e e e president Harden before you begin today's public hearing I would like to read a few announcements good morning welcome to the March 13th 25 amended fy2 amended
budget hearing before we start the hearing I would like to share a few safety points and next meeting announcements please note that the primary exit and entrance to the boardroom is the door which you use to enter this morning if you are leaving the room please use this door the
restrooms are outside the boardrooms doors to your left during the hearing we ask that you keep all aisles and exits clear if you need any assistance during the hearing please wave the attention of one of our security officers please mark your calendars for the upcoming meeting
the next board meeting is scheduled for Thursday March 20th 2025 at 3:00 p.m. to be held at 42 West Madison Street Garden level boardroom for details on how to register to speak or observe at the meetings and to learn about the speaker
Lottery process please visit the Chicago Board of Education website CPS boe.org if you have any questions about registration or public participation please contact the board office for assistance thank you for joining us today president Harden we are now ready
for you to begin the public hearing good morning I'm Sean Bearden on behalf of my fellow board members welcome to the first fy2 amended budget hearing today is March 13 2025 we are holding the first fy2 amended budget
amended budget hearing in the boardroom 42 West Madison Street Garden level I would like to note that the board members and Senior leaders ship or physically present in the boardroom registered speakers may join us in person or virtually if they've opted to do so the purpose of this hearing is to comply with the school code Provisions
regarding the fy2 amended budget board secretary please state forther record the notice procedure for this hearing thank you president Harden notice of this public hearing was published in the Chicago Sun Times a newspaper of General circulation in the city of Chicago and posted at principal
office 42 West Madison Street lobby on March 5th 2025 notice was also posted on cpsb.org and cps.edu websites on March 5th 2025 I will now read into record the public notice as
published notice public hearings fy22 fy2 amended budget for the 2024 2025 fiscal year Chicago Board of Education commonly known as Chicago Public Schools to whom it may concern public notice is hereby given by the Chicago Board of
Education that it has prepared a fy2 amended budget for the 2024 2025 fiscal year in tenative form and that five copies thereof available for public inspection have been filed in now on file in the office of the Board of Education of the city of Chicago
commonly known as Chicago Public Schools one North Dearborn sweet 950 Chicago Illinois 60602 and available at cps.edu budget and that said Board of Education will hold two public hearings upon said amended Budget on Thursday March 13 2025
and Friday March 14 2025 hearing time 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Chicago Public Schools Loop office 42 West Madison Street Garden level boardroom Chicago Illinois 60602 registered speakers who wish to present during public participation may
have the option to participate in person at the location of the public hearing or virtually via an electronic uh platform the public will have access to the meeting via live stream at cpsb.org for these two public hearings Advanced registration to speak will be available
beginning Monday March 10th at 10:30 a.m. and will close on Tuesday March 11th at 10:30 a.m. anyone interested in speaking can sign up after the 24-hour registration period a lottery will randomly select a set number of speakers from those who registered for example if
100 people registered the lottery might select 30 of them to speak this process gives every want a fair chance to address the board Advanced registration during this period is available by the following methods online cpsb.org or phone
773-553-1000 to ensure Equity of access to address the board an individual may not speak at backtack meetings or more than one meeting per month if you register for back-to-back meetings in more than one meeting per month you will not be included for that meeting lottery in the event an individual register to
speak at a consecutive meeting the individual will not be call to address the board Advanced registration to observe will also be available beginning March 10th 20 at 10:30 a.m. and will close on Tuesday March 11th at 5:00 p.m. or until all slots are filled Advanced
registration during this period is available by the following methods online at cpsb.org or by phone 7735535700 registration 42 West Madison Street lobby registration opens at 10:15 10:15 a.m. and will remain open for the
duration of the fi25 amended budget hearings same day inperson Observer registrations are taken on a first come first Ser basis as seats become available the public participation segment of the public hearings will conclude after the last person who has registered to speak has spoken or at
12:00 p.m. on March 13th and March 14th whichever occurs first members of the public May submit written comments related to the fy2 amended budget via the written comments form on the board's website at cpsb.org or mail to 1 North dearburn suet 950 at 5:00 p.m. March 17
2025 dated at Chicago Illinois March 5th 2025 Chicago Board of Education by Shan B Harden president a test Susan J naho secretary thank you I also like to note for the record the members present here today member Thomas member Bole member
Wallace member kuster who is joining V virtually via Zoom member Pope member Rosenfeld member Ras member Smith member Brown member gutiz member BS member
thakura member Blaze me member zachor and member D Barry and president Harden thank you I'd also like to recognize Pedro Martinez chief executive officer ruchie Verma general counsel and Charles Mayfield CH Chief Operating Officer
thank you let's begin with today's public comment SE segment thank you for joining to share your comments with the board in compliance with the Illinois open meetings ACT public participation sometimes referred to as public comment is the portion of the board meeting or hearing that grants
District stakeholders the opportunity to address the board with their concerns and comments comments note that public participation is time for the board and CPS senior leadership to listen and hear from you rather than a time for dialogue with board members during or after your
remarks while we can't discuss Personnel matters po participation is a key component of transparent government and it provides us as board members as well as senior leadership an opportunity to listen to everyone who has signed to speak this board takes Equity of voice
seriously while we may not address comments directly during public participation CPS leadership is always present at our meetings and are able to address concerns as follow-ups after the meeting as a district and as a board we also have many other spaces for
authentic dialogue for example each and every one of our board members host Board office hours so that we can have a conversation please use our website CPS boe.org if you want to meet with the board member during office hours we encourage you to take advantage of the
opport to meet with board members outside of a board meeting thank you for your attention and consideration as a reminder Union Representatives will be allowed five minutes to speak before public participation and any elected officials will be allowed five minutes to speak at the conclusion of public
participation board secretary please share the rules of public participation thank you president Harden members of the public who register to speak were given the option to attend in person or via an electronic format for those who prefer to attend by an electronic format they were given
information to access this meeting by dialing a number and using their phone we did this so that speakers who limited to all access to the internet who or who may have weak internet connection can still participate using their phones as a reminder also members of the public May submit written comments for the
Board of Education meetings via the written comments form on the board's website at cpsb.org or mail to one North dearburn suet 950 written comments received between the day the public agenda was posted through 5:00 p.m. the day after the Board of Education meeting will be submitted to the board and published within 5 business days on our
website at cpsb.org speakers please listen while I provide directions for public participation I will call your name and number when it is your turn to speak for speakers joining us virtually as a reminder to unmute please enter star 6 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 that you can proceed to conclude your remarks to allow for the next speaker to begin for anyone standing with a speaker please stand along the glass partitions to keep aisles clear thank you president Harden
before we begin uh begin calling speakers from the speakers list we do have Union reps who would like to address the board we'll begin with Jackson Potter CTU vice president who is here in person good morning uh just recently I learned
something thing from former Mexican president Andres Lopez orador uh he said you know very clearly that neoliberalism not government services is the epitome of corruption you'll hear buzzwords today
from people saying responsible budget they'll say efficiency you should look behind the curtain on those buzzwords to determine what billionaires fund these individuals and organ ganizations is it Doge style
rhetoric or is it really people who have the interest of our children at heart when the district gave away power to unaccountable Charter operators and pursued Mass closings and runaway privatization without formal parent or
Community Voice or sufficient controls to ensure our most vulnerable students were protected those with IEPs uh English language Learners homeless students Etc critical public resources were diverted to semi-private
tyrannies Tesla that built pyramid schemes like the Uno Acero Network in the meantime the district has failed to work with the Union parents Community orgs uh some that have been champions of
public schools who sit on this board and advocate for the revenue that would fund the services our students desperately need and deserve and if we offload those key functions of government to private entities we undermine the advocacy to
defend it so it's why Doge nationally can advocate for cutting key functions of government as a way to achieve efficiency cost savings I don't think one parent from Aero would now say that that Network had their interest at heart
the things we are calling for in this contract would improve student outcomes and provide the very Investments that you are charged with making smaller class sizes for 4 through eight we have somewhere in the arena of 600 classes that are Beyond 28
students reform of a racist and biased teacher evaluation system where black and bl Brown educators are harmed immensely as are those who teach low-income students and the district has told you oh we are doing better in pipeline recruitment that is true we
won't disagree with that but they fail to answer is how this system grinds these people down and pushes them out after they are hired and that problem has not yet been solved and we are asking for restitution and a
solution maintaining and investing in experienced Educators is critical we know we go from like second in the state to 40th and we live in the city that has the highest cost of living with record inflation so
this this is a problem that isn't going away and has to be addressed now so that we don't continue to lose these valuable experienced Educators uh in Staffing Librarians case managers incentives for guest teachers teacher assistance to
address those class sizes I described earlier help with instruction Tech codes that's another privatization thing we are solving in this agreement we've come to see eye to eye on the need to depend Less on external private vendors that
rip us off and create these positions inh house so this is part of rebuilding what has been destroyed and and lastly I would say an elementary day that allows Educators to be more deliberate planful prepared and engaged for our students and gives our students more
opportunities to engage in art music play restorative practices social emotional learning it's not just drill and kill that makes School worth going to you can also defend the the district's vital Investments and the
need for revenue and so when Co Martinez refuses to sta vacant positions to save money or uses money for a Skyline system that's external and dependent on vendors when we have teacher creative materials that are better you should ask questions the district's own Google
Drive has answers uh even these words that I described earlier efficiency Etc when used for good can fortify Public Schools instead of undermining them and allow your budget to be the moral document our students deserve 30 seconding thank you
for your comments our next union rep is Jen conand CTU Charter division chair good morning members of the board I'm Jen conent chair of ctu's Charter Division and a longtime charter school
teacher I want to start by a knowledging all of the work and challenging decisions you have had before you in the last two months as board members we are grateful for your historic decision to keep five asero schools open and transition them to the district and we
hope you ensure that CPS continues to help and serve the students and staff at the two closing asero schools Cruz and P we are here today for Budget hearings you have more weighty decisions before you today the piece I'm here to talk to
