##VIDEO ID:https://youtube.com/live/jtZjDfN7x8k?feature=share## Board members, you all set? Here we go. Good evening, everyone. On behalf of the Community Unit School District 300 Board of Education, I would like to thank you for being in attendance, both virtually and in person, for tonight's board meeting. At this time, I would like to reconvene the meeting of the Community Unit School District 300 Board of Education to order for Tuesday, December 17, 2024. Madam secretary, would you please take the role? Birkett, present. Fiorentino? Present. LaMarca? Present. Mackenzie? Second. Scarpino? Present. Thomas? Present. Zettler? Present. You have 7 board members present. Thank you. Doctor Smith? At this time I'd like to invite missus Emily Varghese, principal from Lincoln Prairie Elementary School, and her students to lead us in the pledge of allegiance. Parents come on move to the front, parents move to the front so you can get your pictures and videos and Good evening, board of education, doctor Smith, and community members. My name is Emily Varghese, and I am the principal of Lincoln Prairie Elementary School. And this is Melissa Beatty, our wonderful assistant principal of Lincoln Prairie Elementary School. The students standing before us tonight were selected for exemplifying exceptional qualities that make them stand out as leaders among their peers. Tonight, we are excited to have with us Hannah, Elise, Jaden, Anna, Zekora, Fabian, and Taylor. Each of these students has consistently demonstrated leadership, academic excellence, and the determination to overcome challenges with resilience and perseverance. They serve as role models showing kindness, respect, and a commitment to fostering a positive and supportive environment for everyone around them. They embody the core values and characteristics of what it means to be a Hawk at Lincoln Prairie, encouraging others to do their best and make a difference. Their dedication and achievements make all of us proud and highlight the amazing spirit of our school community. At this time, I ask all audience members to stand as they are able, and I ask all students to turn and face the flag and lead us in tonight's pledge. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, 1 nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Parents, feel free to take off and get your kids. We're very proud of your kids and proud of you. Good job. Good job, parents. Item number 5 is the approval of the agenda. There have been no changes to the agenda. May I have a motion to approve the agenda? So moved. Second. Madam secretary, would you please take the roll? Tarantino. Aye. McKinney. Aye. Burkett, aye. Zettler. Aye. LaMarca. Aye. Scarpino. Aye. Thomas. Aye. Motion passes 70. Thank you. Doctor Smith. I'd like to welcome mister Tommy Parisi, director of PE Health Driver's Education and Athletics to the podium to recognize the 2024 IHSA state qualifiers for high school fall sports. Good evening, board of education and superintendent doctor Smith. I'm excited to have the opportunity to celebrate and acknowledge our fall IHSA state qualifiers from our 3 high schools. Our coaches and athletes spend countless hours working with their athletes, and to achieve state qualification is no small feat. 1st, we will start out with Hampshire High School athletes. With us tonight are our golf and tennis state qualifiers. I would like to invite the athletic director, Mike Sitter, to share some of the highlights of their season. Thank you, mister Parisi. Our 1st state qualifier today is Seth Gilly. Seth had another great season this past fall. Seth was an f Fox Valley Conference all conference player with a 9 hole average score of 38 and an 18 hole average score of 75. Seth advanced from regionals, shooting a 77 and then shot a 73 at the sectional tournament to advance to the state tournament in Bloomington, where he competed against the best competition in the state. For the 2nd year in a row, Seth represented Hampshire brilliantly on a very difficult course, And we'd like to congratulate Seth on a terrific 4 years of golf and academics at Hampshire High School. Congratulations, Seth. Thank you, Seth. And our next state qualifier is Isabella Kowalik. Izzy had an incredible season competing on our high school team for the first time. She won 18 matches at first singles and completed conference play with a 7 and one record. She earned or a top seed at the 2 a Harlem sectional, where she battled the 3rd place which qualified her for the IHSA state meet. Isabella finished the season earning Fox Valley Conference honors, and was named 1st team all area by the Northwest Herald. Congratulations, Isabella, on a fantastic season. We will now move on to our Jacobs High School state qualifiers. I would like to invite Kevin Christian, who coaches our boys cross country team to the podium. Alright. Good evening, Board of Education and doctor Smith. Max Zydrinsky finished 23rd in the IHSA class 3 a state cross country meet, which is the largest class in the state. This put him in the top 25 in the 1st Jacob's All State male runner since Olympic silver medalist Evan Jaeger. Max's time of 14:33 