Vice President Bautista, before you begin today's meeting, I would like to read a few announcements. Good morning. Welcome to the January for 14, 2026 agenda review committee meeting. Before we start the meeting, I would like to share a few safety points
and next meeting announcements. Please note that the primary exit and entrance to the boardroom is the door which you used to enter this morning. If you're leaving the room, please use this door. The restrooms are outside the boardroom doors to your left. During the
meeting, we ask that you keep all aisles and exits clear. If you need any assistance during the meeting, please wave the attention of one of our security officers. Mark your calendars for the upcoming meeting. The next board meeting is scheduled for Thursday, January 29th,
2026 at 10:30 a.m. The board meeting will be held at 42 West Madison Street Garden level boardroom. For details on how to register to speak or observe at the meetings and to learn about the speaker lottery process, please visit the Chicago Board of Education website cpsbboe.org.
If you have any questions about registration or public public participation, please contact the board office for assistance. Thank you for joining us today. Vice President Bautista, we are now ready for you to begin the meeting. Good morning everyone. Welcome to the
Chicago Board of Education Agenda Review Committee meeting. Today is January 14, 2026. I'm Vice President Olga Bautista. On behalf of my fellow board members, thank you for joining us today. We are holding today's agenda review committee meeting in the boardroom at the CPS Loop
Office, 42 West Madison Street, Garden Level. I would like to note that the board members and senior leadership are physically present in the boardroom. Registered speakers may join us in person or virtually if they opted to do so. And registered observer observers
are joining us in person. The agenda review committee meeting of Wednesday, January 14, 2026 is hereby called to order. Board secretary, please call the role. >> Member Lozano, >> present.
>> Member, >> present. Member Bole >> here. >> Member Wallace >> present. Member Pope >> present. >> Member Rosenfeld >> present. >> Member Rivas >> present. >> Member Brown >> present.
>> Member Rio Sierra >> present. >> Member Bannon >> present. >> Member Gutierz >> present. >> Member Biggs >> present. >> Member Thodicura >> present. >> Member Blae who's joining us virtually via Zoom. >> Present.
Member Zachor present. Vice President Bautista present. 16 members present. We do have a quorum. Great. Um the order of the meeting will be as follows. Public participation discussion of agenda review committee
meeting items number one to three. Um first close session reconvene from the first close session. discussion of agenda review committee meeting items numbers 4 through 8 and then we'll go into a second close session. We'll
reconvene from the second close session and then we will adjourn. Let's now proceed with today's public participation session. 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. Note that the public participation
um is the time for the board and CPS senior leadership to listen and hear from you rather than a time for dialogue with board members during or after your remarks. While we can't discuss personnel matters, public participation
is a key component of transparent governance and it provides us as board members as well as senior leadership an opportunity to listen to everyone who has signed up to speak. This board takes equity of voice seriously. While we may
not address your comments directly during public participation, CPS leadership is always present at our meetings and are able to address concerns as follow-ups after the meeting. As a district and as a board, we are also we also have many other
spaces for authentic dialogue. For example, each and every one of our board members hosts board office hours so that we can have a conversation. Please use our website cpsb.org if you want to meet with the board
member during office hours. We encourage you to take advantage of the opportunity to meet with board members outside of the board meeting. Thank you for your attention and consideration. As a reminder, union representatives will be allotted five minutes to speak
before public participation and any elected officials um will be allotted five minutes to speak after the conclusion of public participation. Board secretary, please share the rules of public participation.
Thank you. Before we um proceed, I do want to note that for the record, member DB Barry has joined the meeting at 10:30 a.m. Um, and we also have uh an announcement from
Dr. King regarding LLC applications. If you want to make the announcement. Thank you. Good morning. I want to remind everyone about an important deadline that's coming up quickly. Anyone interested in running for an open seat on their local school
council or the LS or LSC must complete an application by this coming Tuesday, January 20th at 300 p.m. Our next LSC election will be held on March 18th. And whatever your connection to CPS, we need
your voice. LSC's play a critical role in the success of our district and are a great opportunity for students, parents, staff, and community members to get more involved in their school and communities. Anyone interested in running should visit cps.edu/lsc
election for more information and complete the application to become a candidate by January 20th at 300 p.m. Thank you. Thank you. Do you all proceed with the public participation guidelines? Members of the public who registered to speak
were given the option to attend via in person or via an electronic format. For those who prefer to attend via an electronic format, they were given information to access this meeting by dialing a number and using their phone. We did this so that speakers with limited or no access to the internet or
who may have weak internet connections could still participate using their phones. Also, members of the public may submit written comments for board of education meetings via the written comments form on the board's website at cpsboe.org or mailed to 42 West Madison Street
Garden level. 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 five business days on our website at cpsb.org. Speakers, please listen while I provide
directions for public participation. I will call your name and number when it is your turn to speak. For speakers joining us virtually, as a reminder to unmute, please enter star six. Once you hear your name, please state your name for the record. I will then start the 2-minut timer. When there are 30 seconds
remaining, I will inform you so that you can proceed to conclude your remarks to allow for the next speaker to begin. For anyone standing with the speaker, note that in order to comply with the city's fire code, please stand along the glass partitions on the marked spots to keep IELTS clear. Thank you. Vice
President Bautista, before we begin calling speakers from the speakers list, we do have union reps who would like to address the board. We'll begin with Dr. Diane Castro, CTU financial secretary. Good morning. My name is Dr. Diane Castro and I'm a bilingual preschool
teacher on leave and the financial secretary of the CTU. I want to wish us all a powerful happy new year as we champion our students, families, and this city. As we begin 2026, we hope to see hundreds of school workers who are mclassified as miscellaneous, including
school clerks, teacher assistants, librarians, and teachers, finally be recognized as CTu members and afforded their rights and proper compensation. This issue has sat open for years and should never have been ignored and denied for CPS for so long. Workers
rights to a union must be respected at all CPS district and charter schools. and this board has stated that you agree. We urge all board members and CPS management to act with speed and urgency to enforce that right and ensure that charter companies stop denying workers
at these schools their rights to organize and stop spending precious education funding on union busting efforts. This past year has taught us that the Trump administration has no intent on backing down. They continue to escalate and attack cities that do not
cower nor capitulate to their demands. just yesterday threatening to withhold all federal funds from states like ours. In 2025, we saw what courage and leadership looks like from our mayor Brandon Johnson when he provided CPS a historic tiff surplus unlike any mayor
before him. Our mayor has done his part and now it is time for leaders in Springfield to do theirs. In 2026, we need words to turn into action and commitment to fully fund our schools. We need the governor and legislature to provide the nearly $2 billion still owed
to our students to fully fund the classrooms that our young people need to grow and thrive. We heard Illinois House Speaker Chris Welch say that the wealthy should pay more. Now is the time to come together and demand that our legislators contribute to building a force field of protection around our neighborhood
schools. That can only come when we push forward on policies that ensure that the ultra wealthy pay their fair share so our students get all of the investments that they need. And I believe that we can do this together. Today, I invite you once again to go to Springfield with
us to join in the call for fully funding the EBF, not 14 years from now, but now. Our students can't wait. We are in Springfield already working on this mission, and this mission should not be ours alone. Now is the time. Be bold.
Demonstrate what leadership in this district can really look like. Will you come with us to Springfield in February, March, April, and May? Being underfunded by $2 billion has real consequences. As an early childhood educator, I would wonder every year if this was the year
that my program would close. No family nor educator should wonder if their neighborhood school will continue to have a program in the upcoming year. This is not only true for early childhood programs, but special education, bilingual, class size, and so much more. Districts that have full
funding do not face the same levels of stress around this issue as our district does. Instead of limiting programs, we should be expanding expanding access to meet the needs of all of our students. In 2026, we need you to partner with us to do more to ensure safe and supportive
school buildings and classrooms. This week in Minneapolis, we witnessed federal agents deploy deploy chemical irritants at high school students and educators while they were leaving their school building. Staff and students were reported to have been taken into custody
at the very same school. We also know that in 2026, the murder of Renee Good was not the very was not the first murder by federal agents, but an echo of the atrocities happening in LA, where a black father, Keith Porter, was also
taken too soon. And just like you and I wake up to these terrible truths, so do our students. I am a parent of two middle schoolers in CPS. They share that in their school on the far northwest side of this city, their peers ask questions like, "Will we also be a target?" And we hear that from educators
across the city that the same sorts of questions are being asked whether their friends will be seen again or what will happen to them if their parents are kidnapped. Our students also wake up with the daily knowledge that the president does not believe that they should have access to the education that
reflects who they are. They see a sitting president cut funding to punish us for a black student success plan. They see a sitting president punish us for supporting LGBTQIA students. They see a president who slashes the supports for special education and students with
>> 30 seconds remaining. >> They see the federal government deny their humanity. And while federal agents have not left Chicago, we must anticipate that they will come back in larger numbers as they continue to attack cities that have had the courage to denounce their atrocities. We need a plan for students who have faced trauma.
And not just trauma at the hand of federal agents, but the trauma of housing instability, the trauma of students whose mental health has been impacted by mass incarceration and deep disinvestment. And finally, I'd be remiss if I did not address again the crisis unfolding in
the charter industry. The crisis of TH arts and their CEO Tina Boyer Brown and their CEO Richard Rodriguez and Aspira with their CEO Edgar Lopez where they don't even know if they have the finances to run throughout this school year. Please. >> Why hasn't Inks and their CEO Andrew
Broy addressed the lack of accountability among charter operators that is endangering the education of students who depend on them? For months, you have heard from educators, parents, and students the effect that these operators have unduly caused to them there. These are crises manufactured by
the charters and their CEOs, and it will take your actions to make sure that they are held responsible. We have a lot to do in 2026. Please join us in fighting for our students. Thank you. Thank you for your comments. Before we proceed, I would like to note for the record that
member uh Lopez joined the meeting at 10:42 a.m. and member Kuster joined the meeting at 10:43 a.m. The next union rep is Jen Conan, CTU Charter Division Chair.
Good morning members of the board and CEO King. We've only just started 2026 and it is shaping up to be a challenging year. Given the assaults from the federal government on our rights, funding for education and support services, defenders of public education are all in
crisis mode. That crisis is also showing up in the charter sector as we seek to ensure students and staff have stable schools. We thank you for voting to take over management of Shy Arts next year. Folks were able to breathe more easily over the holidays knowing that their school wasn't disappearing at the end of
this school year. But voting to take over management of the school after the charter operators board of directors chose to abandon students and close the school was just the first step. Next, CPS needs to figure out how to structure and provide funding and support for the
arts conservatory program. You've heard from students, parents, and staff over the last few months about how important it is to protect the pre-professional arts education, and to not rely solely on a philanthropic model for funding the conservatory program. That model has
consistently left the core of this school's survival up to the whims of outside organizations and donors, and it is why we are here now. This board's November 4th action item stated CPS would address the funding of the conservatory program at the January
board meeting. I don't see anything about chy arts on today's agenda. So I hope you are pushing CPS to put together a plan to maintain the conservatory program with a stable funding framework. I also want to name that shy arts will only be saved if it is able to retain
students and staff in this transition. So, it is essential that CPS agree to offer jobs to Shy Arts staff, both academic and teaching artists as soon as possible. Continuous healthc care coverage for these CPS educators as they transition
from Shy Arts to district employees, is also essential for the school's transition. The same goes for employees at Aero schools that are transitioning to district management next year. These educators are not just voluntarily changing their jobs. They are maintaining their jobs at their schools
under different management and should not suffer a break in healthcare coverage. I also want to flag again that while this board voted for CPS to create a plan that maximizes continuity and stability for the Epic community, including Epic staff being able to follow Epic students as they transition
to a receiving school next year. It is unclear to the rest of us how CPS intends to accomplish this. CPS so far has not been interested in providing the same supports to educators at Epic that they have provided to Asero educators and that's a problem. I've al also
spoken many times about the situation that Aspira finds itself in. CPS has been advancing funds so that Aspira can pay its bills but at some point that funding is going to run out. CPS should be transparent transparent with the board and the public about when Aspira
will run out of funds and about what will happen next. Will the schools close mid year? Will CPS take over management? What consequences will there be for the charter operator? Families and staff need answers. The public also needs answers about how CPS intends to protect
students and staff from future charter closures. Many of these crises were predictable. Some of them we warned you about. Thanks, the lobbyist for the charter companies is asking for less accountability, longer renewals, and fewer protections for students and staff at those schools. Will they get this or
will the charter renewal process be modified so that it involves a serious look at finances? Will operators need to provide windown or contingency plans should they not have enough money to continue operations. You as a board have repeatedly voted to
support school communities and to mitigate the harm to students in whatever way possible despite charter operators failing our school communities. Thank you. I ask that you continue to hold charter operators accountable to responsibly running schools while also protecting students,
families, and staff. Thank you. Thank you for your comments. The next union rep is Tummaine Reeves, SEIU Local 73, Director of CPS Division, who is joining us virtually. Please enter star six to unmute.