you about is the charter renewal system and its flaws there are three main issues with Charter oversight there are no protections for families students and staff uh from school closures General oversight and enforcement is weak and
Charter contracts with CPS need to be overhauled so first the renewal process does not seem to catch potential problems that could lead an operator to close a school just one year before Acero decided to close half its schools they were renewed for three years they
reported being financially healthy and the board of education co-signed on that assessment a couple years ago hope Learning Academy was renewed for four years just four months before deciding to close the special education specialty school they literally announced that
educating Chicago students was not profitable enough and abandoned a few hundred primarily black families to search for new schools and services a renewal and oversight process that can't help predict close ures is a problem so
it seems like CPS needs to re-evaluate what information they need from Charter operators and what consequences should be in place when these oper operators misrepresent themselves or choose to walk away from their commitments to handing out renewals
easily and allowing periods with little oversight is not helping schools or families the long-term renewals that the charter operators and Industry lobbyists want are especially problematic during the seven-year period that aspiro was
given at its last renewal enrollment dropped at Aspira Hogan consistently every year for seven years and the oversight process either didn't catch that problem or had no tools to help remedy it imagine the reaction if teachers even the most highly rated or
celebrated expected to go seven or 10 years without any evaluation or accountability aspir now plans to close that school on your watch but what changes been been made to the renewal process that could keep this from happening again finally the contracts the district
has with Charter operators need to be overhauled the district's current contracts allow for Charter operators to close schools on short notice with no consequences that's a problem as it leaves families and staff thrown to the wind with their school community ripped apart and the contracts don't require
the operator to use or return their cash reserves reserves which were built by public funds from CPS um for the school or schools that the operator is closing they get to hold on to the massive real estate Investments and property holding
they've purchased with CPS funding right now the district plans to provide extra funds to keep the five asero schools open we're grateful for that but Aero is not even though Aero has the reserves to do so unfortunately cps's contract with Aero does not require Aero to use its
reserves while closing schools or transitioning from or to the district and that needs to be changed the district also needs to incorporate into contracts how schools are reabsorbed into the district so that there are clear procedures and families don't have to come to board members for months
asking for CPS to help given all of the problems with the renewal process and its potential impact on cps's budget the issues with oversight provided by the district and the problematic contracts the district has with Charter operators I encourage you to really think about
what this board can do to improve things help CPS with directives that will protect Charter families and staff when Charter operators make awful decisions like Aero do not let another Acero happen pull us once shame on Aero pull
us twice shame on you I'm sure you will all feel pressure to move quickly on Charter renewals being told this is how it's always done or hearing from Charter operators have 30 seconds remaining it is urgent so they can enroll students for next year that's just not the case enrollment has already begun with
Charter operators setting lotteries and parents can access schools through gocps when they are up for Renewal um Charters know that non-renewal has only even been considered in the most extreme cases and generally not even then and families have seen that you all are not trying to close schools that you
are trying to save them operators are just afraid of accountability and finally having a board of education that acts like it is in charge of Chicago Public Schools instead of handing them a keys so don't to approve a rubber stamp renals if you do you will be responsible
for future situations like we've had with AO thank you thank you for your comments before we move on to the next rep I do want to not note for the record that board member Bannon join the hearing at approximately 10:43
a.m. the next rep is Don vow uh secretary treasurer of the Chicago Federation of Labor good morning I'm Don V Secretary treasur of the Chicago Federation of Labor you know
first of all I want to thank all of the board members you know thank you for you know calling for answering that call of service to our city and thanks for all the hard work and hard tough decisions that you have to to to make and the challenges that you're tackling each and
every day um again I'm the secretary Treasure of the CFL CFL is made up of 300 local unions and half a million union members among them are the unions and the workers at CPS in Chicago Public Schools our union members they're
they're families with children at CPS and and they're part of the fabric of our city and we like to say in the labor movement that we're all connected by work the work that you do that we all
do it connects us and that's why what happens here and and the heavy decisions that you make it affects us all in one form or another and that's that's that's a heavy heavy burden and but it's also important
to address these things because you know it impacts families and impacts neighborhoods and impacts so many people and uh I know it's not lost Lo on everyone here the challenges that are we're facing today I mean our our news
feeds and our headlines our news alerts every day there's something going on out there there's something there's there's some pressing urgency and you know we we have so many difficulties and you know we we know we can't heal heal every ill
or solve every problem in the world but you know at this moment you all CPS you have an opportunity to solve one of the city's most pressing challenges right it's a it's a pressing challenge right now and and it's
important to to to the union members at CPS our teachers you know give teachers your workers you know that contract that contract that values and respects them and also you know lifts up our
communities I have you know nieces and nephews who go to public schools and and I see uh you know the the challenges and and the disparity that they that they experience and I wonder it's like you know we could do better we can all do
better so by doing so by by listening to to to what our teachers and and what the staff what the workers at CPS are telling you we can we can transform our Public Schools so Chicago's children and
every student my nieces and nephews they could receive that that quality education that they so richly deserve and it'll lift up all communities and all the workers across Chicago members of our unions can benefit so and then I
ask again thank you and thank you for the the work that you're doing and thank you for for stepping in there and and transforming and being part of for the change that our city needs and addressing you know the challenges that
you're all facing fa in the day and that we're all facing the day thank you thank you for your comments we'll now start um calling speakers from the speakers list we'll start with syvia
Pitman speaker number one good morning pronounce Celia Pitman thank you for the opportunity for standing and speaking with with you today as a grandmother of two students in CPS and a black educator that teaches in the Austin Community which is one of
the most traumatized and disinvested communities in the city many of our students and families suffer from traumatic experiences on a daily basis which means we are experiencing and facing situations we've never
encountered before causing us to look for resources and services to meet the needs of our students and families the needs of our students are growing rapidly therefore our elementary school teachers students need their teachers to
have adequate time to prepare lessons that will engage the students more by allowing the Educators to collaborate and plan together as well as discuss the academic behavior and social emotional needs of each individual child as
Educators we desire to service the whole child and this can be done by giving Educators more prep time which was taken from us two Mayors ago but while teachers are preparing
students students would be learning team building socialization and collaborating in dance drama music band art and gym Educators would be able to share best
and so I'm asking the board to help us settle this contract that allows teachers to implement best practices so that our schools students parents and communities that you have been elected to serve will know that you understand
the importance of investing in our schools thank you thank you for your comments our next speaker is Adriana cantes speaker number two good morning my name is Adana Santas and I am a field representative of the Chicago Teachers Union and I represent
over 50 schools in the district I also was a teacher for 13 years at hubard high school and have experienced uh the teacher evaluation process firsthand I understand today's hearing is about amending uh cps's budget and I'm here to talk to you about the teacher evaluation
process process which is one of the outstanding issues at the table and this issue it costs the the district no money we've proposed for CPS to align with Illinois Law which allows school districts to evaluate highly rated
10year teachers on a three-year cycle um this is different than the current 2-year cycle which is very timec consuming for evaluators and teachers last year there were approximately 16
6,700 teachers who had incomplete evaluations we need an evaluation system that provides opportunity for the instructional leaders to facilitate authentic instructional supports for their teachers the current plan does not provide time for administrators to
properly support probationary teachers or lower rated tenure teachers who actually needed we need an evaluation system that provides an opportunity for instructional leaders to facilitate authentic oh I said that already I'm
sorry I'm nervous cps's current system actually harm schools you have 30 seconds remaining that need most the most support it's biased against teachers who work in high poverty in predominantly minority schools it's slow it's time consuming taking resources
away from actual learning however it could do what it's supposed to do which is to provide feedback to Educators and improve their educational supports it could do this by switching to the state allowed threeyear cycle again our proposals for Teacher
evaluation are no cost to the district and our members and CPS families are requesting that you push CPS to address these in inequalities in the system thank you thank you for your comments our next speaker is Nora
Flanigan speaker number three good morning I'm Nora Flanigan CPS high school English teacher for 25 years now a project organizer at the Chicago Teachers Union but my most important job today and every day is Mom to two beautiful sons one just graduated from Mather High School the other is a
current freshman and when I say he's a freshman he is freshman a lot he has struggled and he has needed extra support and Ma wants my son to have what he needs to feel supported and loved and capable of his his best I want the same for ma high
school students at Ma represent 140 countries and speak 62 languages 80% lowincome 43% English Learners 177% receive special education services over 100 students and their families lack
stable housing the staff at my son's school is amazing but let's not say they're miracle workers they are brilliant dedicated workers and they don't have what they need they need the additional resources already bargained into our contract more special education
staff with tenable workloads more English learner support centrally funded interpretation Services smaller class sizes more counselors and social workers Fair compensation for the sports coaches who keep a kid like mine motivated and build his confidence thank you coach
Sullivan and Dr Weiss added resources for Career and Technical education so Mr Hees can keep his engineering classes designing and imagining and building and sometimes breaking things and Mather just applied to become a sustainable Community School let's
go Chicago needs you to pass a budget amendment that makes all this possible because Ma and every other school in Chicago will not have these resources for the next school year if CPS doesn't agree to the contract that provides them now as schools start building their schedules and planning for the fall
class sizes will not come down staff positions will not be added we will stay Frozen with the needs and shortfalls we see now because CPS wants to fight over 20 20 minutes of prep time and a broken evaluation system as a parent and an educator I want our schools and students
to have what they need thank you thank you for your remarks before we uh move on to the next speaker I do want to note for the record that vice president Bautista join the hearing at 11:02 a.m. uh before the next speaker we do have another union rep
that has joined staa Scott Kennedy from SEIU Local 73 Executive Vice President good morning my name is staa Scott Kennedy and I'm the Executive Vice President for seiu73 we represent over 12,000 support
