >> The eyes have it. 19 eyes, zero nazs, zero abstensions. This item is adopted by the board.

1152
05:54:28.878 --> 05:54:43.920
President Harden will continue with a separate vote on RS3 resolution levying property taxes and authorizing and directing the filing of a controller certificate for the fiscal year 2027 for school and capital improvement

1153
05:54:43.920 --> 05:55:05.680
purposes. >> Is there a motion? >> So moved. >> Is there a second? Second. >> The matter is now open for discussion. >> There being no comments, we'll move to a vote. >> We'll now proceed with the electronic

1154
05:55:05.680 --> 05:55:42.718
voting for RS3. Board members, please cast your vote. >> Yes. >> Yes. >> Thank you. >> Can we cast board member Pope's vote as a yes? Voting is closed. >> The eyes have it. 19 eyes, zero nays,

1155
05:55:42.718 --> 05:56:04.080
zero abstensions. This matter is adopted by the board. President Harden will continue with a separate vote on RS4 resolution authorizing the issuance of educational purposes, tax anticipation warrants and notes of the board of

1156
05:56:04.080 --> 05:56:21.798
education of the city of Chicago, Illinois in a maximum principal amount not to exceed 1 bill650 million. >> Is there a motion? >> So moved. Second.

1157
05:56:24.718 --> 05:56:51.558
This matter is now open for discussion. There being none, we'll move to a vote. >> We'll now proceed with the electronic voting for RS4. Board members, please cast your vote. >> Yes. Yes, please. >> Thank you.

1158
05:57:05.440 --> 05:57:22.680
All members have voted. Voting is closed. The eyes have it. 19 eyes, zero nays, zero abstension. This matter is adopted by the board. President Harden will now continue with the

1159
05:57:23.600 --> 05:57:39.440
I'm sorry. We will continue with a separate vote on RS6. Resend B report 25104EX2. Establish Chicago High School for the Arts as a district managing fine performing arts school and adopt new resolution to invest in arts education

1160
05:57:39.440 --> 05:57:53.840
support the Chicago High School for the Arts community and preserve the pre-professional arts training. President Harden, please note that RS6 was drafted on agenda. The final report being will be included in the agenda of

1161
05:57:53.840 --> 05:58:14.638
action. Is there a motion? >> Is there a second? >> Second. This matter is not open for discussion. >> Member Rosfeld. >> So my question on this is because it's not a line item in the budget and it's

1162
05:58:14.638 --> 05:58:39.600
asking for $5.5 million. How does that work? Does anyone know? >> Are you asking me? >> I don't know who I'm asking. I just I don't know how that works. I don't How do we vote on something that's going to cost $5.5 million when it's not in the

1163
05:58:39.600 --> 05:58:55.920
budget? I can say that the Illinois School Code um requires that for the board to commit to any liabilities, expenditures, there must be an associated appropriation in

1164
05:58:55.920 --> 05:59:12.320
the budget. >> So, this would be a second illegal budgeting vote is what I'm hearing. Thank you, >> Member Smith. >> Thank you, uh, Mr. President. I want to start with a quote from uh James

1165
05:59:12.320 --> 05:59:30.718
Baldwin. Uh the quote is, "Artists are truthtellers that exist to make the world a more human place by confronting society's uncomfortable realities and tearing away delusions and insisting on

1166
05:59:30.718 --> 05:59:47.680
the sanctity of every individual life." I am saying that quote to the students of Chicago Arts High School, speaking directly to them. I want those students to know that the $5.5 million that's

1167
05:59:47.680 --> 06:00:04.958
being asked for the entire budget of Chicago public schools art department is $7 million. because it's $7 million. That $5.5 million is probably going to come from the CPS arts department that has to fund

1168
06:00:04.958 --> 06:00:22.240
every school in the city's art program. So, when I am in my community, Bronzeville, uh, uh, Woodlon, Chadam, and they ask me, "Why do we get inequitable funding? Why do other schools get funded more

1169
06:00:22.240 --> 06:00:38.558
than we do?" I bend myself in pretzels to tell them that's not true. CPS does fund every school equitably. And I believe that to be true and it pains me today. Really disappoints me

1170
06:00:38.558 --> 06:00:54.558
that I wasn't telling them the truth. I didn't understand that when people put their thumbs on the scale and as we speak, people were making backroom deals that nobody here had any idea about to

1171
06:00:54.558 --> 06:01:10.240
try to get money for one school over all of the other schools. Um, it disappoints me that some of the people that talk about their own districts are robbing their districts.