Good morning and happy new year. Uh, President Harden, board members, and Dr. King. I want to talk really quickly about the upcoming school year 202627 budget. Um, SEIU would like to partner with the district on the front end of discussing
solutions that will result in presenting a budget that ensures no cuts to the workforce because the workforce has already been pretty decimated this school year. If anything, we want to work on uh restoring a lot of positions and adding support to students uh
throughout the district to ensure cleaner, safer, and better supported schools. And so with that, we are requesting to meet immediately uh with the district to begin discussing solutions and partnership and not simply
be briefed on a proposal on a proposed budget on the back end. Also to let you know the members of SEIU Local 73 will be going to Springfield um this upcoming spring break in March. Uh and this is a prime opportunity for a
unified messaging around proper funding for Chicago public schools. So that said, we stand ready and available to discuss next steps around this matter. Uh we hope to hear from someone from the district soon uh to discussing that partnership. We are already in the
middle of January and so the sooner we can start these discussions the better. Uh thank you all and uh enjoy the rest of your day. >> Thank you for your comments. Vice President Bautista. We are now ready to call speakers from the speakers list and
we will begin with the Shy Arts group. Megan Riley, speaker number one. Good morning. My name is Megan Riley. I'm a math teacher and department head at Shy Arts. You've heard from dozens of Shy Arts students, staff, parents, and
community members at every board meeting since October. Our predictable appearance comes, of course, from our deep passion for shy arts and our burning hope to see our beloved school maintained, but also because we have been burned too many times to be
complacent. We cannot consider our school saved until you make formal decisions protecting our conservatory model, our staff, and the future we offer our students. In particular, I'd like to reiterate the points I made on finances in December. do not expect to
be able to support the conservatory model through philanthropy or other external revenue sources. That failed model is how we got here. We believe that in order to fund our city's only pre-professional public art school, we must use public funds. The Shy Arts
Foundation has failed its mission and its donors as year after year we have seen cuts to the vital education that we provide. Any funds raised should be for our students and we believe that parents, students, and staff are the best people to engage with about the
future of our school, not the Shy Arts Foundation. At the board meeting on October 23rd, member Brown made a statement on how actions demonstrate our values. That same meeting when a parent and student left upset after a misunderstanding,
member Brown got out of his seat and followed them out to make sure they were okay and make the situation right. I think about that every day. That is showing your values. With the repo proposed calendar for school year 2627,
there are only 222 days until students return for in the fall. Every single day, students across the country endure new terrors. Federal thugs gassing, kidnapping, and now murdering innocent people. Violent political takeovers and
bombings. Funding Shy Arts won't fix that. But this word to absorb shy arts management tells me you unanimously agree that art is vital to human survival. Art is hope. If those are your
values, time is running out to show us. Thank you. >> Thank you for your comments. The next speaker is Aaron Brown. Speaker number four. Um, good morning to all. My name is Aaron Brown. This is my third year teaching math at Shy Arts and my ninth
year working as a teacher. Now, I know I probably don't need to state this, but I will anyways. Um, Chicago is a fun, one-of-a-kind, inspiring city. The energy Chicago artists, musicians, chefs, poets, writers, organizers, and the like share with us through public
art, music, food, performances, and events, and more are a vital piece of Chicago's identity. This is especially true when those artists are young folks. As a high school that provides a true arts education, not just art as an elective or an extracurricular, Shy Arts
then serves as an essential institution. The core component being the 15 hours of dedicated pre-professional arts training our students currently receive each week. Equally as important as dedicated time for arts training are the Shy Arts art teachers, all of whom are working
artists in addition to arts educators. The teaching artists at Shy Arts offer insight, talent, and genuine experience as working artists that students would be hardressed to find elsewhere in the city. And truly, it is a beautiful thing to see artists collaborate across generations,
strengthening the fabric of our city. Our school community and model would not be the same without our teaching artists, and it is essential that every teaching artist is offered a position next year. If CPS decides to require our teaching artists to have a license to teach particular classes, it is then the
responsibility of CPS to communicate this to our school and provide an alternative path to lure for our teaching artists in a timely manner. Lastly, I'd like to stamp that Shy Arts is a unique school. Our arts model is the only public option of its kind in
the city. And while this might present challenges fitting neatly into CPS's typical school model, artists have never been the type to fit the mold exactly. Our arts day ethos, scope, and sequence have been refined to provide an excellent arts education to our students, and we are committed to a
school community and to collaborating with CPS in order to preserve this special model. >> Please conclude your remarks. We look forward to working with y'all communally communally and creatively so the conservatory stays intact not only
for our current students but for future artists and the city as a whole. Thank you. >> Thank you for your comments. The next speaker is AJ Wester, speaker number eight who is joining us virtually. Please enter star six to unmute. Can you hear me?
>> Yes, please proceed. >> Yes, I would just like to thank you all for letting me do this virtually. Uh my name is AJ Wester. I have been a teaching artist at Shy Arts almost since the beginning since about 2010 on and off. I've worked at colleges. I've
worked at almost every artistic u institution that deals with music and theater in the city. And Shy Arts is special. And I just wanted to say that, you know, I've watched artists like Renee Raven Len and Dr. Elijah Smith and
all these kids come in with no musical ability and now they're on international stages doing amazing things. So, we're showing that the work that we have been doing has been really incredible and it it we we are a world-class city and we should be putting out just as many
worldclass uh artists as LaGuardia and the same high school in LA. So, we just to get to the points, we had hoped that the future of the conservatory would be on the agenda as it was stated in November 4th in that special meeting.
the teaching artists. We are all wanting to know whether we will be able to continue to even have the opportunity to work at the institution where some of us like me have been working since 2010. Will there be an allowance made for teaching artists without certification
to either still be eligible to teach or if there might be a way to fast track or a path to certification because most of us have higher degrees and even work at universities. So there isn't a lack of education. >> 30 seconds remaining.
>> Thank you. There's a great concern about hiring a principal for the school without a firm idea about the future of the conservatory. Obviously the future of the conservatory is a great importance to our institution as we begin planning for next year and
planning in our school is very tricky. If you can provide a plan to add a decision about the conservatory to the board's agenda, that would be of great importance and great relief to our teaching artist staff. Thank you so much for your time.
>> Thank you for your comments. The next speaker is Phoebe Peterson, speaker number 11. Hello, my name is Phoebe Peterson and I'm a diverse learners teacher at Chai Arts. When we received the news last September that the Chai Arts board had not submitted our contract for renewal,
everyone in our school community was devastated. Students who believed their place of artistic refuge might be taken away. Teachers afraid of losing their livelihoods and treasured relationships. While we are overjoyed that CPS will be absorbing Chai Arts, we still need
concrete promises from you in order to keep our community intact. First, we cannot continue to rely on private philanthropy to fund our arts conservatories. That model has proven unsustainable already, robbing our arts teachers of health care and our students of important artistic programming that
gets scaled back year after year. Public arts high schools in other major American cities such as Philadelphia and New York receive public funding for their intensive art programs. While private philanthropy can supplement funding, it cannot be the primary revenue stream. Second, we need
guarantees for our jobs in writing. Our teachers and staff should not be penalized for the failures of the Chai Arts Board. Our teaching artists who are experienced experts in their fields should not be forced to invest time and money obtaining a degree for a job they've already been doing for years.
Under their toutelage, our scholar artists frequently win local and national competitions in their artistic disciplines. Meanwhile, our academic teachers consistently receive commenation from ISBY and CPS. Without guarantee of our positions, we will lose
the majority of our most experienced dedicated teachers, educators who have devoted over a decade of their lives to Chai Arts, which would be a disservice to our students and their education. Finally, any staff currently included on a Chai Arts healthcare plan should not have a gap in coverage due to
transitioning over to CPS employment at a time when rising premiums are a national concern. Please keep our community whole and healthy so that Chai Arts can thrive. Thank you. Thank you for your comments. The next speaker is Allison Filin, speaker number
13. Hello, my name is Allison Filin and I've been teaching math at SHs for seven years. There's less than 6 months before the end of this school year and we have few answers about the next one. It feels like there's a lack of urgency from CPS officials on our transition to CPS. We
have yet to hear actionable proposals on finances and the conservatory model from CPS and a vote from the board on these matters has not been scheduled. We're losing time to prepare for next year. We feel delayed in scheduling students. We can't plan effectively. We can't transparently recruit new staff or students. And most importantly, every
day of uncertainty, we lose more of what makes Shy Arts so special. Students and staff are looking elsewhere because your inaction robs them of stability. The Shyarts community has done our part in planning for the future. Our parents did incredible work and sent an entire financial proposal to CPS officials,
additionally shared with board members. Have you looked at it? What's your response to this? We've also provided our course catalog, bell schedules, and lots of other key info about programming and daily operations. We feel we've provided all that we can for you to understand what's happening in our building short of you spending more time
with us at school. What information are you missing? We're happy to find it for you, but based on the questions that CPS officials are repeatedly asking, we're concerned that institutional knowledge about our school is not being internalized. Something important to remember is that the past few years, Shartz has had difficulty scheduling its students due to issues related to
everything from budget, staffing, and administrative errors. We desperately want to avoid this issue again. Right now, every high school student in the district is getting ready to choose their classes for next year, but we have no idea what our schedule look like or what courses we'll be offering. Teachers can see the writing on the wall for a potential scheduling disaster.
>> It's time. This time, it's because we don't know what parts of our school will continue to exist. These decisions are vital for a successful transition to CPS management. Please show us urgency in finalizing a decision about our conservatory and hiring our staff so that we can continue planning for the
2627 school year like a typical school. Thank you. >> Thank you for your comments. The next speaker is Megan Pet, speaker number 23. >> Good morning. My name is Megan Pets and I'm an English teacher at Shy Arts. First, I wanted to thank the board and
CPS officials for listening to our requests for community input and implementing an advisory council. We had our first meeting this week. It was a great opportunity to meet together as parents, students, teachers, community members, and CPS officials. We began by
discussing an ideal principal candidate. CPS officials shared that there were 21 candidates for this role and that only three would be shared as finalists with the advisory council. Because of the uniqueness of our school, council members requested that we are able to review all resumes and see a larger
number of candidates. I hope the board can help us echo this request. I believe much of the incredible amount of leadership turnover at Chy Arts can be attributed to the highly unique challenges of managing our school. We need someone with extensive experience who can navigate the layers of our
programming, mission, and vision. We are choosing someone who is helping manage a major project who needs to have empathy for our past experiences, expertise in processes and procedures development and of course a real commitment to the arts with true experience in the arts. The
advisory council members have the vital insights CPS officials need to successfully find such a person as well. Principal selection feels particularly touchy because currently there are no details as to how leadership may oversee our conservatory program. How can we
pick a school leader without knowing what our school will look like overall? Managing a traditional school versus working in a building like Shy Arts are two very different things. >> You have 30 seconds remaining. >> Finally, our advisory council received a meeting schedule and general timeline of how hiring may work in our building. We
will be meeting once a month, but the duties laid out for our council are very broad. As you know, July 2026 is not very far off. The current timeline does not represent a sense of urgency about decision-making around our school and does not ensure a strong start to next school year. Staff cannot plan for their
courses or provide a stable start to next school year for students without more concrete details. We know that families and students want our teaching artic artists and educators to stay. So why not ensure that our staff know as soon as possible that they will be continuing with our school next year. Please consider supporting our request
to see a wider range of principal candidates and confirm our employment in writing as soon as possible. Thank you. >> Thank you for your comments. >> The next speaker is Alexander Cookman, speaker number 26. Good morning. My name is Alex Cookman. I
am a social science teacher at Shy Arts High School and the academic union delegate. I have not had a chance to say this to all of you in person, but I am deeply grateful that the CPS board of education has agreed to take over management of Shy Arts and that you did so quickly. Thank you. There is a worst
case scenario that we for now have avoided. If parents and students did not feel confident that our school would be intact next year, then we would have entered an irreoverable death spiral of transfers. We have deferred this scenario, but work remains to ensure
that it does not reemerge. Our transition committee is faced with a tremendous amount of work and precious little time to get it done. The relief that we all have experienced is fading and uncertainty is creeping back in as parents, students, and teachers once
again recognize that we don't know what next year looks like. The good news is that we know what we want it to look like. At the two CPS facilitated listening sessions, our school community declared that it is a priority to retain our current schedule,
including 15 hours of pre-professional arts instruction per week and the staff who teach it. This unique program is the proverbial needle to be threaded through CPS policy if we want the tapestry of shy arts to remain intact. What we do
not want is to have our programs supplanted by a pre-fabricated model that is dropped on us because we either ran out of time or we're not empowered to do things the right way. You >> have 30 seconds remaining. >> To take over management of Shy Arts only to break the format of what has made us so academically and artistically
successful is not really saving our school. This is a real moment of opportunity for us to leave behind the mismanagement of the past and to turn Shy Arts into one of the most sought-after high schools in CPS. I am asking that you please keep our school
on your January agenda so that we can keep it intact. Thank you. >> Thank you for your comments. The last speaker from the Shy Arts Group is Sunonny Ali Howard, speaker number 30. Good morning, CPS board. First and
foremost, I want to recognize your leadership and decision to keep the Chicago High School for the Arts open. Thank you. As you know, this school is an essential asset in our beloved city. Like many of the teachers at the school,
it serves as a home where we continue our quest to serve and instruct scholar artists. We also recognize that transformation is a byproduct of change. With that said, our school has extraordinary teaching talent and staff
who we hope will remain part of our remarkable community. As part of the sped department since the school's inception and as a founding teacher, I believe it is vital to maintain as much continuity and consistency
as possible as we transition. A lot of research supports the claim that having reliable connections between educators and students remains invaluable. Too many teachers transitioning from our school at once will unravel the
synchronous nuances that underpin the success of our academic art community. Moreover, we began Shy Arts developing a schedule we felt that nurtured our scholars, providing them with intentionality and an advising component
during the day that enriched their creative efforts, helped them work independently, and improve their executive function skills. Such an approach fostered artists from our sped department is seen in Kyrie Black who graduated in 2015 and continues to
create amazing murals throughout our beloved city. Most recently, he opened an art gallery. For Shy Arts to continue to exist in the spirit of inclusion in our arts, we must retain our outstanding teachers and maintain the progressive block schedule
that defines our success so we can continue to serve as a model of art diversity for our city. Thank you for listening. >> Thank you for your comments. The next speaker is Maria Sandival, speaker number seven, who is joining us
virtually. Please enter star six to unmute. Uh yes. Yes. Good morning. >> Good morning. Please proceed. >> Oh yes. I'm sorry. Yes. Okay. Good morning members of the board. Okay. Uh my name is Maria Sandovas and um I have
a third grade daughter attending Christopher House. She started first grade and I have been very happy seeing her progress throughout every year. Mentioning her bed experience in kindergarten and another school. It worried me because school should be fun, exciting environment for kids.