staff in Chicago Public Schools the budget amendment begs more questions than we have answers for we don't know how if you take on the pension payment you plan to make ends mean if it means for going teachers
raises and principal's contract implementation then we don't think this board should take it on if it means Mass Cuts Furlow days and balancing the budget on low wage working class support
staff and CPS then we don't think this District should take it on board president president Harden you have taken on the fourth largest school district in America at a time of incredible Financial uncertainty
political maneuvering and we commend that you spent money to do the third party audit to try and get clarity on how to move forward with the district's finances sunlight is the best disinfectant the
public should see what's in that audit so that we know what we're all facing collectively because I believe we believe that everybody here every stakeholder every board member wants what's best for Chicago's children but in order for the public and for
stakeholders to know how we move forward we need to see what's actually going on with the district's finances so we're hopeful that when that audit is complete it is released to the public so again these financial decisions please
do not disrespect the staff of CPS and make them on the backs of working people they gave back their raises twice to bail out this district and they still showed up to work every single day caring for Chicago's children during those times and those are from bad debt
deals that Came Crashing Down years later so if refinancing or a loan those chickens come home to Roose years from now take that all into consideration because it is the workers and the children who suffer from these decisions
so thank you all very much thank you for your comments we now resume from uh speakers from the speakers list the next speaker is Hell Woods speaker number five good morning uh president Harden and member of the board members of the board thank you for the opportunity to
speak my name is Hal Woods I'm both a parent of two CPS students and the chief of policy of kids first Chicago if you truly prioritize the students families and communities of CPS you simply cannot vote to reimburse the city for the mebf repayment making this
payment is detrimental to our District's budget jeopardizes critical classroom resources and does nothing to fix the structural deficits that have long plagued CPS supporting this payment may help the mayor politically but it will directly harm CPS students either now or
in the future it will mean fewer teachers increased class sizes fewer counselors and reduced after school programs as a parent I worry every day about how these budget decisions will affect my children's education and their future opportunities and in my role at
Kids First Chicago I hear from countless families who are deeply worried that the board might make potentially devastating decision based on political convenience without genuinely listening to the families who would feel its impact the most historically ignoring cps's Financial realities has led to disaster
many of you remember that crisis period of 2015 to 2017 when CPS relied on short-term borrowing and scoop and toss strategies the result 34 credit downgrades and hundreds of millions more spent servicing debt instead of supporting students today CPS is the
largest junk rated issuer of debt in our country still paying a premium on every dollar borrowed money that could go and should go directly to the classrooms recently 30 seconds kids for Chicago convened more than 120 parents Educators and community members to discuss this very decision
95% felt that c that the CPS board should reject the city's request they clearly told us and they're telling you now that CPS students deserve better as the first ever elected School Board this decision will begin to Define your legacy will you stand firm putting students first and sending a clear
message that the board operates independently and only in the interest of kids and families will you set a disturbing precedent by diverting classroom resources to help fix the city's finances I urge you to vote no on this reimbursement request our students deserve your leadership and your courage
thank you for your time and for carefully considering the voices of the families that you serve thank you for your comments our next speaker is Lauren biani speaker number six good morning board members my name is Lauren bian I'm a
high school social studies teacher on leave and an organizer at the Chicago Teachers Union as you prepare to amend the budget to make sure that CPS can invest in the schools our students deserve serve I'm here to advocate for the importance of creating Equity our
elementary teachers must have adequate prep time even as a high school teacher with protected blocks of prep time every day I spent hours of my personal time after school and on weekends planning new lessons translating materials and
providing detailed feedback on my students work I truly can't imagine how our elementary Educators managed to prepare to teach multiple subjects and grade levels daily and set up their classrooms without sufficient planning time during the school day teachers aim
to provide Hands-On engaging and culturally relevant lessons to our students but highquality lessons and learning experiences take more time to plan and and require collaboration with our colleagues and PLC teams to perfect
respectfully when does CPS expect teachers to plan board members CPS Educators and families are counting on you to pass a budget amendment that invests in our schools a budget amendment that doesn't allow for cuts and layoffs that would
cause Mass disruption and interrupt the gains our students are making along with this you have the power to provide a better elementary school day for all of our youngest students 30 seconds remaining by expanding prep time for their teachers this proposal costs 0 and will have an
immediate positive impact on student learning and reduced teacher burnout let's put this proposal in writing along with ctu's four other Common Sense mus haves and get this contract done now thank you thank you for your comments our next speaker is Caroline Rutherford
speaker number seven good morning members of the board my name is Caroline Rutherford I'm an art te Cher at of Sarah Marquez and the CTU chair of the Council of Aero schools again I want to express my gratitude to the board members for your vote to keep
five of Theo schools open thank you yesterday I attended a meeting at Aero PA one of the two schools still slated for closure this year with families and Educators conducted by CPS and asero this was the first time since asero
announced her plan to close schools that the school communities were provided the opportunity to speak with Theo and CPS and they put together a presentation to outline the options for the families at PA but at no point did anyone from CPS
orero ask the families or Educators what they wanted or needed Dr Carmona who led the meeting for CPS would not allow any of the parents or staff to use the microphone to speak in the meeting yesterday either it was symbolic of cps's failure to
truly listen and collaborate the goal did not seem to be a community meeting or engagement it felt like damage control that did not stop the P Community from making it clear to CPS and asero that they want their students and staff to stay together and that is
the option they deserve when Dr Carmona was asked directly why pa was not saved he put the responsibility on the board saying he presented the option but this board did not choose it he left out the part where he told this board that option was not feasible if it wasn't for
the leadership of this board Dr Carmona would have wanted to close C Naros as well the families and staff at PA want to stay together we owe it to the school communities to keep them whole which means together CPS failed to keep Aero accountable when they were given a contract with no repercussions if they
closed schools and now CPS is telling families take what you can get today at 3M there is a similar meeting at Aero crw CPS and Aero should learn from the meeting at P yesterday and provide the opportunity for the crew families and staff to share what is in the best
interest of their students let families use their microphone so their voices can be heard by everyone conclud youring them to yell across the room is unfair use of Power by CPS we'd also like to know the status of theou between Aero and CPS has there been an agreement reached for the five schools have you
included the voices of the families the staff and the Union in those conversations about those five schools to reach that agreement please conclude your remarks thank you thank you our next speaker is Angelica H speaker number 8 who is joining us virtually
please enter star 6 to unmute good morning all my name is Angelica harees I'm a parent at Carlos quentes ACO school first of all I would like to thank the members of the board who voted on maintaining five of these seven assetto schools open for the remainder of its contract and the
transition of our schools to cps's network going forward with this said I eagerly request board to sign such amended resolution with assetto and make it official as our schools communities are awaiting such action nonetheless after the boards decided that bass and
Cru should close at the end of the school year I earnestly plead both boards to create a detailed plan for both of these schools the fact that these two schools will be closed at the end of this 2025 school year makes the outcome of our fight beater sweet as we fought together to save all seven
assetto schools moreover I would like to knowledge and give my wholeheartly thank you to those who advocated for our students parents and teachers every step of the way other persons Byron cro Lopez Carlos Ramirez Rosa Julia Ramirez and especially to the Chicago Teachers Union
for their unwavering support and commitment in saving our schools although they themselves are still in the fight for a renewal of their contract which I too fully support in closing I am a fir firm believer that it takes a village to raise a child child
and hope that we all come together for the greater purpose of safeguarding the well-being and education of all of our city students as this is our most important responsibility and for which we all are accountable thank you thank you for your comments our next
speaker is Tanisha R speaker number nine good morning my name is Tanisha I am currently a CTU field representative and one of the Liaisons for the special education committee prior to becoming a field representative I worked as both a general education
teacher and a special education teacher for over 10 years members of the board as you prepare to vote on a budget amendment next week I want to urge you to vote for a budget that invests in our schools and doesn't cut from our students a budget that creates the
opportunity to settle our contract to today I want to talk about one of our five outstanding issues more prep time for educators to prepare for our students having additional preparation time means that we are actually able to write effective IEPs differentiate
instruction collect data progress monitor individual student goals stay in compliance with state and federal regulations collaborate with general education teachers clinicians parents and other professionals all while researching and participating in
professional development only to enhance the student experience sounds like a lot right well these are the daily duties and responsibilities of special Educators who sit in classrooms throughout the district we as special educators are offered workload reduction
funds which to some degree acknowledge that special education teachers along with clinicians carry a heavy workload which in return forces them to complete these various tasks outside of the 6.25 work day imagine a situation where teachers are
actually able to complete these tasks during the work day the demands of special education teachers can lead to burnout if adequate time isn't allotted for Preparation and planning so many times we hear the district say that our most vulnerable students are a priority
well as the students say stop capping or making false statements it is time for the district to align their words with their actions don't just say our students are a priority show that they're a PR priority how can we say how can something that cost the district no
money at all be so complicated to settle we will we be the district that is all about tail and no show are we up for the challenge of making the better the school day better I ask that you support our demands thank you thank you for your
comments our next speaker is M aala speaker number 10 good morning to everyone behind me and to the board in front of me my name is Emily aella I am a second generation CPS
Alum and a mother of a third generation CPS student when I was a student at gista Language Academy in the East Side neighborhood my class had a ratio of 35 students to one teacher as children in the school as
students we were aware of the class sizes being large through hearing the buzz from teachers but it wasn't until I became a CPS parent that I fully understood what that ratio meant for schools for teachers and most
importantly for the quality of student educ ation today I have a son who is in Special Needs prek at sski elementary school just three blocks away from my Elma M
gisto and as much as I appreciate the support that my son receives in his class it is so easy to see the exhaustion on his support team's face at the end of the school day during