1172
06:01:10.240 --> 06:01:26.638
And I pray that the cameras are on, the schools are watching, the students are watching, the parents are watching. As I let you know that in district 5B, the member who is bringing this resolution forward, there's been zero

1173
06:01:26.638 --> 06:01:44.080
and will be zero arts investment in Collins Steam High School, Crown, Skinner, Talcott, and Wales. In district 5A, at Chapen, Clark, ES, and Nash, they will get no arts investment. and

1174
06:01:44.080 --> 06:02:00.638
district 4A member Zacho's district. There will be no arts investment in Blaine, in Disney, in Hamilton or Ravenswood. And I love you so much, Mama Emma, but here's yours. There'll be no

1175
06:02:00.638 --> 06:02:16.878
investment in your district either in arts if this passes. So, what we're effectively doing, and I'm speaking to the students of Chicago Arts High School, what we're effect Take a picture of that, too. I need that back. What we're effectively doing is we're saying

1176
06:02:16.878 --> 06:02:32.878
we'll take from arts from the whole city just for one school. How does that fit? James Bowwin quote that the job of the artist is to be brave in the face of delusion and speak for humanity.

1177
06:02:32.878 --> 06:02:48.718
I'm asking you for the humanity of every student at every art school in Chicago. As an artist myself who was robbed of the education from CPS that I deserved in the arts and I had to get it in the streets,

1178
06:02:48.718 --> 06:03:02.958
I was blessed to have somebody like Dr. D West put her arms around me. I was blessed to have Timule Black and Reverend Jesse Jackson put their arms around me. Every student doesn't have those type of giants today. If we vote

1179
06:03:02.958 --> 06:03:19.200
yes on this, you're taking $5 million out of a $7 million department to fund one school. How's that for equity? Thank you. >> Member Gutierrez, >> legal council, questions for you.

1180
06:03:19.200 --> 06:03:36.000
>> Um, I assume this requires twoth3 vote. >> Well, the resolution is would require 11 affirmative votes. the resolution um as I said

1181
06:03:36.000 --> 06:03:51.040
would need to account for well um the money that's pres presented in the resolution needs to be accounted for in the budget. The budget has just

1182
06:03:51.040 --> 06:04:09.040
passed and therefore um any amendments to the budget do require a twothirds vote. Yes. And public notice posting hearing, you know, the budget hearings, etc. Everything else under the school

1183
06:04:09.040 --> 06:04:33.040
code of the notice requirements. >> Member Lopez. along those lines. I'm just trying to figure out what the process here is. So, if this resolution passes, does that mean there needs to be a later on a different resolution where it would

1184
06:04:33.040 --> 06:04:54.638
allocate pretty much an amendment and allocate a bud a line in the budget for this funding? Um what I can say publicly is that the school code requires that um or prohibits the board from incurring any

1185
06:04:54.638 --> 06:05:18.480
expenditures without an associated appropriation in the budget. >> Okay. I'm just confused. If we were to pass this resolution, can it be implemented? >> Are you asking operationally or legally? If it's legally, then I do not feel

1186
06:05:18.480 --> 06:05:32.798
comfortable expressing my legal opinion publicly. >> Okay. >> And operationally, >> that is a question not for me. >> Operationally, you don't have the funds allocated to do this project.