Unfortunately, it was not like that. But now I see my timid daughter Mile and Joy going to school daily. At Christopher House, teachers and staff have helped her a lot in many ways. They have worn her trust because it is not easy winning a child's trust, but again, teachers and
staff are wonderful about being patient and very communicative with parents. I also am happy to be part of Christopher House as a parent volunteer. I also am part of pack committee as vice president. Being part of both would be my second year. And I really like being
part of Christopher House and be involved in my daughter's education. Christopher got Christopher House gives parents an opportunity to be part of volunteering and at the same time their children's learning. As a volunteer these two years, I can definitely say Christopher House is a very safe
environment for our children. I'm a lunch monitor and knowing my daughter's experience she dealt with, I definitely don't want other ch children to go through that. So, we make sure that our kids feel safe and we are always with
them making sure that they're not by themselves and whenever they need something um they trust us. you have too many >> they they know exactly that you know they can trust it and that's one thing that makes me real happy and I really enjoy being in school and what makes me
happy every day is when I receive a hug smile and knowing the children say you tomorrow I do know next they will they be excited going back to school we're looking forward to have more parent volunteers that way they can experience and have more parent involvement in meetings we need Christopher to stay open not only for our viewers but many
more all I can say is that I'm looking forward So when my daughter graduates from 8th grade and I am asked what school did she graduate from? My answer and I will say with pride she graduated from Christopher House. Um thank you.
>> Thank you for your comments. The next group of speakers are from the academy of global for global citizenship. Saskia Gross Spray Roombot. Speaker number three. I am the lower school principal at the Academy for Global Citizenship and I'm
here to advocate for a 10-year charter renewal. AGC is far more than a schoolhouse in a beautiful building. We're a community of educators and critical thinkers deeply committed to social environmental justice, to public education, and to the original purpose
of charter schools to innovate, collaborate, and to create meaningful change within the public school system. These practices we have built at AGC have emerged from the ground up through intentional dialogue and authentic collaboration among teachers, administrators, staff, students and
families. The collective effort is visible in how learning happens every day. Agency's villages, village practices, shared spaces, multi-age settings, flexible seating, and student centered learning are rooted in organic community center approaches inspired by
indigenous and native ways of learning that emphasize relationships, belonging, and collective responsibility. RB and dual language programs place students at the center and are rigorous and engaged by design, helping students develop a deep understanding of both their
community and the wider world. Connecting to nature and engaging in sustainable practices nurtures more caring students and community members, empowering them to advocate for the environment and the well-being of others. At the organizational level, we have intentionally built structures that
honor stakeholder voice committed such as the budget committee and the school planning and management committee, including administrator. You have 30 seconds. >> Teachers, family representatives, creating meaningful spaces for dialogue, reflection, growth, and a shared decision making. Time and again,
educators say that's what keeps them at AC. Ultimately, our students, and this is all for them, are engaged and caring. They feel a strong sense of belonging, take responsibility for one another, and experience the joy of learning. This educational model works, and this is why
it deserves the time, stability, and trust of a lengthy renewal. We're innovating with a purpose, and we need your support to sustain this work and share its impact beyond our community. Gracias. >> Thank you for your comments. The next
speaker is Stacy Whitney, speaker number nine. >> Good morning. I am the culinary director at AGC. Chef and restaurant tour Alice Waters once said, "I think health is the outcome of eating well." I agree. But
what does eating well mean? I believe that it is our job as parents, educators, and activists to prioritize wellness for our children. and I am proud to be a part of an organization that does that. The Academy for Global Citizenship has had the opportunity as a
charter school to become innovators in creating a new normal for what overall health and nutrition in public schools should be. To ensure prolonged positive health and educational outcomes, AGC embodies what
it means to feed children's bodies, minds, and souls through a holistic approach to connecting children to food sources through in-class hands-on application in learning kitchens, outdoor learning gardens, and a school
food program that focuses on whole local healthy food. We're showing next the next generation that healthy isn't abstract or just a hashtag and it's not only reserved for the wealthy or privileged. We're showing our students
how nutritious how nutrition impacts all aspects of our lives. Furthermore, we're doing this from a culturally relevant, inclusive lens that honors our collective past, one that we should all be able to honor and celebrate in our schools every day.
>> You have 30 seconds remaining. Our hope is that you will continue to enthusiastically support our impact as thought leaders as well as our future potential to impact positive change and improved comprehensive health outcomes in our community. Thank you.
>> Thank you for your comments. The next speaker is Samantha Herrera, speaker number 15. >> Good morning. Sorry. My name is Samantha Herrera. They took my water. Sorry. My name is Samantha Herrera and while I may have graduated from Academy for Global
Citizenship almost six years ago, the education and values I obtained during my time there have had a long lasting impact on many of my decisions today. Currently, I'm a sophomore biochemistry major, Hispanic Studies minor, as well as part of the environmental fellowship program at Depal University in
Greencastle, Indiana. As incredibly fun as my chemistry course work can be, I take most delight in the classes I take as environmental fellow. From the history of feminism to learning about land education, in the past three semesters, I have dived deeper into how interdisciplinary caring for our world
and its people can be. Yet, this awareness did not just randomly appear for me after high school as as it was instilled to me as a student at AGC. I remember seeing how much care went into the chicken coop we had during my first grade or an inquiry unit in second grade where we learned how it takes patience
to grow a beautiful flower. reading books in third grade pertaining to the kindness we must treat others with. Building our own ecosystems in fourth grade. There are many more countless examples, but even just these traits, patience, kindness, and empathy are constant themes I've explored in my college level academic readings for my
fellowship. And I know I can contribute every day to to these courses as I've been prepped by AGC to already view the world like this. This is a school that takes the time to build a foundation into their students. And I am proud to have been a product of AGC. This is why I'm here today advocating for a 10-year
renewal for the system for the school. Thank you. >> Thank you for your comments. The next speaker is Sat Lai Gonzalez, speaker number 25. Good morning. Um I am an alumni from academy from for global citizenship and
I am currently a student of the art institute of Chicago getting my mers in art education. I was part of the second graduating class of AGC and I have younger siblings and cousins that currently attend. This means I have both seen and experienced the growth and
impact the school has had on my community. Before attending AGC, I went to both Catholic and public schools. And the Catholic school I attended was very strict and traditional, which caused me to struggle academically. At the time, my ADHD was undiagnosed, and
being expected to sit at a desk for almost eight hours a day made learning very difficult. When I transferred to AGC in fifth grade, the school was triing a new classroom arrangement and said the room had couches, bean bags, cushions, etc. Though it was unconventional, it proved to be
successful and it was envir it was an environment where I could focus and participate to the best of my ability. AGC recognized that every student learns differently and their classroom spaces support this. They continue to support and hire new teachers who provide
equitable support for diverse learners, offering extra help when needed while also enriching students who are ready to go forward. One of my closest friends who also transferred to AGC the same year I did said the teachers at AGC gave her the encouragement and additional
help she needed without judgment or feeling ashamed which was not the same experiences that she has had at >> 30 seconds remaining. >> AGC also recognizes that learning cannot happen without basic needs. We were provided with fresh organic meals, daily snacks and breakfast that actually
tasted good. I would often cry in the mornings to stay home from school and beg my parents to be homeschooled. But once I got to AGC, that all changed. The AGC social emotional teaching practices and welcoming environment changed my negative behavior and mindset towards
school. Beyond the typical core subjects, I learned environmental responsibility through composting, realistic recycling practices, and participated in fun service learning projects. Not only do I have >> Please conclude your remarks. I am still close friends with many of
the classmates I have had when I met at AGC. This is not just about renewing AGC for years to come, but about preserving an education model centered around equity, student well-being, and meaningful learning practices. >> Thank you for your comments. The next
speaker is Erica Viegas, speaker number 24. >> Buenosas. My name is Erikica Viegas and I am a second round parent of AGC. When I think about the kind of education I wanted for my children, I want more than
a strong test court. I want a school that prepares them for life, community, and leadership. This is exactly what we found at AGC. My 21-year-old child, Nat, attended AGC many moons ago. And when my husband and I were deciding school options for our little ones, Victoria 8
and Matil 5, the decision was clear. We had to come back to AGC. AGC is not a traditional public school. It is a forward-thinking international be laurate school that engages students and inquirybased learning. Every day, students learn to think critically,
collaborate, and understand the impact of their choices on both local and the worldwide community. Back in 2012, my family and I took a trip to Guatemala with AGC to build a school out of bottle waters. And those
are the experiences that stay with you. These are the experiences that AGC offers to help you understand our responsibility to give back locally and globally. My two little ones are at agency now in their dual language program which has helped them with their
communication skills and cultural awareness giving them a real advantage in our world and opening doors for their future. One of the other things that sets AGC apart is a whole child focus. Academic excellence is just one part of
the story. The school places equal 30 seconds remaining >> on social and emotional well-being, environmental stewardship and wellness. Children garden, cook, and learn sustainability by doing it at school. And then we nurture these skills at home. At AGC, education is deeply rooted
in community. Family, teachers, and students work together as partners in learning. I know things are done differently at AGC, but sending my children to AGC means choosing a school that prepares them to be thoughtful, capable, and compassionate global citizens ready to make a positive
difference in their community and the world. As one of their parents here today, I conclude your remarks that you consider a 10-year charter renewal so we can continue to focus on what's important, the education of our children. Gracias. >> Thank you for your comments. The next
speaker is Liz Fe, speaker number 29. >> Hello. Thank you for listening today. I am a long-term teacher at AGC. I have been there since 2011 um and helped to found our dual language
program. Um I am here, sorry I'm a little emotional hearing everybody speak. It was beautiful. Um daily I tell my students they get to be the change they want to see in the world and I get
to live it as an educator. Um, AGC is a special place where students are thriving academically, social, emotionally, um, and when they go out in the world.
Sorry, I haven't seen these ladies in a long time. Um, they go out into the world as global citizens who really care about each other and the environment and their community. And it is something I deeply believe in and I'm very excited and I
speak much better at this when I'm in front of just teachers or students. But we are also planning lots of good things to share what we do and learn from other educators in this amazing city because we are surrounded by such cool
innovative educators all over. And we would like to create an institute at AGC where educators can come together and learn from one another about how to implement some of this sustainability, this educational
um environment >> piece into their programs and really become a hub of innovation for our city and our students, most importantly our students. So thank you. Thank you for
your comments. And the last speaker from the Academy for Global Citizen for Global Citizenship is Lisha Gun, speaker 28. Thank you. Good morning. My name is Lisha Gun. I currently serve as the community engagement and partnerships coordinator at the Academy for Global
Citizenship. Thank you for the opportunity to speak again in front of the CPS board of education today. When I was younger, I never saw myself as a global citizen. However, I spent the first part of my career working and serving overseas as a United States diplomat. I served as a consular officer
at the US consulate general in Montter Mexico and also the American embassy in Mexico City from 2014 to 2016. Studying Spanish opened up new opportunities for me as an American. I never thought my experiences would land me today at the Academy for Global Citizenship in the
midst of an unprecedented attacks on immigrants in Chicago. After years in the foreign service, I returned to the United States and began to think deeper about education, travel, service, and culture. That journey led me to AGC. In my dayto-day, I manage our afterchool
and summer programming where we enroll over 100 students each season in classes like cooking with love, a gardening club affectionately called Manos Alatiiera, and culturally relevant classes and dance like kumbia and balorico. Our summer programming last year included
partners like Urban Growers Collective, which taught gardening skills to students as young as age three. We had the largest summer camp attendance last year of over 70 students attending daily to receive quality handmade breakfast and lunch, programming, and field trips to places like the Chicago Botanic
Gardens and Adler Planetarium. Equally, I'm attracted to the dual language program. enjoy working with many families who are Spanish speaking while practicing the language in a way that feels warm and inviting. Through our programming at AGC, I've watched our students grow and learn, and it's been a
joy. I'm proud to be a member of the AGC community and provide hope and resources to families and individuals in Southwest Chicago. I hope that the board of education grants our school a full 10-year renewal. Thank you for the opportunity to speak today. >> Thank you for your comments. The next
group of speakers are from the Chicago Public Education Fund. Nelson Guru, speaker number 12. Morning, Dr. King, Vice President Bautista, and board members. I'm Nelson Jeru from the Chicago Public Education Fund. In my work at the fund and as a
CPS parent, I see the impact of school leadership from multiple perspectives. Across all of these, one conclusion is clear. Princ decades of research show that strong principles play a critical role in student success.
In Chicago, we see that schools led by effective principles consistently demonstrate stronger attendance, higher teacher retention, more stable school cultures, and sustained academic growth. And that's especially true in communities facing the greatest
challenges. When we give principles the flexibility, trust, and tools they need, students benefit. That's why today it's our pleasure to lift up what some of that leadership looks like in practice. In a little bit, you'll hear from two principles who use
data to plan strategically, partner effectively, manage resources creatively, and keep student learning at the center of every decision. Now, to do this, principles need access to highquality resources, and data is
one of the most essential of these. CPS has long been a leader in providing data access to both school leaders and to the public overall. And as such, I encourage you all to continue strengthening these systems, even given the serious demands on your resources,
both time and financial. >> You have 30 seconds remaining. A strong data and accountability system includes year-over-year data comparability, clear plain language explanations of metrics and cut points that principles can use with teachers, parents, and
stakeholders, and data disagregated by grade and student characteristics that principles and teachers can act. And with that, I'm excited for you to hear in a moment from two principles who are doing this work in our schools every day. Thank you. >> Thank you for your comments. The next
speaker is Teeshi White James who is joining us. Speaker number 18 who is joining us virtually. Please enter star six to unmute. Good morning Superintendent King, President Harden, board members of District 10, Vice President Baltista and
Smith, and fellow members of the board. I'm principal White James of Avalon Park Personalized Learning Magnet Cluster School. After 14 years as principal, I've learned that school leadership is one of the most powerful drivers of
student success. We often discuss improving attendance, early literacy, academic achievement through curriculum resources and policy, and those matter. However, in my experience, none of those
efforts succeed without strong, consistent, equitydriven leadership grounded in clear and timely data. Leadership sets the conditions for everything else. When families trust the
school, students show up. When teachers feel supported and held to high expectations, instruction improves. And when a shared vision is clear, progress follows. At Avalon Park, with a 29%
mobility rate, we focus on attendance through relationships, not punishment. By engaging families, getting to know students, and creating a school environment where children want to be present. As a result, we've seen
doubledigit growth in our five essential measures for involved families and supportive environments. We've also remain focused on academic growth. They're intentional. We grew from and our IR proficiency rate has increased
from 31% to 56%. These results just didn't happen. We visualize how to do school and they came from intentional leadership development supported by the district and the state. If we want stronger outcomes across
Chicago, we must continue investing in developing, supporting, and retaining school leaders, especially in historically undererved communities. Principles don't just manage buildings. We build cultures, grow educators, lead
teaching and learning, and change outcomes. However, we can only do that when we are supported, heard, and provided with the tools to lead effectively. Thank you for your time and your commitment to Chicago students.