pickup um it it is so painful and disheartening to see the same struggles persist across Generations across schools in the same neighborhood in the same school system this is going on like a 20 plus
30 seconds remaining 20 plus year problem that I'm sure that statement can apply to many people's concerns in here as an advocate for Healthy Green Schools I believe that we need to approve budget amendments that raise teacher pay and
reduce class sizes as a way to invest in sustainable healthy learning environments that promote Focus energy and long-term well-being the well-being of teachers is the most important key component to school Wellness overall and
this new board has the power to take action that will break this cycle of neglect and show Educators that they are appreciated and valued please conclude your remark thank you thank you for your
comments our next speaker is Nora wil wilsy who is joining us virtually she's speaker number 11 please enter star 6 to unmute hi my name is Nora WI can you hear me yes please
proceed I'm a national board certified School librarian in my 22nd year in CPS I'm on the board of directors for the American Association of school librarians and I'm a member of the big bargaining team I'm currently the librarian at King College Prep High School in tenwood funding this contract
is crucial to give our Stu schools and students the staff they need CPS and CTU are now close to an agreement to add new librarian positions each year for the next 3 years it's amazing we currently have around 75 Librarians so this could more than double the number of schools with a librarian by
the end of this next contract it's really exciting and we need your vote for funding to make our our agreement happen I mentioned CPS has around 75 Librarians this year and I want to share examples of how low this number truly is and to highlight that our budget demands
are simply everyday school for students in the suburbs in CPS we have over a 100 high schools for our students we have 12 high school librarians Wells Librarians to meet the needs of our approximately 100,000 high school students in
comparison bers Grove district has around 5,000 high schoolers the number of Staff in their libraries 13 more than in all of CPS high schools Hinsdale has 4,000 high schoolers they have seven Librarians nerville's 5,000
students have eight Librarians nutrier for their 4,000 students they have 12 Librarians districts surrounding Chicago provide libraries and Librarians for their students this is not considered a luxury but just a 30 seconds
remaining if we don't receive your vote to fund this contract we will remain where 85% of CPS students graduate without ever having had a library or a librarian this is just one of the many staff needs our contract would provide positions that have been negotiated and
agreed upon by CPS which are all important please help us fund these needed positions that both CPS and CTU feel are essential funding schools is not extravagant or irresponsible it's an investment for the future that pays
dividends thank you thank you for your comments our next speaker is Natasha dun speaker number 12 who is joining us virtually please enter star 6 to unmute hi my name is Natasha dun I am a community leader and education Justice
um Advocate a parent a CPS parent Chicago Public Schools mission is to provide a high quality public education for every child and every neighborhood yet more Black Elementary and high school students travel over six miles to school more than any ethnicity these combined proportionately black students
commute further from home to school than all other ethnicities and CPS over 61,000 420 black students in CPS have endured school closures turnarounds and mergers compared to only 7,000 Latino and only 5,000 white students black
neighborhoods are disproportionately impacted by violence and according to University of Chicago crime lab black Chicagoans experien more homicides per residents and the safety Gap have doubled since the 90s finally only 21% of black students could proficiently I
understand that everyone is new to this role but I must stress that delaying the creation of the black student achievement committee is no longer an option the longer we wait the more we allow systemic racism and discrimination
to persist harming black students and communities I sent an email today for a resolution for your review this resolution is Comm Community vetted and signed by multiple groups and leaders I urge you to ensure this standing committee is fully operational by April
15th to ensure transparency and inclusivity I expect the Staffing process to involve collaboration your president myself and other key leaders in identifying individuals who can contribute to this critical work this is
a crucial step in dismantling inequities because many of you all talk to talk but we about to walk to Walk um and we must work together in doing that so I urge you to check your emails let's talk let's get this started as soon as possible thank you thank you for your
comments our next speaker is the Delo Bess Lawson speaker number 13 who is joining us virtually please enter star six to unmute good e good good morning everyone my name is Adella baz I am a power resident of the AL Riverdale community
on the South Side I am also a cloud CPS graduate having attended aldrid Carver and finger schools I'm here to today to urge you to support a budget amendment that ensures the school has funding to hire nurses social workers this will also will provide necessary pay
increases to retain experienced high quality Educators I am living proof of the difference these Investments can make as a CPS student I was fortunate to have Educators who went Above and Beyond I'll never forget a counselor who was taking me to out her way to get my hair
done because at the moment that's what I needed that kind of commitment and motivating me to strive for Success it also underscores the importance of supporting and retaining black Educators who play a critical role in lives of black students this experience is what drives my work today at promoting health
education and equity in my community I take pride in returning to the same schools I once attended to help young people understand how to protect their health their community and their environment as a you you as members of the board have the opportunity to be a source of
support for the children I work with thus as my teachers and counselors supported me I urge you to vote in favor of funding for our schools and ensuring our Educators receive a fair contract thank you thank you for your
comments our next speaker is Carolyn day speaker number 14 good morning I thank you for the opportunity to allow uh me to speak before this committee um as she stated I am Carolyn day I am a graduate of
Chicago Public Schools a former employee in the office of specialized Services um high school programs education to careers and the Illinois Career and Technical educational programs for elementary school career developments
we are the Black United Fund of Illinois and we're very very thankful to be a longtime vendor of Chicago po Public Schools providing the safe passage Services we are also the founder of safe
passage um with our um deceased founder Henry English we come to you today asking for your consideration greatly to meet with us we think that that we can definitely add
more value to what safe passage currently offers we're requesting a meeting with the CPS budget analyst to include a safe passage director Gregory Saints and acting Chief um M shinsky to show you that there is a way that we can
expand the safe passage program because it not only provides safety and academic benefits but actually return on investment on monies that have been invested to Chicago Public Schools we'd like to meet with you along with our vice president Lafayette for you have 30
seconds for me a former director of youth program Services we know that the funds uh that come through Chicago Public Schools um not just grants were expanded to 125 CPS employees to present TW 1200
Community workers in closing we we want you to know that the student um their safety is in jeopardy with the closing of the schools and cutting of the budget and is imperative that we meet with a budget analyst we want you
to know that our workers are committed to the students available on pleas conclude your remarks and can also work after school hours as well so with the oath of in public trust we thank you very much for this opportunity thank you for your comments our next speaker is
Johnny Banks speaker number 15 yeah good morning uh to the boy good morning my name is Johnny Banks I'm the executive director of anak at midnight in 2009 I was leaving far I mean was leaving Finger High School taking a kid home that was in trouble I went West on
111th Street East on 111th Street Darion Alba was being murdered and out of that was born the safe passage program this program uh has been a a boom of Safety and Security for the young people in the city of Chicago right now
sayfe page servic is about 191 schools we are we encounter almost 100,000 students a day uh back as they come and as they go providing Services uh uh uh the safe pastors leadership would like to call us nosy neighbors we in
everybody's business in the community to find out what's going on who's doing what and why it's being done and so this morning I'm just advocating uh for the retention of the safe pastors program that you guys would take a look at it and actually what it does uh for the
investment that you make and the return of your investment uh it is it is something that I think that any any any business would be interested in finding out how to keep it going it is something that is absolutely needed for our students we know our students personally
we know them by name we meet their parents we meet the siblings we engage uh uh in the summertime working in the park districts in um after school sometimes we even do our truancy work uh that is assigned to 30 seconds remaining
so we do a lot and I just wanted to just drop that in your spirit to let you know that we think that with your support that this program should be retained and we should be able to keep serving the the scholars of the city of Chicago thank you thank you for your comments
our next speaker is Janette Baker speaker number 16 hello I am Janette Baker and I'm like the ultimate stakeholder I am a CTU field representative and the class siiz coordinator for the district I am a
former CPS student I have a kid that went to CPS I've been in Chicago Public Schools working since for 29 years I started started out as a psrp I was a teacher I was a substitute I was a administrator I was an
instructional coach I've done it all um and I'm here before you just to ensure that you understand the need to settle this contract and to invest in our students our students are the foundation of this city um we all know that
students are all students are diverse Learners they learn differently they have different needs they have different um learning styles they have different learning rates um when we have Educators that have smaller class sizes they can
the students will receive the targeted and specialized instruction that they need to succeed um academically each and every student their family their community and the city as a whole benefit from our students being in
smaller classes there's no debating uh smaller class sizes per CPS when we moved from the student-based budgeting to a a more Equity of the K through eth grade
classes without distinction should have capped at no more than 26 students um and then for high school it should have been capped at no more than 21 students now we find our place we find ourselves in a place that we are actually still
negotiating for parity for over 600 almost 700 classrooms of fourth to eth grade fourth eighth grade classes and that's based on this year please conclud your remarks numbers um we are trying to get those numbers down to 28 so you as
the board you controlled all of the Dynamics and the structures of everything in our district and you're charged with ensuring that the budget includes every bit of the funding needed to guarantee that each classroom doesn't go
over mandatory levels or limits um thank you very much please consider making sure that the budget shows the classes are feasible thank you for your remarks thank you our last speaker from the list is L
Sama who's joining us virtually please enter star 6 to unmute what EST leadership t in ped martinz thank you we'll have our Translator translate the
statement good morning members of the board my name is Lama I return to you to call for an investigation into La Leon for the abuse of authority the alteration of official documents and for permitting the misuse of funds and into
kashasha Ford for the harassment and manipulation of members of the LSC and bog and the improper manipulation of documents Peter Ramirez for helping the previous administration at Marine Leadership Academy Christine Novi create false evidence that resulted in the
termination of my position Jerry Taylor for signing my termination letter when he knew of the irregularities and for authorizing the payment of a check for work I did not perform with the intention I believe of buying my
silence the eoc's office for deliberately delaying and in many cases simply not carrying out investigations investigation investigator Miss Chari who contacted me on February 3rd on M March 4th I sent
her a message and have received no response Vicente dipre MLA coach for selling students playtime during games and for compromising the emotional state of those who couldn't pay making those less fortunate have to watch as those