for 3 miles, which is 4:51 per mile, would usually put him in the top 10 in the state. But unfortunately, he ran to the fastest state meet in IHSA history. His time puts him second all time in school history. Next year, Max will run for Washington University in Saint Louis, one of the top academic institutions in the country for free. Congratulations to Max and we look forward to see what you can accomplish in the future, especially this track season. Thank you. Next, I would like to invite the Jacobs High School Football Coach, mister Brian Zimmerman. First off, I'd like to say congratulations to all the other state qualifiers being honored here tonight. It's an amazing feat and not an easy task to accomplish. Here tonight, we have with us 5 of our team captains from our football team. This past season was another terrific season for the football program. Today, we have the team captains Luke Gormson, T. O. Boddy, PJ Barnes, Jake Cyndals, and Owen Hoffman. For the 4th year in a row, they helped our team qualify for the IHSA state playoffs, which ties the school record for consecutive years. Our staff is extremely proud to have our 5 captains represent our program here tonight. We wanna thank the school board and superintendent doctor Smith for recognizing our student athletes on their amazing year. Secondly, we'd also like to recognize Luke Gormson, who was chosen to class 7 a first team all state by the Illinois High School Football Coaches Association, and he also was recognized as academic All State. Congratulations to Luke on this outstanding accomplishment and to all of our captains for being great leaders and representing our program in a positive way. Thank you. Lastly, we have our d 300 co op swim team, which is comprised of all 3 of our high schoolers. We had state qualifiers who attend Jacobs High School and Dundee Crown High School. I would like to invite their coach to the podium, miss Rebecca Zublia. Good evening, board of education and doctor Smith. I am pleased to present our 5 district 300 swimmers who qualified at state this year. First, our medley relay of Rachel Johnson, Caitlin Tomaszewski, Maggie Nowak, and Ellie Nimi qualified and were able to claim 17th at the state meet. They shattered the 38 year old Dundee Crown School record in this event set back in 1986 by 9 seconds. Next, we had Rachel qualify in her individual event of 200 freestyle, in which she claimed 17th at the state meet as well. This is Rachel's 3rd individual event to qualify in as she had also qualified in the 100 free and a 100 backstroke last year. Maggie Nowak qualified in her individual event of the 100 butterfly. She qualified for finals and finished 10th in the state in this event. She is the 7th female of Johnny Crown history to be a finalist at the state meet. She also broke the 21 year old school record in this event by 2 seconds. Lastly, our 400 freestyle relay qualified for the 2nd year in a row. This year, the relay included Carly Pachelski, Ellie, Maggie, and Rachel. The relay also finished 17th at the state meet. They broke the Dundee crown school record in this event sent in 2007 by a massive 15 seconds. I am so proud of all of their accomplishments that these girls have achieved this year. With 3 girls returning as juniors and seniors, it will be exciting to see what we can do again next season. Thank you. And that concludes our fall IHSA athlete celebration. I wanna thank superintendent doctor Smith and the board of education again for your continued support of our athletic programs. Our winter sports are well underway, and we hope to have some winter state qualifiers to celebrate with you all this this spring. Parents, congratulations. Outstanding with the kids. Outstanding job. For tonight's staff recognition we have 4 staff celebrations. We will begin with the blue ribbon recognition for Shelly Kuminga. Come up to the front. Okay. It's a lot to take in. It's a lot to take in, but it's great, great news. The Blue Ribbon Society recognizes individuals who demonstrate admirable qualities aligned to the district's 300 central mission to provide engaging and inclusive educational experiences that empower and equip all students to discover, innovate and succeed now and in the future. It's my pleasure to have Miss Shelly Kuminga in front of me tonight, 8th grade math teacher at Westfield Community School. She's joined here tonight by her husband Ben and her children Isabella and Mason. Thank you so much for being here. On October 18th this year, miss Kuminga performed life saving measures in the cafeteria at Westfield during 7th grade lunch. Upon realizing that a student was unable to breathe, miss Kuminga sprang into action and performed the Heimlich maneuver. Within seconds, she was able to dislodge the food that had been stuck in the student's throat and the student was able to breathe again. It must be noted that the timing of this incident was quite remarkable. 