>> Thank you for your comments. The next speaker is Paul Kafiel, speaker number 19, who is joining us virtually. Please enter star six to unmute. Good morning, Superintendent King, President Harden, Vice President Batista, board members of District 4,
Zacharan Rosenfeld, and fellow board members. My name is Paul J. Karafhel, and I've served as principal of Lake View High School for nearly 10 years. Today, I want to emphasize that school leadership has a measurable impact on student outcomes, especially when it
comes to early college and career credentials where systems, partnerships, and adult alignment are most crucial. At Lake View, our college enrollment rate once hovered around 65%. Only 28% of students took an AP or dual credit
course before graduating, and fewer than 30% of those passed. Today, colleg's enrollment is up to 74% across all subgroups and over half of our students take AP or DC courses. The pass rate has also
increased. The percentage of black male students taking AP courses now exceeds the percentage of white students who did so 9 years ago. These results didn't happen by chance. We reimagined our post-secary counseling system, increased student and
family engagement, expanded access to AP and dual credit programs, and strengthened partnerships that expose students to both college and career pathways. We adjusted our master schedule, invested in staff training, and utilized data to monitor progress on a semester by semester basis. As a
result, the percentage of students graduating with at least one early college or industry recognized credential increased from 27% to 49%. representing hundreds more students leaving Lake View with tangible proof of readiness for college in the workforce.
No single program drove this work. It was driven by data informed leadership, clear goals, strong adult collaboration, and a commitment to expanding access in an equitable manner. When we are given the data, flexibility, and support to lead, these are the results we can achieve. When leadership is unstable or
unsupported, systems break down and students pay the price. If we are serious about improving early college credits, career credentials, and long-term success across Chicago, we must continue investing in strong school leadership. Thank you very much for your time.
>> Thank you for your comments. The last speaker from the Chicago Public Education Fund is Marielle Lauraniano, speaker number five. Good morning to you all. I am Ariel Lauraniano at the Chicago Public Education Fund. Today, just now, you
heard from two very dynamic principles about how critical, accurate, timely data is and how important it is that school leaders have the flexibility to respond to it. In my role as chief of innovation and continuous improvement at
the fund, my team and I work closely with principles across the district through professional development and cohort-based programs. We help leaders reflect on their practice and strengthen their schools guided by district and
statewide data that shows where schools are thriving and where growth is needed. That data makes possible the powerful examples you heard from today from principal white James and principal Carfield. You do have their full data
profiles um with you. But data, as we know, is not enough alone. We must also empower principles with the trust, resources, and flexibility to lead. It takes strong leadership to turn attendance data into action or
graduation data into opportunity for scholars. As a former Chicago principal, I know this firsthand. Our school leaders are ready to do more, but they need continued partnership and support. As CPS launches the Black Student Success Plan and special education
advisory committees, timely and accessible data to ensuring all students receive the necessary supports to thrive within their schools across the district and in the larger community. ISBY is preparing to release new state data accountability
system and CPS moving to implement a refreshed CIDT system. We urge you to carefully consider and continue the collaboration that went into place when developing the CIT. We thank you for your partnership and your ongoing commitment to equipping
school leaders with the information they need to serve students and their communities effectively. Thank you. >> Thank you for your comments. The next speaker is Kayn Wallace, speaker number six. Hello, my name is Kayn Wallace and I'm
here today to express my immense support for Intrinsic School's request for their seven-year renewal. I am currently in my final semester at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champagne where I study sociology on the premed track. Intrinsic has made a substantial impact
on both my academic and professional journey while also nurturing my personal interest and growth. Intrinsic has been an important part of my life since middle school and that connection had only deepened throughout high school. During my time there, I was con
consistently challenged academically and supported in ways that helped me grow not only as a student but as a person. Intrinsic poured into me through dedicated educators like Miss Okanta, Miss Fau, and Mr. Hayes. It has provided me with meaningful opportunities like
studying at Harvard and an environment that encouraged curiosity. I had numerous opportunities to be involved in many extracurricular activities such as volleyball, basketball, planning a senior prom, and being a student ambassador representing my school. Through exploring these
interests, I developed discipline and built confidence that directly shaped me to who I am today and prepared me for the rigor of college and my future career in medicine. Intrinsic did more than educate me. I looked around on high school graduation graduation day and saw
a group of people who believed in me. The educators and staff at Intrinsic genuinely care and put each student they encounter. Intrinsic has continued their unwavering support through college by awarding me a scholarship my past four
years that has supported me immensely. For these reasons, I fully support intrinsic school seven-year renewal and and the continued impact it will have on future students just as it had on me. Thank you. >> Thank you for your comments.
>> The next speaker is Aaliyah Phillips, speaker number 10. Good morning, members of the board of education and representatives of Chicago public schools. I am Aliyia Phillips and I am here today to request your your approval to award me the winning bid for
the former Arm Armstrong Elementary School. It has sat vacant since May of 2013. Since April of 2023, I have consistently pursued the property while remaining in direct contact with CPS real estate department as well as the
29th ward alderman. I am the only I am the only bidder who received a formal letter of support from the 29th ward alderman reflecting both community alignment and local trust. Since 2020, I have operated Chase Hair Institute in Austin community as a
licensed hair braiding school. I provided adult licensing programs and paired after school, I'm sorry, and paid after school programming as well as summer programming for Chicago teens. I have now expanded into a full cosmetology school offering cosmetology,
barbering, aesthetics, nail technology, and hair braiding. Due to this growth, I need a larger facility, continues to continue serving communities in the city of Chicago. I am well qualified to take on this responsibility. I have previously and currently partnered with
organizations such as CPS as a um vendor, After School Matters, the Chicago Public Library, the Boys and Girls Clubs of Chicago, and the Workforce Innovation Opportunity Act, which is known as WEOA. I also hold the WBE and the MBE
certifications through the city of Chicago as well as >> You have 30 seconds remaining. To ensure community support from Austin residents in the west side of Chicago, I went door to door knocking and spoke with residents surrounding the closed school as recently as yesterday. Many
were unaware of the property and well, many were unaware that the property was up for bid, but every resident I spoke with expressed support for cosmetology school. They expressed concerns with parking and not wanting a business to take over that would disrupt the residential neighborhood and be a
redundant um business that already exists in the Austin community as well as the Columbus Park District. I have heard concerns that I am not shovel ready and that is true >> because your remarks >> because it is my goal to uh preserve not
demolish. I plan to reh um rehabilitate and repurpose the existing buildings, address safety concerns while maintaining their integrity. I hope that you take the time to review and consider my bid proposal. Lewis Armstrong Elementary once served in the Austin community with pride and purpose.
With your support, it can do so again. Thank you. >> Thank you for your comments. The next speaker is Allison Jack, speaker number 16. Good morning board members and Dr. King. I'm here today to talk about fairness when it comes to charter school students. The financial challenges
facing some charter schools didn't appear overnight. They're the direct result of years of systematic underfunding by CPS. Charter schools receive roughly 83% of the PCTC, the per capita tuition charge, even though the state requires funding of between 97 and
103%. If charter students had been funded fairly all along, there would be no need for this so-called emergency support. The reality is that CPS regularly subsidizes underenrolled district-run schools. That is done without
controversy, without labels. It's done to protect the students. Yet, when charter students need support, it's called a bailout. That double standard is indefensible, and charter students deserve the same care and consideration. Think about it. CPS has already heavily
subsidized its own schools every year. Last year, Douglas High School served 27 students at about $55,000 per student. Spry High School served 82 students for roughly $39,000 per student. There are 51 district schools serving less than
200 students. And that per pupil funding far far far exceeds what charter students receive. The Chai arts community is here today asking for extra money for their arts conservatory, which I hope you can find for them. But understand the charter school community here is asking for their fair share,
what they're owed, what the law says they should get. Let's also talk about the rate of the CTU and charter fiscal challenges. Since 2021, 10 charter schools have closed. All of those schools have been organized by the CTU. Where was the CTU's outrage with for
this underfunding of schools all through this time? Where was the advocacy for fair PCTC funding? Instead of fighting for equitable funding, the CTU engages in political theater, calling names like you heard today, and students have paid the price. The reality is that the
unionized schools are being required to fund contracts to operate under labor contracts with only 83% of the funding. It's not sustainable. It's not responsible. It's not fair to students or educators. Let's not pretend. >> This is special treatment. This is about
ending the practice of cheat treating charter students as less than. We look forward to finding a remedy with you. Thank you. >> Thank you for your comments. >> The next speaker is David Cruz, speaker number 17. >> Hi. Uh good morning everyone. Uh thank
you for the opportunity to speak here. I am David Cruz. I am a health navigator with Illinois, a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing health equity across communities. Our mission is to ensure that every individual, regardless of background or status, has a fair and meaningful opportunity to achieve
health. We do this through education, access to resources, health coverage, enrollment, and strong partnerships with community- based organizations throughout Chicago. We work uh closely with families, schools, and fellow nonprofits to ensure people receive the support they need to
thrive. However, our work and more importantly the well-being of our communities has re recently been challenged by ongoing ICE activity in our neighborhoods, including near CPS schools. I want to share a real and concerning experience with one of our community health workers who was
president at a CPS school providing diabetes education and empowerment training when ICE activity was reported nearby. For safety reasons, they had to remain inside the school for several hours. Situations like this create fear and disruption not only for our community workers but for students,
families, and school staff. In the light of this, I do want to express deep gratitude to CPS for having clear protocols in place for providing guidance that prioritizes the safety and dignity of students, families, and staff. Additionally, I do want to thank the state of Illinois who has taken an
important step forward with the passage house bill 1312. This uh legislation reflects Illinois's commitment to protecting the access to education, healthcare, and essential services without fear. Today, I am in spirit of >> 30 seconds remaining. >> Illinois needles is eager to build
strong and ongoing relationships with CPS and its leadership. We look forward to future opportunities to partner on events, health uh education initiatives, and community outreach efforts to help our schools and neighborhoods to be healthier, safer, and more equitable for
everyone. Thank you for your time. >> Thank you for your comments. The next two speakers are from you Chicago Consortium of School Research. Marissa Deator, speaker number 20. Good morning. My name is Marisa Deator
and I'm a managing director and senior research associate at Chicago consortium on school research part of the Kirsten Institute for Urban Education at the University of Chicago. The consortium's research practice partnership has generated important insights since 1990.
Today we wanted to make sure the members of the board and Chicagoans are aware of the new research we released yesterday about the student attendance. There is a lot of concern about this issue across the country. Uh absence rates remains much higher uh than they
were before. COVID nationally nearly one in four students miss more than 10% of the school days. That's about two days every month. We know that you discussed this issue attendance in your regular December meeting. Families and educators wonder whether the all the standards for
attendance are still relevant and reasonable. questions like um do young people still need to go to school every day or can a schools have much influence on attendance when so many barriers exist outside of a school. So we look at the data using three years pre-
pandemic, three years post pandemic and we find first that absence rates do remain high in Chicago as they are across the country. More students are chronically absent that before many are missing many weeks of the schools. Second, attendance matters as much as
ever for a student's learning. Grades and standardized test scores are higher when attendance is higher and lower when >> you have 30 seconds remaining. >> Our third uh third, we found that schools varied considerably in
absenteeism changes uh before and after pandemic and also the changes that took place during that time. Even when we compare schools that are serving similar students in similar neighborhoods, we look at what might be driving uh the
very different rates uh in these very similar schools. William, my colleague will share more about that. >> Thank you for your comments. The next speaker is William Delglado, speaker number 22. >> Good morning everyone. Buenos Diaz. Uh
my name is William Delgado and I'm a a senior research analyst at the University of Chicago Consortium for School Research. Our fourth and last key finding in this report is what members of the board and educators in the schools will likely find the most
actionable. We found that attendance was higher in the schools where students and teachers reported a strong school climate as seen in the data from this uh five essential survey. And you can see this very clearly um in figure six on
page uh 14 in the report that you have. Attendance was higher when a student say that they felt safe in and around their school, safe from bullying, felt connected to the school and to their peers, were engaged in their classrooms,
and when teachers reported uh more trust and collaboration with parents. This is not surprising. This makes sense. Uh the principal of Cesar Chavez school, Barton Dinger, even noted the importance of a students feeling connected to a stable
group of teachers for their attendance in his December oped uh in the Chicago Tribune. It's important to understand that improving a students experiences in their school is one of the most effective ways to improve their
attendance, their learning, and their well-being. We of course uh need to acknowledge that schools alone are neither the cause nor the only solution for the increases we've seen in chronic absentism rates. Student attendance is
affected by many factors outside of a school. As we know very acutely this year schools cannot shoulder the role of supporting students and families alone. However, this research shows that schools can and do influence student
attendance. So let's be sure that we know about and learn from effective teachers and leaders and their practices like those principal Dinger shared. Every school need key resources and support to ensure that each student
feels safe, connected and engaged so that they come and learn and grow. Thank you. >> Thank you for your comments. The next speaker is Maisha Shields, speaker number 21. Good morning. My name is Maisha Shields
and I'm the proud parent to five Noble Charter School Network students, four alum and my last one senior and she's a student at Meso High School in Brighton Park. Today I'm here to talk with you guys as my work as a parent advocate at Noble and let you all know that we will
be in Springfield advocating for our kids this year. I'm a part of the unique to Noble called the Patty um advocacy training intensive or the Patty program which brings together parents to learn more effectively to advocate for students and school communities. Through
those programs, we learn the important issues and such as school funding and education policy. We received the information and tools to build our confidence to speak up and our engage in our advocacy. I was part of the first ever Patty program last year and I finished in May feeling more comfortable
and confident to speak with our legislators about my children and why I am advocating for them. After the program, I was interviewed by a reporter about my experience as a charter school um parent. During that interview, the reporter asked me questions about why I
share my personal story. There was so much misinformation that I had to politely correct that person. But I have seen great things from my schools my daughters attended and it is very important um to for me to make sure I advocate that those schools have
everything needed to be excellent. Some things I have learned in the Patty program help me to feel confident during this interview and also that I know other parents in the Patty program have had similar experiences. >> 30 seconds remaining. I want you to know that charter schools share the same goal
as every other school in CPS ensuring our students receive a great education. They have the same parent Chicago parents like me on behalf of the other parents in Patty. We know that to continue to advocate and I can tell you our voices are effective. I have seen
them I have seen them make a difference when we sit down with our legislators and we share our stories. Lastly, as the recessions will start in Springfield next week, I want you all to know that we are proud to be part of the funding Illinois future coalition, a coalition
we know CPS is in. We look forward to seeing you all in Springfield and walking alongside you to advocate to increase funding for ICE students. And I will be headed to Springfield myself midFebruary. And I look forward to seeing all of you. >> Thank you for your comments.