who could bu playtime were celebrated with a pizza party additionally for not being able to provide receipts to confirm how collected funds were used the sports department for not being able to justify the more than 50
$15,000 paid to Mr Dei and Pedro Martinez and bdana shoa for not protecting students interests thank you thank you for that President Harden this concludes public participation board members do we have
any questions or comments related to public participation Susan board member Brown requested to the extent possible anyone who has prepared remarks could you share with the board yes we'll collect those remarks and we'll also share them with the board members thank you thank you this
concludes public participation segment let's now proceed with fy2 amended budget presentation Mike when you're ready please proceed thank you good morning president Harden members of the board my name is Mike sidowski and the chief budget
officer for Chicago Public Schools my presentation today will be about the FY 2025 amended budget that is being proposed for a vote at the March 20th board meeting to begin want to recap the initial budget that was passed in July
of 2024 the budget that was approved by the board in July of 2024 which totaled $9.9 billion this included three components first $8.3 billion to fund the district's operating budget which covers our day-to-day
expenses second $611 million to fund the district's capital budget which includes investments in buildings and infrastructure and is funded primarily through through bonds issued by CPS finally $817 million of the 2025
budget funds the district's Debt Service budget which pays for principal and interest on bonds issued to fun the capital budget this was the budget that was approved in July as we discussed when the board passed the FY 2025 budget at the July 2024 board meeting CPS has planned to
amend the budget once the district had a final commitment of total Tiff surplus funds and other appropriate local revenues to support potential outstanding costs in this fiscal year the proposed amendment to this budget adds the remaining committed Revenue to the CPS budget to increase this year's
operating budget from 8.43 billion to 8.57 billion as part of our FY 2025 amended budget we are adding the remainder of the funding available from the city of Chicago's 2025 budget which was
finalized in December and included 29 $98 million of Tiff Surplus funding for CPS 159 million of this Tiff Surplus funding was included in cps's original FY 2025 budget the remaining 139 million
is being added to the proposed amended budget the amended budget allows the board to use the 139 million in any additional appropriate local resources to support three pending contracts first the pending collective bargaining agreement with the Chicago Teachers
Union second the pending collective bargaining agreement with the Chicago principles and administrators Association and third the pending intergovernmental agreement with the city of Chicago for a reimbursement of a portion of the on behalf of cost for expenses related to the Municipal
Employees annuity and benefit fund for context on the remaining funds the city budget approved in December included a tiff Surplus allocation of $298 million for CPS the largest Tiff Surplus allocation in recent history
however this total was $186 Million short of the $484 million requested to meet projected costs in this year's budget and provides the district with only $139 million above what was included in the balanced budget approved
in July this chart shows a breakdown of the request um $97 million was requested to cover base funding that has been included in cps's budget since 2019 $62 million was requested to cover the SEIU Local 73 contract costs the
contract of which was ratified in May of 2024 these two items were included in the approved FY 2025 budget totaling $159 million the remainder of the request included $150 million for projected um
CTU and cpaa labor contract costs and $175 million to fund a reimbursement to the city for the Municipal Employees annuity and benefit fund these total pending costs represent $325 million making up the balance of the $484
million request as you noted on the previous slide um with the final amount delivered by the city of $298 million um this leaves $139 million for pending costs in this year's budget this amendment provides the board
the flexibility to utilize the remaining $139 million of Tiff Surplus funding plus other potential appropriate local resources for the aforementioned pending agreements while CPS expects that the $139 million will be sufficient to cover
a year One cost of pending labor agreements with CTU and cpaa other resources or budgetary reductions Beyond those needed to keep the initial approved FY 2025 budget in Balance will be will need to be identified to cover the reimbursement to the city for meabf
pension costs that concludes my presentation on the 2025 proposed amended budget or members are any questions or comments Bo member boy okay um I'm wrapping my P around
this um so if if if we don't use the remaining 139 million to satisfy the labor agreements with CTU and
cpaa what would happen what what would the financial implications be for the remainder of this year this and and next year what would happen so I can answer that question focusing on this year's budget as that's what this amendment
contemplates um what this amendment does is provide the ability for the board to direct the $139 million of additional funding while also providing the flexibility for other solutions that may arise to satisfy any of the three contracts that I mentioned at this point what we have identified and confirmed is
that we do have access to the $139 million there's still a possibility of other Solutions coming into play but at this point that's the amount of money that we have remaining so I can't speak to the broader consequences of of what could happen if those dollars are not used for
the labor contracts but at this point those are the resources that we've had we have identified and the choice will need to be made of what is done with those resources may I ask a followup to that yeah okay
so so the amended budget will require a 2third majority vote to pass right right I believe that's true but if we do this intergovermental
agreement with the city that would only take a simple majority to pass I I'm just concerned because I'm trying to understand the process if the amended budget
passes then it's possible that another vote could take place after that and could have us giving that 139 that we have to satisfy
the labor contracts to the city for the meabf and that that has me concerned is am I understanding it right so the amended budget as proposed if approved allows the board to make decisions on how to use those funds within those
three pending agreements our labor cont our pending labor contract with the teachers union our pending labor contract with the principles and administrators Association and the pending intergovernmental agreement with the city for the reimbursement for the meabf pension
costs so I want to keep coming back to that and what this amendment does is provide that flexibility provide that optionality for the board to decide how those funds and any other additional available resources or options are used to satisfy those contracts so board member let me help a little bit so um
again we wanted to give the board the flexibility because that's you know I always that's part of my philosophy we never want to box in the board so we want to give you as much flexibility the amendment gives you that flexibility uh so that the money can be used for any of those options that might just laid out
if the amendment passes and then you also pass the IGA with the city then you're basically the board is making the decision to to have that money be given directly to the city therefore leaving no money at this point unless we have other solutions for the
for the ne for the cbas for thetive bargain agreements what I can tell you what are right now our chief labor neg negotiators at the at negotiations today so he can't be there be here this minute but he has been told by CTU staff that
if this money is not available for the collective bargaining agreement that it will it will it may will result in in a potential strike vote that's been really clearly told to us just as just as recently as in the last week the last week or so um and I guess my question is not
related to the budget but related to a matter that we as a board approved um relative to um bringing on Baker Tilly to the work that we're doing and being able to try to figure out when we will have that report so that we can digest
it given the complexities of what is facing us as a board over the course of the next um several days so just that was that's my question and um if someone can answer that that'd be great thank you I could tell you board member CER is
that the Bea till report is still being developed uh we expect to have it in the coming days uh it will be a major component to determining what our next steps are uh for the board um it'll be what we look at or board have the
opportunity to review it and then inform the decisions around how resources are then allocated so I think at this point we still have all the the options on the table and we'll continue to move we recognize that all three of these are obligations that the district has uh and
we're doing everything in our power to meet them uh Smith thank you I have a few questions uh once uh our guidance uh from the bond attorney is that taking out a bond to cover operational costs
would be unconstitutional is there a plan for overcoming the legal barrier and what evidence do we have that if we took out a bond that it would pass constitutional
scrutiny so what I can say about the topic of a bond on this and what you're referring to is that we are not legally allowed to balance our budget using the proceeds from debt so the state law through the school code requires that CPS have a balanced budget borrowing to
General proceeds for the district does not provide Revenue that allows us to balance a budget in compliance with that provision of the school code so with regard to any specifics around a bond issuance or anything like that I can't I can't speak to that at this point but
that's um that's the interpretation of um of the school code that we've gotten and and member Smith just to to make sure it's clear you're not legally allowed to pass a budget that is not balanced uh to pass a bud to to get into
contracts or any kind of agreements with a BAL with a budget that's not balanced that you know as a board is not balanced is actually a crime it's actually a misdemeanor and could result in the loss of a board seed if staff are complicit in that it's also uh staff would lose
their jobs as well and that's by law all right my uh follow-up question is today uh chalkbeat reported that the amount requested of CPS for the city's pension payment is actually above the amount required to pay can you confirm the uh
accuracy of that statement and if it is accurate would it be more prudent for this board to make a bonus pension payment or to satisfy our teachers and principles with what they bargain for in their contract so I want to clarify one thing
regarding your question is that the financial matter being considered here with regard to the pension payment is a relationship between CPS and the City of Chicago it's not a payment to the pension fund it's a reimbursement for the city's expense that they are paying for the pension
fund that does include CPS employees um now I I can't speak to the specifics around what you know what they have paid into the fund I did see the report that that they paid in additional money in the last fiscal year into the fund um but
I can't speak anymore about that so member Smith the only thing I can share with you is um because we were watching the the city budget hearings uh because we were looking to see how much tip they would release to us and one of the conversations they had was the fact that every year at least recently the
city has been making additional pension payments including to this pension and so that was a debate within the city about you know is that something that still could be done should be done um and as far as we know last year they did make that additional payment and it looks like this year they're also
planning to make the additional payment and that's more around um you know because the Pension funds are just so underfunded so they're they're they're they're in essence think of it as they're they're they're giving more than the minimum payment that they required by law U because again you know the funds are just so
underfunded board member Brown yeah I have this question up Mike you can answer it or or CEO Martinez um city council has made a commitment to make sure that this that Chicago public schools had access to the Tiff
Surplus is that accurate would you say that that's actly the budget that was passed in December included the $298 million of surplus do aldermen like giving up their tiffs I can't speak to what Alderman
like or don't like when it comes to prioritizing projects that within their wward versus just your your your opinion just what do you I I I would I would venture to say that there's probably a wide range of opinions on that okay so if Alderman are M if the
city council is making a long-term commitment to say that the the expiring TI will come to Chicago Public Schools CEO Martinez or Mike do do you all believe that if we don't make that meabf payment that they would continue
to do that so so I think um I don't know I don't know is the answer M member Brown of course every year the city has to go through their budget process and we know this year how difficult it was even for them to get to their final