2 weeks prior, miss Kuminga had renewed her American Heart Association sup, CPR and AED certification through district 300, which included instruction in the Heimlich maneuver. And only 1 week prior, she started monitoring 7th grade lunch. And for all of you who join us in middle school, you know middle school lunch is the best thing ever. She was truly in the right place at the right time. At this time, I invite the community to watch a 92nd video highlighting miss Kaminga's incredible actions. I looked at the student, he was beat red, and I asked him if he could make any noise, and he shook his head no. The atmosphere during the event was just like any other day. The noise level was deafening. Anyone not near the student probably still has no idea that this event actually occurred. Delivering life saving efforts in order to support Gunnar, was amazing. When I realized something was wrong, I realized I couldn't breathe, and then I instantly stood up. I knew to perform the Heimlich because he was unable to actually make any sound, so I knew he was choking on, something. I couldn't talk. It was it was, like, I it was, like, scary. And this was the first time that I have actually performed the Heimlich outside of training. Life saving measures, you know, don't typically need to be delivered or administered, but when they need to be, it's critical that there's staff in the building and amongst us that know how to support our students. I, haven't had any follow ups, but if I could, I would thank her for saving my life. Looking back, I'm extremely proud of the actions I took that day and my ability to save that student's life. On behalf of District 300, thank you for prioritizing the health and safety of our students. Tonight we recognize you very proudly with the Blue Ribbon Society certificate and pen. I mean, I have chills. How proud are we that we have amazing staff like Shelly in our district? Let's give her another round of applause. We also are celebrating Special Education Day. December 2nd, District 300 celebrated Special Education Day an opportunity to recognize and express our gratitude to the exceptional members of our Special Education Services team for their dedication and hard work. This incredible team plays a pivotal role in shaping students lives, partnering with families, providing care, guidance, and education that helps students thrive academically, socially, and emotionally. On behalf of District 300, thank you for your remarkable dedication. Your compassion and tireless effort builds a bright future and we deeply appreciate all the work you do to support our students. Thank you Shelly to you and your team. Computer Science Education Week. December 9th marked the beginning of Computer Science Education Week, an annual observance dedicated to inspiring students to explore computer science and recognizing the contributions of professionals in the field. In District 300, these contributions are made by our technology department, academic data team, and educational technology staff. Their expertise empowers students with essential computer skills and ensures the district's technology resources are used to their fullest potential. On behalf of District 300 please join me in thanking these dedicated staff members for their knowledge, skills, and commitment which are vital, to our students success and the district's continued progress. District 300 Communications Department also received an award of excellence. Congratulations to the District 300 communications department for receiving the award of excellence from the Illinois chapter of National School Public Relations Association known as INSPRA. The award specifically highlights District 300's winter weather infographics, which were designed to inform parents about our winter weather protocols. The award of excellence in INSPRA's highest recognition, receiving this award signifies that our district's communication efforts meets high standards of excellence as evaluated by a panel of national communication experts. Congratulations to the D300 Communications department including graphic designer Shannon Flaherty, communication specialist Cathy Balcazar, translator Nayeli Coria, administrative assistant Tracy Maxman Maxman. Sorry, Tracy. Director of communications, Casey Defaugh, and our chief of communications and stakeholder engagement, Mr. Anthony McGinn. Up next we have, Doctor. Nikki Verkey here to introduce some of our DMS staff to speak to us about the career fair that they previously had. Good evening Doctor. Smith and Board of Education. I'm delighted to bring to you the outstanding, DMS counselor group. They will be speaking to you about the resounding success that they had for their 6th annual career fair. I can't tell you how excited I am to, like, share and highlight the wonderful things happening in our schools, and this is just one opportunity. So I hope I get to come back. I'd like to ask the following to join me. Jessica Gigaylo, Amanda Hurley, Gwen Connors, Lauren Bowes. And I also wanna recognize Diana Bailey. She could not come here tonight. She was in Hampshire supporting her daughter at the choir concert. She wanted to be here, but, obviously, we recognize that being a mom is super important as well. So I'm gonna turn it over to the team so that they can share with you all the amazing things that happened at the career fair. Okay. So