The last speaker from the registered speakers list is Anna Ambry, speaker number 27, who is joining us virtually. Please enter star six to unmute. >> Good morning, President Harden, Vice President Bautista, members of the
board. My name is Anna Ambre. I am a parent at John Hancock College Prep. I am here today to ask the board to move forward with the approval of the teacher representative for the Hancock local school council. At your last meeting, the chief of phase explain the vacancy
process where there is a teacher vacancy. There's a staff poll followed by a committee review and then the selected candidate is presented to the board for approval. The process was stated clearly on the record. Despite that, Hank's teacher representative was
pulled out and tabled along with one other school without any specific part of the process being identified as incorrect. As a parent, I don't know what the board is waiting for now, whether it is one meeting, one month, or
a new process. And if a new process is being considered, that process will have to apply to all CPS schools, not just Hancock. Until that is clarified, Hancock is left without a fully seated council. So, I'm asking that the teacher
representative be brought back for approval under the phase process that was described or that the board clearly state what changes be made and when it will apply. Thank you.
>> Thank you for your comments, Vice President Bautista. We also have an elected official who would like to address the board. Alderman Michael Rodriguez of the 22nd ward who is joining us virtually. Please enter star six to unmute.
>> Hi, can you hear me? >> Yes, please proceed. >> Oh, wonderful. And thank you so much for this opportunity to speak. I wanted to speak on two matters. Um the uh sale of the Paduski school and um the charter
renewal for the Academy for Global Citizenship. I'll start there briefly and just let folks know that AGC, the Academy for Global Citizenship, uh is a school that I partner with in Little Village, uh forgive me, in the 22nd ward in the southern part of my district in
Garfield Ridge. Um they are an extremely important institution on the southwest side of Chicago. Um they are not a multiplier charter. um have my own issues with the multipliers, but um
they are an innovative school. Um and I want to make sure that the folks at this table know when you're making a decision on the renewal of AGC on February 26th that they have my full support. Um happy to talk more in person or uh with anyone
about that matter. Uh but on to uh Padooi School. Um about a year ago, um I took community input uh to heart in
urging um the school board to list the Padarooi school for sale, knowing that the North Lawndale and Little Village quality of life plans um speak to developing that site uh in a holistic
way that's consistent with community values. Um once the um um the item was put before the the public for um uh for response,
three excellent proposals were received. Two of which I wrote um letters of support on. Um I have to congratulate P3 for being uh procurement selected choice in the matter. Uh P3 Markets is a black
and brownowned firm that has experience in building affordable housing. And that's what we're looking to do here. 85 units of affordable uh uh uh of 80% affordable housing. Um that's significantly over the affordable requirements ordinance. It's an
equitable transitoriented development about a block away from the pink line stop on Central Park off of Ogden there. um the nonprofit organization ARK, which is also a significant institution that
is about half attended by black young people, half attended by Latino young people, um is a part of this development. There's a very cool, as I would say, uh social housing part of
this with the Cathedral Cafe. Uh, and um, I'll be sure to entice you all to a Cathedral Cafe soon to hear more about this proposal if you haven't already. I've had great conversations with a number of board members. Happy to have conversations with others. Look, um, we
spoke with both of the other non selected uh, entities. I've spoken with them. Both have committed to remain at the table to make sure that this development is consistent with community values. We want affordable housing in our community. We want our nonprofits to
thrive in our community. But this location, the Paduski School sits in North Lawndale proper. We had a community meeting with about 200 community residents present. It was a great meeting. Positivity abounded.
Um but it was quite clear that uh P3 came in with a very strong proposal that the community supported. The community also supported other proposals and again we have their commitment to stay engaged and involved but I encourage uh the
board to affirm the procurement decision to sell the property to P3 Markets. Um they are very committed to meeting with my North Lawndale economic advisory group uh which is made up of leaders and longtime residents of North Lawndale to
make sure that this development remains accountable to the city to the neighborhood and to our local residents and institutions. Um I thank you very much for the time you've allowed me today. I will seed the remaining 30 seconds of my time and I look forward to the continued
conversations on this matter and many other. Thank you for your service to all the board members. >> Thank you for your comments. Vice President Bautista, this concludes public participation. >> Thank you. Uh board members, we will now
proceed with potential board reports to be considered at the January 29th uh 2026 regular meeting. After each item is presented, board members will have the opportunity to ask their questions and make comments before proceeding to the next item on the agenda. I just will
remind folks that we have a very packed agenda, so make sure that we are succinct and uh concise in our comments and questions. Board members, we will begin with the following education items. Numbers one and two and begin with number one, adopt
academic calendar for 2026 27 school year and 20 2728 school year. Okay. Good afternoon. Happy Wednesday board members. I'm Nikki Milberg, chief of teaching and learning and I have with
me Christina Leno, our director of operations. We are recommending the board to adopt the 2026 27 and 202728 academic calendar at the January 29th
board meeting. The pro proposed calendar contains many of the ele elements of the previous academic calendar in response to stakeholder requests for consistency. In addition, it prioritizes learning across the year and maximizes student
learning at the start of the school year. The 2627 and 2728 school year calendar for all CPS managed schools includes 176 days of student attendance, 12 professional development days for
eligible employees aligned to the collective bargaining agreement, two days for family conferences, a two-eek winter vacation, one week spring vacation, and one week off at Thanksgiving
a non-attendance day on Good Friday to align with the religious leave policy and strategically scheduled professional learning days on major election days to ensure safety and smooth operations at our schools as most of them serve as
polling sites. School year 27 would start on April 24th and end Sorry, not April. Okay, let's try that again. Uh, school year 27 would start on August 24th and end on June 11th. School
year 28 would start on August 23rd and end on June 9th. In addition to the extensive engagement we have pursued in the past to create our current academic calendar, we also engaged with labor partners and surveyed our stakeholders for feedback on these
proposed calendars. We received over 14,000 responses this fall in the survey. The feedback we received included 63% of respondents want a two-year calendar adopted at this
time. 47% of respondents prefer a start date two weeks before Labor Day. 10% prefer a start date earlier than that and the remainder prefer uh that we start on Labor Day or the day after
Labor Day. We have started before Labor Day for the past five years in a row in order to provide more learning time before high stakes assessments, provide high school students better opportunities to engage in internships and other career connected learning over
the summer and align with community college and other college schedules to ease scheduling for our many students engaged in dual enrollment courses. When we asked what was the most important thing to consider when scheduling spring break, the most common
response was to ensure a consistent time each year. Only 21% wanted religious holidays to be prioritized in scheduling. And for your reference, Easter in school year uh 27 falls in
March, March 28th. And in the following year, Easter falls on April 16th in 2020. 27 and then in 2028. The proposed calendars have spring break at the same time each year aligned to the responses that we got and it it falls just before
the end of quarter 3 and right at the end of March both years. We know that our high school students in particular prefer to end semester 1 before winter break. This was possible this current school year because Labor
Day fell very early in our calendar. Labor Day fell on September 1st, 2025. So, our school year started on August 18th. In order to accommodate this, this current school year, semester 1 is 16
days shorter than semester 2. That allowed us to end semester 1 before winter break. In our proposed calendars that are in front of you today, we were unable to end the semester before winter
break. Labor Day this coming year falls very late on September 7th, 2026. Two weeks before that is August 24th. There are not enough available days to meet the required number of hours for a high
school semester credit before the end of the semester on December 18th. So instead, we have created a more even distribution of days across all quarters and semesters, and students will have three weeks after winter break before
the end of semester 1. Adopting this calendar will provide critical information to families in the city of Chicago. Although this is earlier than we have adopted a calendar in the past, we know that families are eager to get this information and secure
plans. Passing the academic calendar or adopting the academic calendar will allow time to plan appropriately for the upcoming school year. The two-year calendar is responsive to stakeholder feedback, providing both consistency and advanced notice. There are no immediate
financial implications for this item. The proposed calendars connect to our district vision because the calendar is student centered. It also provides thoughtful opportunities for professional learning for staff aligned to the strategic plan
to build staff capacity, accelerate learning and meet the needs of all student populations. The calendar was developed with an equity lens by engaging input from a variety of voices to ensure it serves all students and families and provides
timely, clear, and transparent communication for our families to support trust and partnership. I now welcome any questions you may have on the calendar. I have um
remember Wallace. I actually can't see. >> You can't see me. >> Uh no, I can't see the names on the screen. Um Sarah, can you help me with the the screen? >> While they're working on that, uh I appreciate all the input that you got on this calendar and this two-year uh
outreach as a parent of several students in several schools. I really appreciate it. Um, I understand that Good Friday uh caused some some scheduling issues. I was just wondering what is the threshold for the percentage of staff requesting a religious holiday and the number of
years they they consistently do that uh before we look to add these additional days. It's working. >> Okay, that's a great question. Um Okay. Um so just to clarify a few things, we're not adding any additional
days. We are just allocating our professional development days appropriately and so we made an amendment this past year to address this and we don't need to make an amendment moving forward. We're proposing a calendar that uh has a professional
development day, one of our 12 assigned ones on Good Friday. I don't have the number off the top of my head, but we have pulled it and we have looked at the number of staff who were out on that day. I can provide it in a follow-up to you, but it was a very high number that
made it so that we felt like it was really important for the safety of our students to ensure a strong academic experience that we did not hold a student attendance day on Good Friday. >> Thank you. And I I appreciate that. And I apologize for making it sound like you were adding another holiday. I realized
that it was a professional development day. I just wanted to know if this was something that we were looking at with other religious holidays that may be coming up that our as our our staff demographics change, we may need to look into. >> Yeah. No, I appreciate that feedback and we will um come back and look even at
the end of this year just to make sure that we've uh allocated our professional development days appropriately this past year. We will take that those lessons and ensure we're applying them moving forward. Um, but we did look at our days off from this current year and the past
year to see where we really what we were learning from that and Good Friday stood out as one that we continued to need to address. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. Uh, next I have board followed by board member Lopez. >> Thank you, Chief Milberg. Um, I know
there's so many different considerations and factors that you have to balance when proposing a schedule. And some of those are logistical, some of those are, you know, hard requirements about needing a certain number of academic days. Um, and I appreciate you all doing thoughtful stakeholder engagement and feedback with the survey. Um I have had
a lot of uh community feedback regarding the calendar come up specifically as you mentioned for the high school calendar having um the second quarter end after winter break and I hear you on you know we can't shorten the semester anymore
and we can't start much earlier especially if you look at the stakeholder feedback that there was only 10% of folks that they said they want to start earlier two more than two weeks earlier before Labor Day but I think that it may not have been clear in the survey that starting more than two weeks
earlier would allow for the second quarter to end before winter break. And I think that's a completely different question to pose to students and families. I think a lot of people might have thought, well, this year we started two weeks before Labor Day and second quarter ended before winter break. So, I
don't know that that 10% is truly reflective of how many people would be happy to to cut their summer a little shorter if that means that second quarter can end before break. Um, the number one concern that I hear from students is about mental health and
having a break as an opportunity for resetting um and recovering, spending time with their families and loved ones is really important. And if you have testing for second quarter after the winter break, students are not going to
have that opportunity to reset, relax, and come into the new year energized. They're either going to forget everything they learned and um the the value of assessing students after they come back isn't isn't going to be as valuable. >> Um or they're going to be stressed out the whole time, which is not what we
want for our students. And there's so many different things contributing to our students mental health conditions right now. like their statuses. But um if we can do whatever we can to prioritize uh their needs in this calendar, I I would strongly advocate
for um either doing some other limited community engagement specifically around that question of what's more important to you um starting closer to Labor Day or um like you know weighing that against um having second quarter end before after the break. I think that
would be really important and I think that would show that people are willing to um start the school year earlier in order to make sure that students get um an actual break in the winter. >> Thank you. I don't think that was a question. Um but really good feedback
and I I I will provide in writing some of the analysis we did and what date we would have to start in what date that would mean teachers have to return to work and also how it impacts our summer programming in order to do what you're talking about. I absolutely agree the
focus I mean we are really trying to center in the student experience in this. I have one high school student, soon to be two high school students. So I do understand the value of having exams beforehand. Um we also usually have them after. So the
experience is not something new or different, but I do understand we are trying to prioritize that. So I will give you the information on what the other considerations that came into play when we looked at what it would take to indeed end semester 1 before first semester. Thank you.
>> Thank you. I guess my question would be is there still an opportunity to do um engagement around a very specific question of like um would you rather start to more than two weeks earlier and end um the second quarter before winter break or start just two weeks earlier
before Labor Day and have second quarter end after winter break? >> Thank you. Um I will pass to board member Lopez. >> Thank you. Um I have one comment and two questions. The first comment it's
actually regarding a quick other item. I know we quickly went into into the items. Uh but I think it's important for us or at least for me to acknowledge the tragic passing of Linda Brown, a devoted special education teacher who serves students in the Healey Elementary School
community in Bridgeport that's part of District 7B. So my condolences to her family, her friends in the greater school community. Thank you to the district. Thank you to the principles of principal for stepping up and providing those services for our students in that community. Now, regarding the item
before us, chief, um, one is this is more just for the public just so they don't get confused. The calendars that are being presented before us, this only applies to schools that are managed by the district, correct? Not charter schools.
And my question is um I noticed that there was about 14 over 14,000 respondents. Um can you let us know what the breakdown of those that responded? How many were teachers uh school leadership parents and students?