budget I think what I can say and and it's important to have context tiffs um in their origination were supposed to expire after 23 years many of these tiffs are now in their third term and unfortunately um and the areas
where they had the highest tiffs are the areas that the highest developed today downtown the West Loop the South Loop Etc and so these these tiffs if they had been allowed to be expired when they were supposed to we would be uh CPS
would be receiving an equivalent of at least $600 million per year every single year if the tips would have been allowed to expire the funds that are right now in the bank accounts of the city half of those funds would be in the distri District's bank and we would not have to
borrow for payroll every year tiffs have created a lot of value for our city I'm I'm a CPS Chicago Kid I know what downtown looked like before in the 70s and 80s I know what the West Loop and the South Loop um in fact South Loop didn't even exist I think it wasn't
even a term I don't think even West Loop was a term at that time in the 70s and 80s and so they've created a lot of benefits I think the the philosophical challenge that exists is that you know they're now on their third term and so I appreciate the fact that the current
Administration is releasing more Tiff I appreciate the fact that they're being a little bit more transparent about it but it is it is a challenge and it is especially in a time when CPS has already lost federal funds could potentially lose more federal funds and the fact that we are so underfunded by our
state okay I I guess this would be my last part of this question I think um it's so I I'll say what folks don't want to say that Al are not going to be with tiffs former mayor Dy used to say
that tiffs were our only Economic Development tool and as CEO Martinez said it went to De they were supposed to be developed to reduce blight to address blight we know that through the porting of
tiffs that means wealthy districts taking the tips from low-income communities they've been able to do huge corporate development and it hasn't really impacted our communities the way it should but Alderman hold on to those
tiffs like is the golden grab and I just I I want to raise a common sense question for us if they made a commitment to make sure that we have access to those expiring tiffs and the Tiff Surplus if we don't make that meabf
payment what Alderman in their right mind what city council in their right mind would say well we're going to honor this in commitment to you and then when we made a commitment through our CEO to pay the meabf payment and so I just
think you know a little politics one-onone we you know they're not going to be support of of those resources coming into CPS for our long-term Health as we look to try to correct this structural deficit that Chicago Public
Schools is in because it didn't start with this board and it didn't start with this mayor this is structural and I think that we we got to have the courage to do the type of work that it's going to take to address it on a long-term basis yeah thank you member Brown for
saying that that it's structural just real quickly um again and this is on You Know city council testimony so and by the way it's said three different times because you know we've actually looked at the tape again even though it's you know 5 plus 6 hours of a little bit of it's a little bit traumatic for me to
even look at part of it and and the it was very clear throughout the testimony that in fact the table that Mike showed showing the request for the 484 was actually shown to city council um I also was asked a couple of times by Alderman Beal and a few others about again
confirming the amount we always said $484 million and again it was a way to really show collaboration with the city to help them on this pension payment even though it's not our legal responsibility but it it does cover a portion of our employees and we've always acknowledged that uh but the
commitment was based on the request for 484 the the and then at the end when the city council passed their final budget the the amount came in you know very short of that $299 million I also think board members longer term in terms of tiffs I can just tell you this from my
experience in four other cities in in the state in this country a fully elected School Board uh you know has complete power of whether tiffs exist whether they're extended um and this board has never had that and
so I think another philosophical debate is when this board becomes a fully elected school board at that point is there then you know again you know a change in that in that philosophy because again I've been I've been in three other cities and I can tell you
any time the even the the the theory of a thft being created elected School boards had that final decision and I will tell you almost 100% of the time they voted it down or Custer thank you um my my question is
about actually the meabf payment so we have $139 million that's sitting that we have lots of options um to to use but according to the meabf payment the city is demanding
175 so that still leaves a $36 million deficit um to what they're asking from us to begin with so I guess my question is um how do we come up with that $36 million does it mean cuts to this year's um or
to this fiscal year and given the fact that we are in March um and a new budget has to be passed in July what's even left on the table um to meet that $36 million demand if we do need to do
that yeah so so again coming back to the nature of this amendment what it does provide is the $139 million that we know about and that has been allocated but also leaves open the possibility of other Solutions be it through addition additional revenue or reductions to
expenses in this year's budget Beyond what's needed to combat some of the pressures that we're facing already on the revenue side and and some areas of cost overrun so um the amendment provides that flexibility that said when we're talking about reductions at this point in the year we're already today is
March 13th we're almost 3/4 of the way through through the year and our options really at this point are much more limited than they would be if we were talking about this in July August September October um so most of our budget has been you know has been
committed spent to date and so the options to find additional resources through cutting operating expenses is is limited at this point Thank you for Rivas
thank you Mr President um so one thing I I wanted to clarify and and let me know if my thinking is correct here um when the city declares a tiff Surplus so they're declaring a tiff Surplus because they also need that
funding to balance their own budget once a surplus is declared we receive our percentage that would have gone to CPS had it not gone into that Tiff bank account I believe it's 54% is that correct that that's correct so when the
Surplus is declared the amount of Tiff funding that is Surplus is redistributed to taxing bodies based on the proportion of the overall property taxes that they represent we are just over 50% 52 54% of that overall tax burden so when the tip
Surplus is declared those funds come back to CPS in that percentage so can the city next year because they're angry at us for not making this payment let's say can they declare a tiff surplus of $600 million and not provide us the 300
million that belongs to CPS so that's a question that we've never contemplated but based on my understanding of the process and the and what how that works I do not think that's possible yeah so car um board member R so I have researched this and
by law uh and so again just to explain what a tiff Surplus is every year um the city receives $1.2 billion minimum in tiffs every single year to the extent that those funds are not spent they they go into a bank account basically and it's
real cash it's not like madeup cash it's real cash it's in the bank um those balances you know as of the last publicly available data was over $3 billion with it be uh they've never been lower than a billion dollars in the last decade and so those funds and and they'
so they've grown by law whenever those funds are lease they have to go to the taxing bodies that is by law about more than 50% goes to CPS the city itself uh gets just under a fourth of it and the
rest of the funds go to city colleges the parks the water department Etc and so that is by law thank you I also uh wanted to clarify that the original ask of city council was
484 million is it and we received um two 298 that's correct okay so below what we requested to be able and that was the promise you made was that if we receive the 484 we will make this payment this 175 correct that's right m r so
basically we said look if you want us to help you uh because it really was us helping the city because remember board members for a 100 years the the the pension fund itself has existed for more than a 100 years we never were asked as as a district to make a payment into the fund um I'm not saying it's right or
wrong that's just that's just a fact it's only been in the last since uh the last since 2020 over 2019 that we started being asked to make payments gradual payments and again that was on the commitment of former Boards of that we had to start seeing the release of more additional tip funding because we
don't we didn't have a revenue source and uh my final question um now if this amendment were to be voted down does this mean we come back next month month with a different budget amendment that would be more aligned to
the needs of our teachers and leaders as we're working on finishing up these contracts so my understanding member Ras is um and I you know and I think I may suggest to the board a kind uh recommendation that maybe maybe we lay out some of these options at next week's
board meeting for you because it is really confusing I had a double check and triple check with um so if the amendment is is not passed asked then we then the budget process would start over uh next uh and we and it could start
whenever the board wants it and that's the 15 day cycle and then we go right through it um and you can also amend the resolution at um next week as well so whether it's to say we want to be clearly and just say we're going to use the 139 for the city pension payment or
you can amend the the am the resolution to say we want the money to be specifically used for uh the collective bargaining agreements so that is those are the decisions that that you would have uh next week and so but to answer your question if if nothing is passed if
nothing has passed then you would start the process again for a future budget amendment yeah I'll just comment that that wouldn't be prudent for us to limit ourselves I mean the amendment was written intentionally to give the board
the ability to have options and so you know we should continue to move forward would be my recommendation for the board as you look at these very weighty decisions you want to go into them having the ability to have as many options as p as possible on the
table manua thank you um thank you Chief I know that we've had discussions about refinancing of debt um could you share a little bit about the current plans I know you mentioned you have projections for refinancing of debt and then I'm reading in the Tribune the article that
they published about us 20 $40 million worth of debt that could be refinanced is that already a part of the projections that you have and could you share about potential refinancing options that we could have that could save us some money and open up some money for us sure so um first with
regard to the $240 million in the Tribune story we don't have the details exactly on what what that contemplated so I can't speak exactly to that particular proposal um what I will say and what we have discussed particularly with regard to next year's budget is
doing debt restructuring in order to to free up budgetary space in next year's budget a process that we do each each year in order to keep our debt payments as stable as possible and Depend and dependent on market conditions so what we've discussed as far as options and
potential solutions to help with next year's you know 5 to 600 potentially 7 to 800 million do deficit are doing things of that nature but things that are are part of our normal process each year so is there any refinancing that can be done for the situation that we
have right now so I I'll let Mir Slava uh Mia Kruger CFO speak to that question good afternoon po member Ana mava Mia KR she Financial Officer um I also read what
has been said on on on the newspaper I don't have the details but we have done everything that we could do this year so uh when we went through the budget for this year we have about hundred about
$80 million that we had we needed to pay we did some arrangements in our debt in order to save about $100 million that is included in in our budget for this year so everything that we needed to do for this year we did it I know the Chicago
tribun is talking about our debt service fund well the debt has already been paid we cannot Finance what have already been paid so I think that we have done everything that we could have done for 2025 in order to help the the budget now
we're looking into what are we going to do to help the budget for 2026 as you all know that the that the deficit is over 500 million po yes uh obviously we are talking about
all of this in the cont text of having inadequate funding to really meet the needs of our children our Educators our support staff Etc I think we have to keep that in mind all of the time when we're having these discussions we are