we started our career fair in 2017. The way we're able to get volunteers is that we ask DMS staff if any friends, family members would be interested in participating. We also gain parent participation. We advertise the career fair at our DMS open house every year, and parents are able to come up, ask questions, let us know if they would like to participate. So this year, we had, 35 volunteers, which is really exciting. It's actually the most that we've ever had, for our career fair. And, many of them ask about the date for next year. They're looking forward to coming back, so that's definitely, encouraging and exciting. The students who participate in our career fair, it is exclusive to our 8th graders, as well as our AVID students, so it's something for them to look forward to. They do attend in a rotation, so they can kind of have those meaningful conversations with our volunteers and ask their questions. So about 450 students this year were able to participate. So we prepped the students ahead of time by going into their ELTs and music classes to review the expectations. We discussed how you should introduce yourself to the volunteers along with, asking appropriate questions. We also have the students complete a fact sheet about topics they learned from each career, and this definitely helps with student engagement. It's important to us that it's an opportunity, that's meaningful for not only the students, but for our volunteers as well. That's why we do spend so much time prepping the students too. We want them to represent DMS DMS well, so we go over appropriate questions, professional things that you can say to our volunteers. This year in particular, we received a lot of positive feedback from our volunteers just with how engaging the students were, great conversations were had. They asked really great follow-up questions, just some really meaningful conversations, and they said they could tell that the students were very interested in the careers that they had to to talk about with them. So we we do have a pretty high return rate for our volunteers, which I hope that just speaks to the fact that they find it meaningful and positive as well to share their experiences with our students. And the whole point of it is just to open up our students' eyes to to, different careers, having them think outside the box a little bit more with what they might wanna do in their future. So we have one more slide that just highlights a couple other pictures of our students talking with the volunteers. Board members, any comments at all? Hi. It's great that you guys do this, and I think it's it's, the experience for the kids starting out at middle school is really good and helps them focus and it's not as nervous going on, you know. But thank you so much for everything you've done. It really looks like it was a lot of fun, and it looks like they all got a lot out of it. Thank you very much. I appreciate the 4 of you being here. I know doctor Smith and I were visiting that day, and you get that was fantastic. You did a great job, and tonight you did a good job also. Thank you. Very much, thank you for having us. Thank you. At this time I'd like to invite Mrs. Kelly Manoffee, assistant superintendent of high schools in Oak Ridge to the podium to introduce our new principal of Dundee Crown High School, Doctor. Asia Gurney. Good evening, board members and superintendent Smith. I am pleased to introduce doctor Asia Gurney as the next principal of Dundee Crown High School. Doctor Gurney began working in district 300 in 2015, and she is currently serving as interim principal of Dundee Crown. Prior to her time as the interim principal, she served as associate principal of Dundee Crown, principal of Carpentersville Middle School, and principal of Lakewood School. Doctor Gurney began her career in education as a special education teacher at Irving Elementary School in Maywood, Illinois. Doctor Gurney's educational experiences include a bachelor's degree in special education in 1996 from Northern Illinois University, a master's degree in educational leadership in 2005 from Northeastern Illinois University, and a doctoral degree in instructional leadership and superintendency in 2015 from Argosy University. Doctor Gurney is dedicated to fostering excellence in education. She has a proven ability to build trusting relationships, set high expectations, and inspire both staff and students. Her leadership focuses on creating inclusive environments where everyone feels they belong and can succeed. By using data to guide her decisions, she drives continuous improvement that aligns with district goals, ensuring long term success and a positive impact on the learning community. Doctor Gurney has provided excellent leadership and service throughout her career, and we are super confident that she will continue to be a tremendous asset to the Dundee Crown High School community. Please join me in congratulating doctor Gurnee as the next principal of Dundee Crown High School. Joining doctor Gurney tonight are her 3 children, Addison, Aubrey, and Tyler. And I hear that we have a special birthday celebration. Happy 16th