>> Yes. So we had 21.8% of that survey was students and that was over 3,00 3,26. 54.2% 2% were parent or guardians for 7,985 respondents. 20.3% were teachers, 2,993.
9.8% of those were non-teers, 1446. 700 community members, 50 partners, 77 network staff, 297 central office staff, 268 LSC members, and 188 school administration.
>> Thank you. Thank you. Um, next we have board member Rosenfeld. >> Thank you. Thanks for the work and I like the other board members understand this is a big puzzle. Um, I too heard from a lot of constituents of high school specifically this after Labor Day
and I've had kids experience both as a mom. So I I and I know you understand that too that their mental health and taking a break and quite frankly the retention that they might have two weeks after break is not the same. In addition to that a lot of seniors that are
waiting to hear from schools or or colleges that are are asking for your first semester grades due by January 1. So schools high schools can't can't give that. And for many of our seniors,
they're that close to getting into their dream school, whatever that might be. So that's just another elevated problem with this after, you know, winter break situation. And I looked, you know, I see that Labor
Day is late and then again in 27 it's on the 6th and then the 28th it goes back to the 4th. So is it always contingent on when is Labor Day? Unless of course we you know go back much earlier and it like board member Thorakura is there
anything we can do for these high school I think a lot of times high school feels like oh we do everything for elementary schools but we're not paying attention to that at least that's what I kept hearing and hearing. So can you speak to that and and if there's any more we can do about it.
>> Yep. And I got that feedback as well from our high school school leaders. I met uh specifically with school leaders, both elementary and high school, to get feedback on this. Um the the consistency of coming back two weeks
before Labor Day was a precedent we had set that we had tried to sustain. You need 80 credit hours to get Carnegie units to get a semester of credit. So in order to get those number of days,
it also kind of matters where Christmas falls because to have the two weeks before um is like your book end on that side with Labor Day as a as the starting point. So in order to go so yes, you
would have to start earlier um and move away from the two weeks before Labor Day. We also looked at things like taking away the full week at Thanksgiving that would provide additional days, moving more of our professional learning days to the second semester, even removing those things. We
were not at the 80 required hours. Um, so that is why we proposed what we proposed. I hear I hear the feedback and we will we will take it back and discuss. Um, because it's why I brought it up. We do absolutely know and understand the challenges that we're
presenting. There is no perfect calendar. So I wanted to be really clear what are the benefits and what are the challenges of this one and it is clear the challenge that we couldn't solve with our proposed calendar is the semester 1 ending before the break.
>> Thank you. U next I have board member Zack followed by board member Pope. >> Um yeah, thank you so much for all that work. I'm sure it's it is quite the puzzle to solve. I'm really um echoing uh what board member Thodakura said, but I wanted to just add one thing that I
don't think was mentioned unless I missed it, which is um regarding uh the city colleges schedule. So, we are really pushing for our students to um you know, be enrolled in college classes
while they're in high school, right? And uh city colleges ends before the break. So, it just seems like given that we are making this big push that it does make some sense to um align our schedule
perhaps uh with city colleges for again the consideration of high school students that are trying to take those classes. >> Thank you, Cordmber Pope. >> Right. I I'm not going to waste time uh echoing what everybody has said that
I've also heard from constituents. My only question is, was there any thought given to going back to a two-day rather than a 5-day break at Thanksgiving as a way to add time in on semester 1? And
what kind of response did that get? We didn't put that in in the survey. Um, but I did even but I did run the numbers to see if that would allow us to get to the right amount of credit hours for semester 1 and it does not.
>> Thank you, >> board member Rivas and then followed by board member Bannon. >> Thank you, Vice President Bista. Uh, so just following up on the the former dual enrollment coordinator at a high school. um city colleges starts um in August and
so getting students to sign up is a huge challenge. Um so registration being we register students typically like the first week of August. So we're already working with families while they're on vacation. Have to get the students ready to be able to start classes. Classes start at city colleges like August 20th
typically. So, uh, that's that time before Labor Day is super crucial to be able to ensure that our students get the full 16week semester that the city colleges offer so that they're able to get those credits that we want them to get. So, thanks,
>> Board Member Bannon. >> I I just wanted to recognize and thank you for getting the schedule out two years ahead of time. I've gotten feedback that people, you know, they want to plan ahead. Uh, we have, you know, workers who need to plan their schedules, vacations. So, thank you for
giving people plenty of time to plan ahead and maybe have a be able to mentally prepare for not having that break where they previously was, but at least people have that that preparation time. So, thank you for that. >> Thank you, Chief Milberg.
Item number two, authorize a second final renewal agreement with ATI Holdings LLC. >> Good morning. All right. Good morning, board members. Ali Muhammad, uh, deputy chief office of college and career success. I will not be presenting this to you all today. Ed
Morales is here virtually, so he'll be presenting to you all virtually, and I'll do my best to answer any questions afterwards. Ed Morales, if you're here, you have the floor, sir. Of course, there would be a delay. >> All right. Can you guys hear me?
>> Yes, we can hear you. >> Good afternoon, uh, board vice president, board members, uh, CEO Dr. Mlin King and most importantly Bear Dial. Uh good
afternoon. My name is Nvar Morales and I am the executive director of the office of sports administration. We have recommended the board to renew at the next board meeting the authorized the second and final renewal agreement to
continue to provide athletic training coverage and related services. The intent is to obtain and ensure consistent athletic training services across the district for all participating high schools during the regular season, playoffs, and other
tournaments as arranged and agreed upon by the office of sports administration. These services shall consist of coordinating and scheduling athletic trainers at sporting events, attendance at school athletic practices and games, coordinating and providing injury
followup and evaluation, and advising the high school on supplies and training equipment. For the FY 26 and 27, we anticipate continuing coverage with at least 25 athletic trainers for our student
athletes. Our ultimate goal is to ensure all Chicago public league high schools and participating elementary schools have access to qualified athletic trainers at all districtwide school-based events, further enhancing
the safety and well-being of our student athletes. Schools will also have access to provide efficient injury and treatment management documentation for each individual athlete. The implications for this have been not
approved. District schools would not receive athletic training services for three seasons throughout the school year. The district would not be able to expand these beneficial services to other schools as planned. If if the agreement is not entered at the district
level, units would continue to enter the separate agreements with said providers and services. a duplicate process that maximize efficiencies with internal district departments that does not allow for smaller school participation.
Equity focus by providing expanded districtwide athletic training services. CPS will be able to prioritize the same amount of resources to all schools and students with different lived experiences to ensure an individualized,
unique, and equitable athletic training plan for each school in the district. Our vision connection, this is a connection between connectedness and well-being. ensure that each student participates in athletic programming
will have a robust support system and resources to ensure that each school's individual athletic training services needs. ATI will be able to align with the whole child approach focusing on each student's physical health and
safety as they navigate athletic season preparedness and individualized injury management pre prevention. Thank you. I'm open for questions. >> Um, so, uh, we we are now full circle one year in. I was like, this sounds
really familiar to me and it was from January of 2025. Um, so I'm curious, uh, when looking over the financial implications, I see that there was a, um, a large increase for FY25 um, and then down for 26. And I'm
wondering if it's what's that related to maybe I'll be I'm not I don't I don't watch sports so I don't know if it's just by the seasons or or or what causes that. And then are there any learnings um with using ATI for this last year um that can be shared with us uh since this
is a renewal for a contract that we approved just a year ago? >> Can you repeat that first question for me B board member please? So the uh the related costs uh implications on our historicals I see
that FY25 is 1.8 million FY24 the previous year is 1.2 um and then the proposed spend for FY26 is only half a million and it goes up FY27 to 1.6. So what's leading to those discrepancies
that it varies so much from year to year? This is the second half of that contract for this renewal that we're asking. >> Yeah, if I can chime in, uh Patricia Arnandez, chief procurement officer, board member Rivas, uh the fiscal 26
proposed is only for the remainder of this uh fiscal year, so it's going to be a little smaller. Um, board member is Zach. >> Sorry. Sorry. Real quick. So then can we get a followup on the on the learnings related to this this last year uh for
this contract? >> And when you talk about learnings, you're talking about just how the overall program worked or datas, what type of learning can you give a little bit more? >> Yeah, just uh how the overall program worked. Um, and you know, is has it been
good for us this in this last year? >> Well, so we I would love to survey our coaches and the school communities to get that because we oversee just the placement of it. But that would be valuable feedback that uh my team and I
can send out a survey to get feedback on the ATI services because I want to make sure that we get the authentic authentic voice from those who benefited from the services. Thank you so much. >> Thank you. Um, next we have board member
Zach Core. >> Yeah. Uh, thank you so much for your presentation. Um, like board member Rivas, I noticed that we had seen this just a year ago. And so that's really where my question comes from. Um, this says that you want to continue uh with
the 40 schools. So not all the schools, 40 schools. And last year we were asked to approve a budget that would allow for eight more schools. So my question is what are the eight schools that were added and uh you don't have to tell me that now. You could send that
information but yeah that's what I want to know. >> I could definitely send it to you board. >> Thank you. Uh board member Brown. >> Yes sir. Uh thank you for your presentation Mr. Morales. I have a qu a related question. And I don't have any
questions about the ATI holdings. I wanted to know if you can get back to me about the quality of the um in particular for football teams, the quality of the film, the huddle films. There's a lot of disparity between Chicago public school filming and
suburban school filming. And I wanted to just if you all can get back with me on that, just maybe we can have a conversation on how to improve that. >> And um I want to ask a clarifying question with that. So you mean the disparities? Would you like a like a huddle like a a sample of a huddle film
as opposed to a sample from >> Well, I've Yeah, I've observed a lot of it. >> Okay. >> And it's there there is a disparity, right? The So if you go to a a game between Corless and Finger, right? And then you go to a game between uh Lincoln
Way East and Lincoln Way West. It's a completely different reality in regards to how the film looks. >> Um, so when young people are trying to potentially send that film to college scouts, it doesn't have the same impact
>> whereas, you know, and so I'm just I'm just curious about like how we can improve that. >> Definitely work on that. >> Yes, sir. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. Next, I have board member Lopez. >> Thank you, Vice President. Um very similar regarding I would love to see
some metrics around this how are we tracking the data uh year to year right seeing from you know what's the impact but also what is our number of students being involved in sports if that is increasing decreasing and also if our
particular if our young ladies are being involved in sports. Thank you. >> Uh those are all of our questions. Uh thank you very much. >> Thank you all. You have an amazing afternoon. >> Thank you. >> Board members. We we will continue with
our procurement item number three. Authorize a new agreement with ODP Business Solutions LLC. >> So, good afternoon, Vice President Bautista, Dr. King, and fellow board members. My name again is Patrice Hernandez, chief procurement officer. >> Can you come a little closer to your
mic, please? >> Uh, we'll do. Patrice Hernandez, chief procurement officer for the district. I am here today to request authorization to enter into a new agreement with ODP, formerly known as Office Depot, for the
purchase of school supplies and related products for 3 years. Our contract start date will be March 1st, 2026 through February 28 of 2029. We are asking the board to approve a not to exceed amount of $25 million based on the historical
spend. This contract is not mandatory, but schools are strongly encouraged to purchase from this agreement in order to be compliant with our state bidding statute. Non-contracted vendors cannot exceed $35,000 per fiscal year. Um the
goals for this new contract are 30% MWBE and 7% WBE. ODP has been a um has historically been providing uh office supplies to CPS and in their current contract they've achieved 29.54 on the MBE category and
5% on the WBE. Um Office Depot continues to work with our office of business enterprise development to ensure that they meet their uh MWB MWB goals annually and strategize on how they can add more values to the schools with their products and services. Uh, this OD
ODP contract gives CPS a 5% rebate on all office supplies purchases that are procured through our marketplace and they also provide an additional 5% rebate on anything above $200,000 for their copy and print um contract.
So, ODP does have multiple contracts with CPS. They've been a true partner with us for over the years. They've been donating goods times to our to our schools. They work with our philanthropic children's first fund arm. They donated last year over 142k um
142,000 in products for our back to school and endofear school events. They have different community investment initiatives where they make a difference in our communities through employee volunteerism and philanthropic giving such as school supply drives. Um 83% of
the spent is school-based spent. If this request is not approved, schools and departments will not be able to procure office supplies above the $35,000 bidding statute per fiscal year without doing a separate competitive procurement process. As it relates to equity focus,
this is a resource equity, meaning every school, every department will have access to the same vendor that has been vetted, offers competitive pricing, and has a contract where they can exceed $35,000 per year or without having to do a separate individual uh procurement
process. Um, that concludes my presentation. If you have any questions, I will take them. >> The stack is open. Uh board members, if there's any questions or comments, I think we're good. Thank you so much.
>> Thank you so much. Happy New Year and go. >> Happy new year to you. All right. Well, this concludes the first portion of the board reports on the public agenda. We will now move into executive session. Board member Kuster,
do you have a motion? M1 on page five. >> I do. Sorry. I am here. I move for the motion I'm sorry. All right. I move for the passage of motion number 26-0114-1 and the commencement of a closed session to consider matters permitted under
section 2C of the open meetings act subsection 1 as specified in the motion. >> Is there a second? >> I second the motion. >> I'll proceed with a roll call. Member Lozano. >> Yes. >> Member Lopez. >> I. >> Member Vez.
>> I. >> Member Bole. >> Yes. Member Wallace. >> Hi. >> Member Kuster. >> I. >> Member Pope. >> Yes. >> Member Rosenfeld. >> Yes. >> That was a yes. Um for the court reporter. Member Rivas.
>> Yes. >> Member Brown. >> Yes. >> Member Rio Sierra. >> I. >> Member Bannon. >> I. >> Member Gutierrez. >> I. >> Member Biggs. >> Yes. >> Member Thodakura. >> Yes. >> Member Blae. >> Yes.
Member Zachor. >> Yes. >> Member Dberry Berry. >> I. >> 18 eyes, zero nays. This motion is adopted by the board. This meeting will now go into close session. The meeting of the board of education is
reconvened. Board members, we will now proceed with the second group of potential board reports to be considered at the January 29, 2026 regular meeting. After each item is presented, board members will have the opportunity to ask their
questions and make comments before proceeding to the next item on the agenda. >> Board members, we will continue with the following information and technology item number four. Amend the first renewal agreement with Kerosoft Technology Corp.