discussing Hunger Games and a budget of scarcity and that is not where we need to be obviously we will be many of us going to Spring Field seeking additional Revenue there may be complications down there a lot of this is coming from the
tremendous cuts that we anticipate and are already seeing from the uh federal government and this is all problematic but that said we have a large number of employees who have been working through
the meabf pension fund that pension fund is funded at the 25% level that is an outrageous level of funding that cannot be sustained we have as a board paid the meabf payment for
the last several years and the city understood it to be something that we were taking on they are paying extra into that pension fund paying basically paying on the principal in addition to just paying on the interest in essence
and I feel as if this is an obligation that we need to find a way to fund and if that funding involves rearranging things I think that's what we have to do if that funding involves some kind of loan at a non-predatory normal interest
rate I think that's what we have to do we have to meet the needs of our Educators our support staff our collective bargaining agreements Etc yes we have to obviously do some rearranging for next year there's no doubt about
that but in the meantime we have to figure out a way to do what we need to do and that's what I think I think this amendment opens up is the flexibility to do exactly that so that's my
statement I have another question uh is it true that the meabf payment has already been paid by the city and that what we're being asked to pay is a prepayment for the next pension loan to be clear member Smith I can
answer that mic so um this is actually a reimbursement to the city for last year so the so so member Smith your first your first statement is correct the city has already made the pension payment it is their legal obligation again I'm not saying it's right or wrong that it covers some of our employees but is by
law it is their legal they have to make the payment and that has been made as of last year so what the city is asking us to is to reimburse some for a part of that payment which is the 175 okay thank you so a lot of this conversation has been
around disentangling city and CPS finances right as we stand on our own and this conversation is really focused on an obligation um but I'm also concerned about Revenue sources and I I wonder if you could give you know a a
bit of useful information about what sorts of Revenue um CPS has the ability to raise what sorts of Revenue the city has the ability to raise um and sort of where that puts us in this conversation of disentanglement yeah uh thank you for
the question so I think you're hitting on you know something similar to what board member Pope mentioned about our constraints as a district in terms of our overall Revenue availability we're underfunded at the state level we've talked about that we're facing you know challenges going forward at the federal
level that remain to to be seen how that plays out um and then we are restricted in how much available local resources we can raise on our own primarily due to the um state laws regarding property tax caps so one thing we've continue to highlight for CPS is that we don't have
the ability to go out and raise additional Revenue when we have to incur additional costs so that's a challenge with the issues we're talking about today that's a challenge with all sorts of other issues that we Face where we see Rising costs but we don't have the availability to go out on our own as a
board to raise additional Revenue to meet them without the the action of city state or federal governments now the I think the distinction you're referring to with regard to the ability to raise revenue is the home rule
designation that allows the city and other entities that fall under that home rule designation to raise taxes to implement taxes on different things and raise revenue in different ways that allow to meet allow those entities to meet those costs be they pension costs
or other obligations that they have so um you know coming back to what we're doing as a district we're Limited in what we can do in that sense and that's been a challenge that again we're facing with all these all the budget pressures that we're seeing and that we've seen over the last few years is that when
these costs come on to cps's books we have a choice of whether to meet that cost or to find resources within our own budget it would have to be through cuts to be able to address address those Rising costs if the revenue is not available to meet them yeah and just just to add on that member bigs so the
city actually under the I believe it was under the Emanuel Administration actually created a levy it was authorized to create a levy to u to for specifically for this pension and so the so the challenge is that the levy for and they had levies also for the fire
and police so I agree with member Pope I mean this fund is very underfunded it is it is a significant risk for the city and I do worry about the impact it could have on especially on future employees um but the levy actually exists and it hasn't been raised now for a number of
years I'm not saying it's easy to raise a levy uh but it does exist specifically for the municipal pension um for the municipal pension fund um unfortunately we don't you don't have home rule and even when you become fully elected um school districts are across the country
just don't have home rule it's not something that's given to school districts you're always Limited in whatever revenues you can raise and then here it's even a double whammy because you're not allowed to pass a budget uh in any legal way that is not balanced and so it really just really puts a lot of restrictions on school districts the
city doesn't have those kind of restrictions because they can they have home rule they can raise levies they can issue new levies they can borrow against future levies um and you know again to remember Pop's comment earlier we already have a legal opinion that is very clear we are not allowed to borrow
for deficits uh and it is not allowed to be counted as Revenue those are just not uh not allowed by the law let me make a comment let me ask a question uh CEO Mike is this the first year this is not the first year we've been asked to make
this payment correct correct we've made it in the past we've made this payment for four the four prior fiscal years yeah what was the previous year what was the amount that was paid $175 million and
before that I believe two years ago was also $175 million okay so what makes the distinction in this year around the the payment because there wasn't a legal obligation to do so then yeah yeah so let let me answer that Mike so because
there's a lot of there's a lot of history here um so initially under the lifefood administration uh because we had federal funds um and and maybe because they were also trying to balance their budget the district was asked at that time to um to start making a
payment to the pension and it started with $60 million the board at that time and again she appointed that board um fought back and said it's not right uh we haven't paid it for 100 years and and said we only will do it if we get additional tip
funding that first year um and that was with President Miguel deay that first year I the money did come in so we were able to get the $60 million we I think we've documented that the next year the request was $100 million again the board pushed back and
said again this is not our legal obligation with all due respect um so we need to get also an additional Revenue Source IE Tiff um I believe maybe in that year they might have came in at 100 million I think I think it it might have I think that's what I remember and then
the third year uh was was raised up to 175 and the district did not get enough TI funding so that was a huge debate I think that was the year that was when I came into CPS and I got caught in the middle of it not understanding any of
this and so and then uh and so it was made reluctantly but at that time uh we had to use our federal funds and so the district did it reluctantly but said no more we're not going to do this again the following year um Mayor Johnson is
now in office and he's literally in his first month and so he's asking the the board that was about to leave which was you know under President deay to make this payment the board said we cannot and so it went on for months uh the new board came on under Mayor
Johnson still went on for months about I mean just this this this debate and at that time um it was and and and credit Mayor Johnson I mean like I said he followed through later that year with the with the one of the biggest Tiff surpluses we had and then continued that
last year so again it was a lot more collaborative but even then uh the understanding was this cannot happen unless the revenues exist because of that it started a series of meetings um that was um myself and and the mayor and
his team um making this request for the Tiff Fundy and so all the way to the point when it led to the request for the $484 million which was you know through last year all the way up the city council and so that's just been the history uh it's always been a
contentious issue uh I think the district has always acknowledged that look at some point we have to have a longer term solution uh whether it's maybe can the city assign the levy that it has for the pension to the district and allow the district to be the one that raises it um I don't I'm
not a legal expert on that but you know like those were the kind of conversations that we've been always wanting about you know what can the city do to help us to create the revenue source for it because by the way board members um this isn't an issue anywhere else in in in the state of Illinois
I don't know why and maybe you know member Brown you're the historian maybe you can go back and look at this for whatever reason uh this District was never allowed to create a fund for its noncertified employees other districts were and so
they did and they did it with cities and so there's another fund that the state has no doesn't fund put any money into it and it is more than 100% funded because they funded it and they made sure it was funded and then with the stock market gains it is now is is it's
just a non-issue anywhere else except Chicago I don't know why the city never allowed the district to do that or participate in that again this thing goes back a 100 years I just I just don't know why um and then of course it became an issue you know four years ago when we were asked to start to
contribute so those are important details that kind of outline or or signify there's a history of the payment there's a history of the recognition that the district has some obligation for and that this Administration did what it said it was going to do and
provide it you know record Surplus in order to do it so the board member Brown's point you know it's important for the board to recognize all those components as it's make makes its decision going forward that you know we do our part they'll do our part has been
evidenced by the record 300 million or $298 million and a commitment for for next year those are important context board member Brown um yes sir thank you uh Mr President I so I know that the board has
refinanced uh the CPS has refinanced debt in order to reduce cost in the past um so are we saying that every time that's happened has been illegal I mean there's a there's a long history of this type of action uh again
in order to reduce costs and and uh you know balance the budget so so again remember Brown It's refinancings are not illegal and like I said as our CFO said we do them every year in fact I think the challenge is she didn't say this but I feel like
we're more dependent on refinancings just just to even find you know just to be able to balance the budget and so so we're doing that every year um the challenge is um that's already built into this budget and we're already you know and that will be built into next year's budget it doesn't provide any
additional room to create the source for this year um and like I said you know it's something we have to look at for next year because we have to it's just every year so so those those refinances are healthy and then you know and again you know we're being we're doing them
annually so CEO Martinez and and just to be candid like we're hearing different and so we're getting a lot of information from different places but I think because it's not even just about
as we know the municipal payment it's also about the teachers union pension and it's also about the the the um Chicago principles Association and so we're saying we have $139 million y'all just pick and figure it out and I think it's it's a lot more uh there's a lot
more at stake than that and so I I just want to raise it that you know other experts are saying that you can refinance and then actually the debt is not paid out of our internal budget it's actually paid back by the Tiff Surplus
or the expiring tiffs that that actually pays the loan back but then I think there's another challenge and I don't mean this I just think I don't see it a vision for a a state strategy not a
state agenda that CPS is moving but a vision to make one of the largest economies in the world that for decades has been 49th in public education with a global City like Chicago to make Illinois the education
State like a vision to because the cuts at the federal level are coming and but you I don't hear a comprehensive plan I hear it's almost like we in a we're in a boat and we got duct tape at the bottom of it and we're
just hoping that the leak don't spring and I think that it's incumbent upon us as people in the positions that we're in that we have to articulate the whole package um you know we we