1187
06:05:32.798 --> 06:05:50.558
uh the funds would need to be taken from somewhere else to be able to designate that. So, similar to what board member Smith said, the money would have to come from somewhere. That would be probably the existing budget

1188
06:05:50.558 --> 06:06:07.440
if it were to play out that way. But again, legally, I think that's uh an avenue that we want to have a definitive answer on. >> Okay. And I would also like to know where potentially the funding or if there's an idea. Um I know that board

1189
06:06:07.440 --> 06:06:24.480
member Smith mentioned potentially the arts. Um but I I think I would like to know you know what the plan will be for this. Thank you. >> Member Biggs. >> Yeah. I' I'd like to understand from our chief budget officer if the passage of

1190
06:06:24.480 --> 06:06:55.840
this resolution will necessitate a budget amendment. Um [laughter] I don't it's hard to say this is this is new. Um like Liz said the requirement is that the balance the budget stay balanced. And so if we're identifying

1191
06:06:55.840 --> 06:07:12.638
$5.5 million in additional expenses, we have to either identify an additional five million in revenue or $5 million in expenditure somewhere else. Um, and I can say that the way that the budget is built this year, as I've shared with all of you in

1192
06:07:12.638 --> 06:07:28.480
conversations and in various briefings and memos over the last seven or so months, um, the way the budget is crafted this year is very, very tight. There is [clears throat] no space. There is no place where we could

1193
06:07:28.480 --> 06:07:45.040
take from to absorb a cost like this, this cost, or really any other new cost that's not currently written into the budget. Um, and so that's what I could say about how we would have to I I think Liz spoke to the requirements around maintaining

1194
06:07:45.040 --> 06:08:00.878
and passing a balanced budget and having in the and I think also having in the resolution a budget line and funding available. I think that's one thing. Um the other thing then is how we would um

1195
06:08:00.878 --> 06:08:21.920
implement this and how we would actually move forward with funding this if passed. We would have to identify where the funding would come from. >> Okay. So, is there currently a line in the budget that this would come from? >> No. >> Okay. So, then my question is for board

1196
06:08:21.920 --> 06:08:37.440
member Blae. What are you suggesting gets cut in order to implement your resolution? >> You don't have you don't have to answer that question. >> How we've been paying for shy arts for the past two years. Yeah.

1197
06:08:37.440 --> 06:08:53.680
>> So the way we've been and this is a difference in how the budgets were crafted um you know last year versus this year. Um the reason why we were able to absorb those extra funds um not just for Shy Arts but for some of the

1198
06:08:53.680 --> 06:09:08.798
other um charter and and other schools >> um is because when we budgeted >> um there was some natural there was some um underspend within INI's budget for those schools and so we had an overall

1199
06:09:08.798 --> 06:09:27.040
budget for um the unit and four charter schools and we saw some undersspend, I believe, because of enrollment. I would have to go back and and check. Um, and so we use that funding for some of these new um for some of these other

1200
06:09:27.040 --> 06:09:42.798
authorized expenditures that came up. We don't have that authority in this budget. Um because because of how tight it was and because of how big the deficit was, >> all of these um any area like that where

1201
06:09:42.798 --> 06:09:58.480
we thought we would see a a a you know underspent throughout the year due to enrollment, due to other reasons, um we already included that in the budget. So we don't have the same space that we perhaps did last year. I would argue we didn't even really have the space to do it last year since we underperformed.

1202
06:09:58.480 --> 06:10:17.680
Got it. So, I I'll just offer this. Um, I really do think that Shy Arts will be in a position where it can raise its own money and it will be able to earn its own keep. Um, the the imperative part of this is

1203
06:10:17.680 --> 06:10:33.920
because the teaching artists have been laid off. Over 70 teaching artists have been laid off. Um, and I know CPS is still negotiating what is a good number for that. I just wanted to make sure that there was space for those teaching

1204
06:10:33.920 --> 06:10:49.120
artists, at least some of them, to start to be hired back so that school could start on time. Um, I'm I'm feeling all the resistance. We can withdraw this. We can, you know, shut the I mean, what's the alternative? >> Table it.

1205
06:10:49.120 --> 06:11:06.958
>> Table it. And then um there's no music cons there's no con arts conservatory. >> That's what we're planning, right? We'll just close the school or it'll just be a school. >> We're not closing the school. We're not closing the school.