Hey, good afternoon everyone. My name is Sayyad Kadri and I am the manager from identity and access management. I also have Mr. Ed Wagner, the acting CIO with me. I recommend the board to authorize the contract extension with Kerasoft to
provide identity and access management services through identity automation rapid ID product for a not to exceed cost of 1.2 million for a one-year term. Rapid identity is the primary platform
for staff and students to access district systems and serve as the central identity life cycle infrastructure for the district. Automated process for onboarding, reboarding and offboarding staff, non-employee and the students. This
software is our single sign on provider which manage how distic users login into over 150 application using the CPS. This simplifies the user experience by not needing multiple username and the
passwords for each applications implication. if the agreement is not approved. Without these services, CPS would like single sign on functionality causing each system to maintain username and the passwords that could quickly
lead to confusion and out of sync passwords. Additionally, the service include in integration of the of the classroom rostering between Aspen and the Google classrooms which are essential for the school operation. Rebuilding the entire
identity infrastructure would be a significant and the disruptive task for the district particularly at a time when the system stability and security is crucial for the success of students and the teachers.
equity focus in alignment with the CPS equity framework particular particularly the the fair policies and the system dimension the platform enhance the communication and the collaboration between schools classrooms and homes providing parents
with a greater access and the opportunities it also allow individuals to designate a preferred name across many of our our systems supporting the need the the supporting the needs of the non-binary and the trans staff and the students.
CPS procurement department, CPS procurement and the identity and access departments are in the middle of RFP process for these services. This extension will ensure continuity of service as well as to provide us time to move to a new system if needed. Within
the next month, we expect to identify the best IM solution that secure digital identities, provide user-friendly dashboard and remain cost effective. The current contract is expire on January 20 January 31st, 2026.
Okay. >> Do we have any questions? Um board member Bannon >> could you go over why this is uh what is unique about this vendor that has to be a single source contractor. >> Yeah because uh we are using this solution for the past few years. So we
are in the RFP process. So so if required we will move to the another service provider but at this point of time we need the IM solution that will simplify the login of each of our staff and the students.
So their system is proprietary or is >> so not following. >> So so we've been we've been working on an RFP for quite some time. Um and we're right in the middle of the process. Um that doesn't give us enough time to designate a new vendor and to uh move to
a new system that's going to take at least 6 months. So we need this extension so that we can choose a new vendor through that RFP process and then if if if the incumbent doesn't win and then uh move to a new solution.
>> Okay. Thank you. >> Board member Wallace. >> Uh I'm sorry. Could you clarify? Is this going to be a single sign on or is it the multiffactor authentification? Authentication >> supports both. It supports the single sign on and the multiffactor authentication.
>> It's so it is both. So you'll have a multiffactor that identifies you and then it's the single sign on for the 150 different. >> Yes, that is correct. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Thank you very much. I think those are all our questions. >> Thank you
>> board members. We will continue with the following capital items. numbers 5 through 7 and begin with item five, authorize new agreements with facil facility optimization solutions LLC. Good afternoon board uh vice board, vice
president Bautista and board members. Uh my name is Vinuette Dai. I am the executive director for capital planning and construction and we are recommending the board approve at the January 2026 meeting a new agreement with uh vendors facility optimization solutions LLC and
the Gordian Group Inc. uh to provide uh unit pricing construction management software and services. Uh these vendors provide uh unit pricing cataloges and proprietary software software uh that set market-based pre-established unit
labor and material prices which are used by uh our jock program or our job order contracting program uh for urgent and critical capital uh construction projects uh due to short timelines for construction. Uh specifically they
provide unlimited access and support for the unit price cataloges and the jock software. Uh they review of the jock proposals and uh any change orders necessary for accuracy. Uh they train our CPS staff, our consultants as well
as our contractors on how to use the software. um providing them access. Uh and they also have provisions for customized uh construction task cataloges for our reoccurring uh non-prepric task and then the
development of new specifications for reoccurring non-perric task. Uh the board authority for this particular item is not to exceed 9 million over the uh three-year term. uh spend varies based on the number of emergencies utilizing
this method of procurement and the approved capital improvement plan. Uh the term would be for three years beginning April 1st, 2026 through March 31st of 2029. Uh the vendors were selected via competitive solicitation process uh per the office of business
enterprise development and environmental social governance. uh the MWBE participation for this particular contract would be waved due to the limited scope of the proprietary software. Uh the vendors have though
committed to utilizing M and WBE subcontracting partners if and when uh scope of services ever call for that. However, 100% of the construction uh projects that this software supports meets and most often exceeds our MWBE
participation of 30 and 70. Uh past performing of performance of these vendors have been satisfactory. Uh the requested board authority for these new agreements is consistent with the current uh vendor pools board authority and is necessary in order to support the
volume of jock projects uh completed by the capital team. Additionally, uh the procurement team was able to negotiate savings for the district with both vendors by way of overall cost reduction and/or caps on fees. Um CPS relies on
the job order contracting program uh for executing capital projects, construction projects that are schedule critical uh life safety andor emergency in nature uh which utilize the unit uh construction management software and the services.
Uh, examples of these projects might include something like for we had a recent fire at Denine Elementary School and we were able to get that school back uh up and running right away because we used a jock contractor for that. We've also utilized it for things like uh um
um accessibility for department of justice uh projects uh as well as for uh critical equipment purchase uh where timing is of the essence uh as well as any other emergency that crops up due to
fire or freezing for the district. If this agreement is not approved, the board will now have a jock software system that supports the jock contractors and they are required to use this software to execute their program uh and the projects. Um and so um we are
recommending that the board approve these two vendors for the services for the next three years. And that completes my presentation. We'd be happy for any questions then. >> Thank you, Dr. Uh any questions or comments?
Okay. Thank you very much. >> Thank you so much. >> I I will read the titles for the capital items number six and seven and the subject matter expert will present on those two items. Six dispos disposition of bids received for the sale of
property located at 5345 West Congress Parkway and 5400 West Harrison Street. Seven, disposition of bids received for the sale of property located at 2221 South Lndale Avenue. >> Good afternoon, Vice President Bautista
and members of the board. My name is Steven Stoultz, director of real estate for the Department of Capital and Facility Operations. CPS put 20 vacant school sites out for sale through a sealed bid process early last year, and bids were received for 12 of the 20 sites. The board was formally
notified notified of the bid solicitation in March 19th, 2025 and the v the board recently voted to approve three closed school sales at the board meeting held on December 18th, 2025. Items number six and seven on the agenda are regarding sales of vacant school
sites. So I will be pres be presenting them together. We continue to host community meetings for the sale of other school sites of other closed school sites that received a bid and those sales will be referred to the board in the near future. We also plan on conducting another round of bidding for
the remaining vacant school sites in the upcoming months. State statute guides the sale process and it requires that any site with a value greater than $25,000 must be put out through to must be put out to bid through a sealed bid sale
process. The two highest and best responsible bids may be submitted to the board for acceptance of one or rejection of both and any sale must be approved by a 2/3 majority vote of the board. The bid solicit the bid solicitation was
released on March 14th, 2025 and bids were due on May 30th, 2025. All sales include a deed restriction that prohibit the property from being used as for a K to2 charter school and prohibit the sale or manufacturer of alcohol or tobacco products. The
purchaser is also required to obtain a certificate of occupancy within 5 years of closing. The first sale we will discuss is item number six on the agenda regarding the disposition of bids received for the sale of the former Louisie Armstrong Elementary School located at 5345 West
Congress Parkway and 5400 West Harrison Street. We recommend the board authorize the acceptance of a bid from Breakaway Community Development for the sale of the former Armstrong Elementary School site. The property consists of a 1.4 4 acre parcel improved with two buildings
totaling 14,750 ft. The buildings have no working plumbing, electric, or mechanical systems, and there's water infiltration throughout. The property was most recently utilized as a branch of the Louisie Armstrong Elementary School until 2013, and it has been vacant since
that time. Two bids were received for the property. A bid was received from Chase Hair Institute in the amount of $50,000. Another bid was received from Breakaway Community Development in the amount of $100,000. Breakaway proposes redeveloping the main
building for use as an athletic training center focusing on affordable access for athletes who do not have access to such facilities and to repurpose the annex building to be used for studio rental suites for athletic trainers. A community meeting was held on November 10th, 2025 where the the biders
presented their proposal to the local community. There was support for both bidder's proposals at the meeting and the local alderperson Christopher Talia Pharaoh expressed support for both proposals. The second sale on the agenda is item number seven regarding the disposition
of offer of bids received for the sale of the former Ignes Padarooi Elementary School site located at 2221 South Lawndale Avenue. We recommend the board authorize the acceptance of a bid from P3 Markets LLC for the sale of the
former Padarooi Elementary School. The property consists of a 2.16 acre parcel improved with three buildings totaling 56,000 square ft. The buildings have no working plumbing, electric, or mechanical systems, and there is water infiltration throughout. The property
was most recently utilized as Padarooi School until 2013 and has been vacant since that time. Three bids were received for the property. A bid was received from Healing Hands Resource Center in the amount of $50,000. A second bid was received from the
Resurrection Project in the amount of $50,01. And finally, a third bid was received from P3 Markets LLC in the amount of $55,500. P3 Markets proposes repurposing the main building and demolishing the two annex
buildings. They are proposing an adaptive reuse of the main building as a 42 unit housing development containing approximately 25 affordable residential units press priced at or below 60% of the area median income and the remaining
14 units will be market rate. They are also in phase two of the development. They are proposing a new 26 unit building with all units being designated as affordable at 80 to 120% of area median income. Finally, they will be
part donating part of the site to the Ark Entrepreneurial Entrepreneurial Center, which will develop a mixeduse building containing a community center for youth programming in approximately 20 to 24 units that will be priced at 60 to 100% of area median income. A
community meeting was held on December 3rd, 2025, where both were where all biders presented their proposals and the community was supportive of this proposal. That concludes my presentation for this matter and I'll be happy to answer any questions.
>> Board member Lopez followed by board member Zack Core. >> Thank you, Vice President. Um, as it pertains to both items, can you talk about any of the concerns that were voiced by the community? the uh general concerns that were voiced
which is typical of a meeting like this is what the capacity is for the bidder to develop the property. So we do review things like financials uh what you know um capacity they have. We also look at their past you know past work they've done um to ensure that they are able to
take on a project like this. >> Um I can't remember specific concerns. Um, generally there's going to be some cons some some opinions voiced that are not always supportive. Um, but it for I want to
make clear for both of the biders all of the biders for both sites there was support for all of the proposals. It just seemed in certain circumstances there was more support for some of the proposals than the others. Um, so there
wasn't really a lot of uh I wouldn't say any bad comments made by the public about them, but it it was um we just had had to do our best to gauge the level of community support. >> Thank you. And also that thank you to the district for, you know, moving
forward of getting the community involved with this and making sure you know that the space is going to be you either for new purposes for the community. Uh, great to see that. As it pertains to item item seven in the 22nd ward, I'm more familiar with that property given that it's in the seven
district. Um, I also want to thank Alderman Mike Rodriguez for calling in earlier and providing, you know, um, comments as to why he was of support. Uh, I was also wondering, well, one, uh, I was amazed to hear there was at least 200 individuals that attended that
meeting. Um, I think it speaks volumes. Um I one feedback that I heard from the community and this pertains to the district is that when we go into communities that are diverse that we need to be mindful how we present information that we ensure we have in this case individuals the information in
Spanish and interpreters in Spanish. Thank you to uh the element of Mike Rodriguez that stepped in to helped us in that regard. Um I was just wondering for in particular again because of item seven that uh I'm more familiar with that property uh what led to the guidance of going with the
recommendation of P3 um anything that stood out um that led for you know for that one over the two other uh biders. >> Um as I mentioned they were all good proposals. The first proposal for Padarooi school was Healing Hands and they were more like uh to they wanted to
turn it in more to like a community center that has various services like a food pantry and so forth uh as well as medical assistance, medical uh services. The last two um Resurrection and P3, they were both residential developments. Resurrection's development was senior
development and P3 uh was it's more affordable housing for any age group. So it wasn't tied down to one. Um I think the distinction is that it it seemed that the P3 proposal was more geared towards the local community.
Um also they they had already um obtained some some uh let me sorry take a step back. They had already applied through Illinois Housing Development Authority for tax credits >> um and resurrection.
Unfortunately, they had not yet done so. So, they put a con a um a condition in their bid that they would not be able to close for I forgot how many years, but it would have taken a bit more time for them to get the
development off the ground. Um, also the the price, the bid price was another factor. Um, but I I don't want to make it sound like price alone is the greatest consideration. Our greatest consideration um is the likelihood of these projects getting completed. We've sold several
properties in the past and uh the purchaser was not up to the challenge and some of those buildings are sitting there still. Some of them we've had to take ownership back. Um so in the the whole scheme of things, it seemed like the the party that was most prepared to
get this project started and completed would be P3 in this instance. Thank you. >> Thank you, >> board member Zor. >> Uh, thank you for all your work on this. Um I think that the question I have is uh regarding when you all presented to
the community um what did uh was detail gone into about this um 60% AMI because that amount is like $50,000 for a single person and steady increasing and that actually means that most of our seeks
could not afford to live there. Um so for many of us I think we wouldn't necessarily define that as affordable. Um, so I'm just wondering if when the community said yay um to affordable housing, because many of our communities would, did they understand that that
that's what that would mean and that only 25 units would be guaranteed to be at that price and the others would be for people making pretty significantly more. >> Let let me clarify. I think I may have muddled this a little bit. So they are
proposing, I think, three different levels of affordability. Um there are 14 market rate 25 units at 60% or below of AMI another 20 to 24 units between 8 uh 60
to 100% of AMI and then finally the last unit count would be uh 26 units as well as 80 to 100%. So I I do understand your your concern. Um, this is the AMI. This this is guided by
the Illinois Housing Development Authority as far as the definition of affordable housing. So, it's not that we're I'm standing up here saying it's an affordable housing development. It meets the definition of affordable housing development per the definition provided by Illinois Housing Development.