we we don't want to ruin that relationship with the city as president Harden has said there's been a history of making the payment so consequently we've gotten the largest Tiff p uh Tiff Surplus we've ever
received right so again yes it's law but basically what I hear you saying CEO is that it's ordinance and an ordinance can always be uh uh Rewritten it can always be amended so I just think we have to talk about
the whole package here we're we're in a crisis that was not created by our CEO it was not created by you Mike it wasn't created by any of us here but it's in our lap and so the question is you know if we're going to talk we have to have a comprehensive conversation we need a
Statewide strategy we we need a strategy to look at uh to come up with other forms of Revenue at the city level but we're in an emergency right now right and so I just want I I do think that what we're hearing from experts is that
being able to finance uh this debt to lower the cost is an option so I just want to share with you all we're getting from experts just like the experts here that work for us at the district we're getting two sides of the coin and so we're trying to sift through all of this
to come to a solution that that that that makes sense for our children yeah so so so member Brown I really appreciate what you said and um couldn't agree with you more about you know we need we need a very strong uh strategy with our unions with our mayor with with
City Hall um around the state because we are we are just underfunded and and and that and that is clear by their own evidence that were underfunded um again in terms of the experts again just to and it's very complicated for the bers and I get that so again I I appreciate the fact that you're trying to
understand it I think where it gets confusing is you know when when you talk about the city's ability because they control tiffs they control them um and so when you control your own Revenue Source it just gives you a lot more
flexibility what you can do in terms of borrowing against that Revenue Source against because they have home rule they can create lobbies so the flexibility the cities have is just much higher and and and and again they can do things the challenge for a school district and again we have a legal opinion that the
board members have it's very clear you're not allowed to borrow for any deficits you're not allowed to uh count any borrowings as Revenue that is just state law the tiffs don't belong to us they they belong to the city and so as much as I appreciate the fact that tiffs will
be released the city has to make that decision year by year and so you know it is through the City budget and the vote that they take that's what determines the revenue for that year so I you know it's great to have the the commitments later on but we as a district have no
control over them so you can't even use that in any way as a as a revenue Source by law the other um and so and so that's that's the biggest that's the biggest challenge is that now if the tips were released today today then those were
count as revenues today and so again I I do believe that regardless um we need to come up with a long-term solution um because this this is part of the disentanglement this is part of the district becoming fully elected but it has to be all inclusive it's tiffs it's
levies that exist right now can new levies be created for the district some of those may require you know State Law changes and I believe members uh member Brown the the pension legal obligation is a state law it is not a city ordinance uh pensions are very defined
clearly in state law and who's responsible for them board members of thank you um so I just wanted to comment on the importance of knowing uh exactly the size of the hole that we have to fill and we still really don't
know that because the contract has not been resolved um we keep hearing estimates um but we really need the facts and so for two months now we've been hearing that we're close to solving it and obviously a lot of progress has been made and kudos to all those who
have done so much work on it but we've also been hearing for two months pretty much the same stumbling blocks so I just kind of want to say that it would be really important to get it done as soon as possible because for us to make these very difficult decisions I think it's
important that we have actual numbers and not these theoretical numbers that we've been offered yeah and board member boys I'm Mike did you have a follow yeah if I could just to that to that comment
the thing that we don't have final certainty on the numbers even for this year because especially with CT the contract is still outstanding what we do have is more certainty this year on this year's costs than we do in the subsequent years because the costs we're
likely to incur this year will be wage based and so we you know we know what what we've offered we know where where the teachers union is currently at so we have a sense of what what those two what those costs are our proposal is within that 139 million
of available Revenue but obviously to your point we're not going to know exactly until the contract's final but we do have more certainty at this point for this year than we do for the entire term of the four-year contract board member boys hi Mike um so
how much have we received in Tiff over the last do you know the numbers for the last three years uh I don't have those exact numbers with me I believe so this year was the 298 million that we've discussed last year and we're talking Tiff Surplus
here so last year I believe it was around 226 million um and then the year prior I believe was under 200 million but still in that in the range um higher than what we had received historically from that steadily increasing the city's giving us
more and more Tiff dollars yes every year is that right um and you know we have these briefing these brief meet the small brief meetings with five board members at a time and we many of the
folks on this board are education Advocates um parents so forth and we're talking about some kind of complicated governmental sort of stuff um I I'm wondering um Madam Secretary if there's
a if there's how we can incorporate actual experts to come and talk talk to us and answer our questions I think it would be outstanding if we could have um I'm sure assessor kegi would be happy to come and tell help us understand how the
property taxes and the levies go because we do have some Authority when it comes to those I would love for someone to come and talk to us about the Tiff and the Tiff Surplus I know there's someone from the city who's I don't know her name but she's got glasses and I saw her
on WGN News recently um I just I feel like everybody in this room does CPS really well you know and maybe we need to bring in every time I leave the Board Room I make five phone calls to make sure that I'm getting the right Story
the accurate story and the most upto-date story um and so what's the process that we can bring our own experts into not just make a speech but actually answer questions similar to what Mike is doing I would have to defer to the acting
Chief of Staff as well as our Deputy um because as well as the CEO's team because they're the ones that actually schedule the 5x5 briefings that you're referring to as well as who is attending those briefings so it's something I'll
bring back to the team and can but that can they come here and testify and answer questions not just like make a speech but actually answer questions from the board because this is I mean this is complicated stuff and we should have experts we should be no Mike
you're an expert at what you do no shade and CEO Martinez really appreciate your input but I think if we're talking about tax levies if we're talking about Tiff and surplus we should actually have some people maybe a person from the city a
person from the assessor's office um do that and and we can have an a real discussion a health discussion noted and I'll take that up with our team as well thanks that's all thank
you board member banon um CFO KR and Mike be get into this too um I I just want to um push back on the refunding option I uh you know obviously we have a limit amount of funding and if it's a choice between
pension payments sub payment to the city and funding our schools I think it's an easy choice for everyone at the table but we can't ignore that not making this pension payment won't have repercussions I mean we have repercussions uh in later fiscal years if this is in a vacuum it
would be an easier Choice um so that's the only reason that I'm pressing so hard on the refunding option um my understanding or I'm asking you to um confirm more with um uh the city they I
believe have a detailed funding option identifying the bonds that can be refinanced I know CFO kogy said that's not an option this year again I'm just um I'm asking to re re reexamine um that option um with these specifics in mind and maybe it's a meeting between
President Harden and and the city and CPS um or to the point that board member blae made um something like that but um i' I'd like to hear more information uh as followup on how some specific proposals are not options I
don't know if you're prepared to answer those right now referring to specific bonds I wouldn't imagine uh you can that uh in this forum but maybe um tomorrow or next week we can have some more detailed questions on
on that yeah I'll just say board member Bannon that you know the discussions around options that are available are going to continue um you know directly with the city with the internal team I mean you know we're going to continue to work through without halt to examine to your
point you know we're going to do everything possible to meet these obligations and if it comes down to we obviously we're going to protect classroom uh but we do recognize all of these things as being critical and so we're going to examine all options those that come up in the newspaper and every
place else uh until we are satisfied that we've done everything we possibly can do and so just want to you know commend Mike Maris Slava you know you guys have been outstanding in terms of being responsive trying to work this through uh but the job is not done yet
so we'll continue to have these conversations tomorrow and through next week thank you for your presentation thank you thank you I just want to put a finer point on U maa's request especially for tomorrow's
hearing um the process CEO um and Ruchi um if you could let us know for having a subject matter expert um that can that can also stand with Mike and
chief um Maris laava and the CEO um for tomorrow's hearing so that we can leave here with with Clarity of all of the options that that we need to consider um and also you know the city is not here
to respond to the impacts I mean I was in city hall yesterday and I talked to a dozen aldermen um and the what they have Express to me is um one like us not not like us riging
on paying that um payment um would be extremely difficult for the city and for all the taxpayers in in in the whole city so they are very concerned
um that CPS doesn't make that payment and I would like to be able to I would like be able to leave the budget hearings and I think the entire city of Chicago and constituents across the city would deserve to have um PE you know folks who also
understand and have opinions on on this that we need to be considering before we make our our decision next week uh is there something that you can respond to now Rie I don't know if you have the bylaws in front of you um
or how we've done it in the past uh with having like subject matter experts um here never I'm happy to review that with President Harden and get back to you so we we'll take it into
consideration we're clear what the board is requesting we just have to look into how to make it so so I'll follow up yes and sorry and worst case scenario I can talk to the folks that I me at least the two that I mentioned and maybe
write something up and share um with contact information for somebody that they can call for a followup you know it I I think the the point here is you know we will Avail to all board members the
information that's needed in order to make decisions so you know whether whether it be here or outside the I think what's critical is that we engage all the folks that we need so that everybody feels
comfortable in the decisions that we're making you know and so you know we'll examine what's possible for tomorrow it's kind of short notice but to the extent that it's possible then we'll do it but if not be clear that we will still make available all the information
that's needed and bring any experts that we can to the table well I'll make sure that that occurs yes sir yeah the only thing I wanted to say is there's been lots of mentioned by lots of board members here today relative to other data and
information you know I got a file today and I can tell you I wasn't part of those conversations or even an extended invitation um to hear the brief from said horse's mouth um so for me it would be really important that whatever
information you guys are talking about that all that information would be shared ahead of time so that we can all be on the same page thank you now point point taken board Gutierrez and that just underscores the point that I just made is it's critical
that all board members have access and are informed with all the information everybody has so we're singing from the same H book This is complicated stuff no no doubt but we can't get through it uh we all have access to different sources of information and we are committed to
bring it all to the table for full examination so we're fully informed all right this concludes our first fy2 budget hearing thank you for