1206
06:11:06.958 --> 06:11:23.920
>> Two dance teachers and two art teachers. >> It's an art school like the rest. >> It won't be an art school anymore. It'll be a regular school. And Chay, some of the schools you mentioned have great um arts programs. The Collins Academy has a whole setup from Chance and they're

1207
06:11:23.920 --> 06:11:39.680
doing incredible work there. So, plea just I know trying to make take shots at the >> I'm not taking shots >> at the board meeting, but you're inaccurate. No, >> again, I don't come in your board. I don't come in your I don't try to tell

1208
06:11:39.680 --> 06:11:54.718
you about your district. I'm very supportive of other members wanting to do things in their district. In fact, Shy Arts isn't even in my district. I'm just supporting um that school because I know how incredible it is. >> Yeah.

1209
06:11:54.718 --> 06:12:10.718
>> Um and so, but I don't I don't lick shots at other people in other other people's business. I'm sorry, you probably have way more information than I do. >> No, I I just I just wanted to clarify a couple of things. Uh first and foremost, that Shy Arts um wasn't a part of our

1210
06:12:10.718 --> 06:12:25.280
budget because it was a contract school, >> right? >> And so the conservatory was funded by private funding. And when that funding was not able to meet the uh rising demand and cost of the conservatory, that's when Shy Arts reached out to the

1211
06:12:25.280 --> 06:12:42.240
board to um come to a mutual agreement to close the school. So the conservatory funding is was separately funded um outside by um private funding and that could no longer happen. So that's why um

1212
06:12:42.240 --> 06:12:58.798
that school decided to close their doors. But luckily the board decided to transition it to a CPS school. So the um budget line would have never it was never part of the conservatory was never part of the uh funding that they

1213
06:12:58.798 --> 06:13:15.040
received. What the um current school leaders have done is that they've built the conservatory model similar to that of LaGuardia into the actual school day so that you can have that pre-professional training during the actual school day. and then an

1214
06:13:15.040 --> 06:13:30.160
additional robust after what we would consider an afterchool program or OST which is now part of an extended form of the conservatory. So just wanted to clarify some of the um things. So it won't change that much.

1215
06:13:30.160 --> 06:13:45.600
>> Uhhuh. And so but 70 of the teaching artists that have been there for years are no have been let go. Right. So the the teaching artists because of the shift the shift of how the the model is

1216
06:13:45.600 --> 06:14:02.798
being done. Um there has been a shift in the model. Yes. >> A tremendous shift. Right. And so Okay. How about um if are you still in negotiations with um about staffing levels? I know

1217
06:14:02.798 --> 06:14:19.520
there was 70. We we you talked about 70 was crazy. And I not I'm not I can't disagree or agree because I'm not that familiar, but are there still talks going on in terms of staffing? >> So that I unfortunately I don't that's

1218
06:14:19.520 --> 06:14:34.798
not part of our department. But what I can tell you is that based upon the conversations and the models and I was actually part of those conversations with uh multiple schools across the nation, the model that has been presented and preserved at this point in

1219
06:14:34.798 --> 06:14:51.600
time uh reflects a highlevel model. M >> that motto implements all of the great things that was >> part of Shy Arts with the conservatory >> and the academic day uh into one holistic school day. Because what people

1220
06:14:51.600 --> 06:15:06.798
have to realize is that >> Shy Arts as a contract school, the actual school day actually ended at 100 p.m. And then from 1:00 p.m. to 2 p.m. every student went to lunch. And then from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p p.m. there was

1221
06:15:06.798 --> 06:15:22.798
the conservatory. And so what has changed is that has all been integrated into uh one school day uh correct with the current model. >> Yep. So the $5.5 million number I just got two days ago. So this is all that's

1222
06:15:22.798 --> 06:15:39.280
news to me and probably it's probably my fault for not following up more on it. Um I'm sorry. What >> before two days ago? >> No. >> Yeah. Okay. got you. Um I'm I

1223
06:15:39.280 --> 06:15:57.520
acknowledge that 100%. And so um I think I'm I'm willing to um withdraw the if I withdraw the item, I can bring it up later, right? >> Table it. >> Remember, you want to table it and then maybe while we get more information and

1224
06:15:57.520 --> 06:16:13.200
a plan and then >> a better plan. I want to encourage you all to stay at the negotiation table and make sure that you get to a staffing level that makes sense. I think firing all 70 of those teachers is really destructive to the heart of the school.