>> I I do understand that. um we have the same issues in my community, but um I I'm just trying to make sure did the community understand that cuz I did speak with people at Resurrection Project and they were going to have X amount of their units I think up to 50%
at 30 to 50% AMI which is you know significantly lower. >> I can't stand here and say whether the people in attendance understood that or not. I'm sorry to say. >> Okay. Thank you. Um, board member Gutierrez, >> you know, I also want to thank you guys
for the work that you guys have done in this. My question is more abstract. Um, is relative to public benefit. Um, so you stated that we've sold a couple of our buildings and properties and they still um those projects have not come through
fruition. Um, and one of the things I think that we have to think about, right, I understand we're trying to take some assets off our books and sell them, but as a steward, right, it it it
making that sale and the building still not come to fruition. I think that there's there's a little responsibility that we as a district should have um as a steward of these assets. Um it's just something to consider because they they should be right. We're we are selling
them as a public benefit. >> Um because the projects that we are approving are such that they will benefit the greater good of that particular neighborhood and stuff. So just I think something for us to
consider. I know that you're trying to move things, but I I I think it would be good for us to to really talk about and highlight even projects that have come to fruition, you know, that that we we can see that transformation because I
think um we have some of these projects that haven't come out come along, but if they materialize and to have some success, it has really uh overarching uh economic and community benefit. um for
those particular neighborhoods. >> Understood. Thank you, board member. >> Um I have board member Lopez again. >> Thank you. Uh I think uh board member raises a great point. Is there um you know moving forward is it possible either with it be quarterly that we get
an update of how these projects are going. I I think that's important for us to see. Um and the other I want to pointed out I know this happens on 22nd word with Alderman Mike Rodriguez. I know he has uh advisory groups depending on what the projects are and one of them
with the real estate or different uh projects of development they follow it closely and they hold those whoever is coming in to develop accountable like what member Loano says. So it's something maybe to also look at each um with each ward and how the milestones holding them accountable that they're
meeting whatever they said they were you know promising to the community. Yeah, we could definitely uh provide quarterly updates on the status of these projects and um I I do want to I agree that the process is is a little difficult to work with to ensure these things get seen, you know, the projects get completed. Um
it's that's my my take on it is the process is not >> I sorry uh Ivan Hansen, chief facilities officer. I just want to go back to your previous point about understanding what the market values are and how that goes. Um the alderman's office was very
involved in that and they did offer um I believe at one of them the department of housing had staff there and then they also offered to have any of those there's questions they could do something in their office to do that to to go along and answer those questions because some of that stuff did come up. Um so it is it is a great flag but again the alderman's offices were both
involved with with the whole process and they did offer to have the any questions to come back to their office to talk about how they could apply and where the additional monies were to to do that into these new developments. Thank you, Chief Hansen. Next, I have board member Blae, followed by board
member Rosenfeld. >> Thank you, um, Vice President Bautista. Um, I just wanted to, um, Hi, gentlemen. Thank you so much for your presentation. You know, I'm very interested in in CPS, um, making good use of the empty
buildings. Um, and these projects sound really exciting, but if you can I think um board member Zacher's concern about the affordable percentages
um if if we can if you can bring those concerns back to P3 and maybe um or maybe um board member Zacher if you want to write a letter to them, I will certainly co-sign.
and we can have the conversation about um v maybe more varied levels of affordability. Um the housing is needed desperately at all levels. So, um I
don't want to say it's not going to be a done deal, but um being sensitive to um a variety of communities and their income levels would be I think would be best case scenario. Um especially if they're getting a deal on the the
property itself. So, I'm just co-signing what board member Zacher's um uh uh commenting on. And if if you guys can be conscious of that as we move forward as as we're, you know, um
selling or or getting rid of more properties, if we're talking about affordable housing, please just be sensitive to the the different ranges of affordability that um the city really needs. Thank you.
>> Thank you, board member Bla1. Um board member Rosenfeld. >> Yeah, I also thank you very much. Um just approximately what's it cost been costing CPS to to maintain or at the minimum keep these buildings from be it >> it really depends on the size of the
building but it could be anywhere um I think we've used the number before 75 to 150,000 >> smaller site closer to the 75,000 larger site >> high school closer to the >> good progress in financial fiscal
responsibility so I appreciate that >> and and just to re reiterate what I said last time these buildings are an ongoing liability. They're continually broken into. We >> we don't want to be a landlord of vacant buildings, right? Um >> so we're doing everything we can to get them. >> And is it affordability and affordable
housing set by the city? Like what defines that? >> No. >> By the state. >> By the state. Okay. So that's not like CPS's definition of affordable housing by any means. >> Correct. And we don't provide the housing. >> Yeah. The housing credits don't come from us. We're right
>> we're pushing the property, but then they'll also work with planning and development and then um Department of Housing to to work through those credits or any of that's going to come back on on that side of things with the real estate. >> Yeah, I think this is great. Thank you. >> Thank you, >> Board Member Lozano. Yeah, I just want
to also, you know, uh agree with uh board member Zachor because I'm very concerned because this is in my district uh 7A and I really look at, you know, how much this would cost and basically it's unaffordable
and uh if there's any way that we can, you know, when we sell these properties and everything to really think about that community that's living there because we do need more housing And uh we want families to move in so that their children go to the Chicago public
schools because everything's shrinking and we want it to grow, right? And we want to be able to supply that. So I think we have to make those considerations on every level, not only fiscally but also morally. It's very important to our communities. So I would
like to take that back maybe to P3 to look about what is really affordable. Thank you. >> Thank you. your mic. No. Thank you very much. Board members, we will continue with the
following finance item number eight. Resolution authorizing and approving the amendment of the execution and delivery of amendments to supplemental indentures authorizing the issuance of educational purposes tax anticipation notes in a
maximum principal amount not to exceed 1 bill650 million outstanding and related matters. >> Hi, good afternoon everybody. Wally Stock, the district treasurer, acting CFO. Um, in front of you this afternoon for
your consideration is an item which is, as uh, Madam Secretary stated, amending a resolution that was approved by the board in August. Uh, in August, we approved a resolution to authorize 1.25 billion in tax anticipation notes.
And as things have developed, we've all been watching property tax uh distributions very closely. Um those have been delayed. We're starting to receive those monies. The indication is that the first tax bills that we will
receive for our fiscal year 26 will also be delayed. So um it's causing new cash flow issues for us. the delay. These are our first property taxes that we receive for fiscal year 26 almost eight months
into the fiscal year. This this typically happens. So we plan for that what that's what that original resolution was. But this additional time period is causing a new problem that we have to solve for. So essentially that's what you know we have this resolution
here is to increase the amount by $400 million to the 1.65 65 billion. So the projection is is that will sustain us for the month, be able to keep our liquidity needs in place, and
then those notes will be paid back once we start to receive the property taxes. This is typically what we do. This is what we explained back in August. We do these these financings. We put these transactions in place. We have the transactions in place for the 1.25 25
billion already. So, we'll just need to find lenders for the additional little bit of $400 million. Um, and then when the taxes come in, we'll repay, like I said. Um, and then as we get into the second installment, we'll likely repeat the process again to some extent and
then pay the whole loan program off um so that it won't be outstanding. Uh, ideally as long as it was outstanding this year and then we'll look to repeat it again for fiscal 27. So hopefully um something that um being up here in front of you so many times you understand at
this point. Um but it is a needed thing that we we must do in order to maintain our liquidity and keep our payroll and our uh accounts payable functioning. >> There any questions? >> Uh yes, we have um board member Gutierrez followed by board member
Lopez. >> What's the actual cost in dollars relative to us doing that? what's it going to cost us that extra dollars? >> So again, it's a I mean that would be a projection at this point. And so if you think about I think I put down on the
paper here uh to tell you if you think about $400 million outstanding for 60 days is an is an estimate. Um and the interest rate that we're currently paying uh 80% of the interest rate that we pay is a market index. It's a base
and then we have a percentage above that, but we're roughly paying about 4% for the money. So that $400 million outstanding for 60 days is almost $6.6 million. >> Member Lopez,
>> thank you. Vice President, you mentioned that there's an expected delay for coming 20 for this year 2026. As we know, property owners get um their bills twice a month. Do we sorry twice a year the knock of wood twice a month? Um I know my my
family definitely wouldn't be able to afford that. Um so twice a year do we have an anticipated estimate from the county when they're expecting the bill to hit? >> Well so part of uh recent legislation I
I believe back in October or November. Don't hold me to that. uh they passed a law that said that the bills could be due uh approximately April 2nd. So if they adhere to that then I mean and that's what we're anticipating is that they would be due in April.
>> April and what we learned from the fall I think initially we had been told before Halloween that didn't happen. It was November or Right. And they were due December. >> December. Yeah. I mean, just to not go down the rabbit hole here, but uh for
the board who may have not been watching this as closely uh as I have over the years, out of our last eight uh fiscal years, property taxes have been delayed seven times. >> Wow. >> And my team did a quick estimate of what
that has cost us, and that's probably over $70 million. So, this is a variety of different delays, right? we had COVID and so they tried to the county tried to extend the tax bills by 60 days for a number of
different points and then we had the computer system right this isn't the first time the computer system has delayed taxes two years ago the bills were due on December 31st but all these cumulatively have really been a pain point for us so I'm optimistic and
hopeful that with the new computer system they're going to get back on the rails here again and get the bills out on Is there >> It's hard to say. >> Thank you also for the historical information that uh it helps uh to paint a better picture. Is there any update
from conversations with the and we know that when we say Cook County government there's different agencies and bodies to it that right that are involved in this and also the the uh the vendor that to my understanding they're they're been behind the project for five who knows
five years or so that vendor has not been um you know uh being able to move on with this project as the time that the Cook County told them to. uh any update from any of the Cook County agencies, departments of how are they going to step in to provide support
because this is not just impacting the Chicago but all their school districts throughout Cook County. >> Well, I I can just speak to that. I'm emailing them, trying to get them on the phone almost daily to get updates at just more like an administrative level
of my peers that would be doing that work and you know they're relying on other colleagues as you say to do this work. So I think it's it's very cumbersome and complicated as to putting the finger on one particular area. Um,
so you know, all I can do is to keep communicating with them, trying to get the expectation and try to stay one step ahead of them like I'm I'm doing here with with what I'm asking you for in terms of any remediation or anything like that. We haven't had any of those conversations.
>> Okay. No, I think it's important to continue um whether it be adding the pressure and that they know what this is causing the impact. Um I know on my end I've been speaking to the county commissioners that represent uh 7B and let me know how I could be a support of having those conversations with also the
other departments. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Great. Um now we have board member Rivas. >> Uh thank you Vice President Baltista. Um so uh Wall-E I think it's important for us to uh call it out. we're saying our county partners, but it's important that
we name uh in my conversations with those elected officials, with a lot of elected officials uh at the county level, um I feel like there's a blame game going around as to whose fault it is. Um fingers keep getting pointed to Tyler Technologies, fingers are pointed to our sitting uh county assessor,
fingers are pointed at our county treasurer. Um and so, but at the end of the day, we're losing millions. And so I know that we're we're keeping a running tab and I think it's just important to keep reminding folks that uh you know it's I think you had told us it's about $220,000
a day that we're paying in interest um which is a lot of money and definitely more than the cost of one teacher. Um, and uh, so I I I'm hopeful that this can be resolved soon, but uh, the way that things are going at the county level, I
I'm I'm not I I wouldn't be surprised if this is the same situation we're in uh, next fall after we pass uh, the, you know, FY27 budget. And so, um, I think that we need to keep keep putting pressure on our county folks to help us
out. Um, I know that they did it for smaller uh municipalities, for smaller school districts to be able to support them, but obviously the county doesn't have, you know, $1.65 billion laying around to help us out. Uh, but I do hope that they can help us out with uh some
of the cost of this interest uh because it it's real money lost uh in our budget. So, just a statement. Thank you. >> Thank you for that um that comment, that summary. I just want to make it um clear for the board. I know there's a lot of information on this, but we have
successfully paid off last year's short-term borrowing. So, we did receive enough money to pay that off, but they still owe us the operating money. That's the residual of that. They still owe us money for the teachers pension fund. They still owe money for debt service on
bonds. So, there's still, I think, over $600 million that they owe us from last year. And at its peak, it was $220,000 a day when I had that short-term money outstanding. So, the the the debt has been repaid. We're still paying the
teachers pension fund received some money today. Um, but that, you know, that's that's about what we're paying now is the interest on the amount of money that's owed to the teachers pension fund. So, it's down to, let me say, close to $40,000 a day right now. And that number that I quoted back at
the last meeting of about $33 million, that's roughly what it cost us for this year alone delay. >> Thank you very much. Those are all our questions. >> Thank you so much, everybody. >> All right. Uh the following slides list the standard monthly reports and motions
that are listed in the agenda review committee meeting agenda and posted online. Board members, this concludes the board reports on the public agenda. Are there any comments or questions on any other items?
Seeing none, uh we will now move into our second executive session. Board member Bole, do you have motion MO2, page nine? I move for the passage of motion number 26-0114-2
and the commencement of a closed session to consider matters permitted under section 2C of the open meetings act subsections 1 and 11 as specified in the motion. >> Is there a second? >> I second the motion. >> I'll proceed with a roll call. Member
Lozano. >> I thank you. >> Member Lopez >> I. Member VeZ. >> I. >> Member Bole. >> I. >> Member Wallace. >> I. >> Member Kuster. >> I. >> Member Pope. >> Yes. >> Member Rosenfeld.
>> Yes. >> Member Rivas. >> Yes. >> Member Brown. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Member Rio Sierra. >> I. >> Member Bannon. >> I. >> Member Gutierrez. >> I. >> Member Bigs. >> Yes. >> Member Thodicura. >> Yes.
>> Member Blae. Was that a yes? >> Sorry. Love. Yes. I >> thank you. Member Zachor. >> Yes. >> Member Deberry. >> I. >> 18 eyes, zero nazs. This motion is
adopted by the board. >> This meeting will not go into close session. Okay. Uh, the agenda review committee of the board of education is reconvened. Board secretary, please proceed. Vice President Bautista, I would like to
note for the record that there are no items to vote on from executive session. >> Thank you. Is there a motion to adjourn? >> So move. Lopez. Is there a second? >> So moved. All in favor? I I we are adjourned.
Thanks everyone.