1225
06:16:13.200 --> 06:16:30.080
Can I just say we did not fire them. They were they were employees of Shy Arts. They were not employees of Chicago public schools. And when the the school transitioned to a Chicago public schools, the principal has autonomy though. There's no guarantee that even

1226
06:16:30.080 --> 06:16:46.878
if you gave them 70 positions that the principal would hire all 70 because principles have the right to hire who they want for their school and dismiss. So that is part of the challenge. I think you all are trying to save the 70 artists understood because they were

1227
06:16:46.878 --> 06:17:02.000
part >> some portion of the conservative, >> right? But I just want to emphasize the principal has the right to hire whoever he or she would want to hire. And who hired the principal? >> That was a part of a team if I'm not

1228
06:17:02.000 --> 06:17:17.040
mistaken. >> Yeah, that was a part of a team. The actual shy arts community came together to create a steering committee to create um and they vetted multiple um candidates and they chose um Dr. Fees.

1229
06:17:17.040 --> 06:17:33.520
>> Okay. Okay. Um I hope that you all will continue conversations um about staffing level and come to some understanding with the staffing levels that don't destroy this school. It is a real gem. Um

1230
06:17:33.520 --> 06:17:48.480
we'll I can table it for now and we can bring it back next month and try again. School's supposed to start in a couple of weeks. Those kids won't have their arts training classes. um the thing that they're going to that

1231
06:17:48.480 --> 06:18:05.840
school for. And it's a magnet school, by the way. So, there's kids coming all over the city to go to a school that no longer offers what it said it was going to offer. So, >> do we need a motion to table? >> Yes. And a second.

1232
06:18:05.840 --> 06:18:21.120
>> I would like to motion to table. >> Is there a second? >> I second. >> Was that board member Bole? >> Me? Oh, sorry. >> It's okay. >> Yeah, I had a question too actually.

1233
06:18:21.120 --> 06:18:37.120
>> Um because uh member Blaze talked about fundraising. Um while he doesn't matter the matter now to >> Yeah, but you didn't >> motion. >> Yeah, but my light was on prior to that motion is what I'm trying to tell you.

1234
06:18:37.120 --> 06:18:58.798
>> Isn't it terrible when they >> That's why I want to have a conversation. I appreciate that. Member Gutierrez, but we have a motion on the corner. >> Is there discussion for this motion to t to postpone? No. So, the motion on the floor is to postpone RS6, the resolution

1235
06:18:58.798 --> 06:19:18.638
for Chicago High School for the Arts to August 27th, 2026. We'll now proceed with the electronic voting for the postponement of RS6 to August 2726.

1236
06:19:18.638 --> 06:19:51.360
Board members, please cast your vote. >> Susan, my vote is yes. >> Thank you. >> Voting's close. The eyes have it. 18 I zero nays, one abstension. This matter is adopted by

1237
06:19:51.360 --> 06:20:10.160
the board to postpone RS6 to August 27th, 2026. President Harden, this concludes the public agenda items. We'll now move into executive session. Vice President Biz, you have motion MO4.

1238
06:20:10.160 --> 06:20:28.000
>> I move for the passage of motion number 26-0730- MO4 and the commen commencement of a closed session to consider matters permitted under section 2C of the Open Meetings Act subsection 1 and 11 as specified in the motion. >> Is there a second?

1239
06:20:28.000 --> 06:21:05.638
>> I second that motion. >> Thank you. We'll now proceed with the electronic voting for MO4 and board members. Please cast your vote. Are all voted? Board member Pope. This is to go into uh close session.

1240
06:21:07.760 --> 06:21:28.798
>> Voting's closed. >> The eyes have it. 18 I zero nays. Zero abstension. This motion is adopted by the board. >> Cold session. >> The board meeting of the board of education is reconvened. Board secretary, please proceed.

1241
06:21:28.798 --> 06:21:42.760
President Harden, 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? >> So moved. >> Is there a second? Second. All in favor? We are journ.