birthday, Tyler. Yep. Folks, feel free feel free to. We have a long meeting tonight, so feel free to. Congratulations again, and happy birthday. Well, that concludes the recognition. Back to you, doc. Yep. Okay. Sounds good. For those who have watched our board meetings both in person and over the Internet, you'll remember we have rules of decorum. These rules serve a purpose, so we as a board can have a meaningful and productive board meeting. In order for this to occur, decorum must be maintained. The following are the rules of decorum. There's no need for anyone to call comments during our meeting or to raise their voices, nor to interrupt a speaker or a presenter. We as a board will listen to you, and we will be respectful. We as a board will listen to your comments, but will not dialogue or engage with speakers in this forum. Board members may choose to discuss matters brought up during public comment during board discussion. However, I need to remind everyone that this would be a board discussion and the board will not dialogue or engage with anyone other than the superintendent and other board members. I ask you to please be respectful, civil, and courteous during our meeting. If a person chooses to be disruptive, I will gavel the person and ask them to please stop their disruptive behavior. Additionally, our district safety officer or his agent may warn them that if they continue to choose to be disruptive, additional consequences will be forthcoming. If a person chooses to continue to be disruptive and not follow the rules, they will be removed from our meeting. This action is a direct result of the person's choice to be disruptive. We as a board will be will respectfully listen to each speaker. Just because we didn't vote the way some wanted us to, does not mean we didn't listen or take into consideration what you had to say. Also, please remember, we all learn differently. Some of us take notes during presentations and therefore, take our eyes off of the speaker. It doesn't mean we are not listening. Finally, I want to thank you in advance for your cooperation. The board and I look forward to a productive meeting. We've had one person sign up for public participation. I will call you up to the podium. Please state your name and relationship to the district, and limit your comments to 3 minutes. Please note the following. The speaker has been provided with the guidelines for public participation. The board will consider your comments, but will not dialogue or engage with you in this forum. Questions raised may be assigned to the superintendent for an answer. As appropriate, a member of the administration may reach out to the speaker to give them relevant information or to ask for additional information. This is done to make sure the board has all the information needed to properly address the speaker's concerns. Charges, complaints, or challenges against staff members of the district will not be heard in open meetings and should be made in writing to the Board and superintendent. We also ask that speaker refrain from personally attacking district staff or members of the board. Pursuant to board policy, this evening's participant must limit their comments to 3 minutes. We ask the participant to be respectful and adhere to the allotted time limit. We also ask the speaker to conduct himself in a civil and courteous manner and refrain from trying to engage members of the board in in dialogue during public participation. Thank you for your understanding and your cooperation. Our first our first and only speaker this evening, mister Joe Cavallaro. Good evening, board. Joe Cavallaro, Village Manager, Village of West Dundee. I just wanted to go through and give a quick summary of the Recreation Drive, which is on your agenda for this evening. In September 23, the village was presented a concept plan by Lennar, for the residential development immediately east of Dundee Middle School. The initial presentation did not include any extension of Rec Drive. Based on my tenure with the village, I had a clear understanding of the difficulties and efforts between the village and the district regarding traffic control in or around EMS and the stabilization efforts. Chuck Baum Bayless and I had many conversations about the alternatives, including the possibility of extending Rec Drive after the park district constructed their improvements in 2010. The original Lennar concept plan was presented on October 3rd. At that time, I formally initiated the idea of extending Rec Drive and having Lennar construct the improvements to both the school district and the park district. It was my effort to utilize the village's leverage in order to facilitate that potential public improvement construction along with the developer contribution. This was not a developer driven project nor was it a developer driven obligation. The cost estimate subsequent follow-up, in January 2024 indicated a contribution by all three parties, the Park District School District and the Village, and a contribution for the developer towards the improvement. The concept plan was presented to the district to facilitate a potential solution to the Dundee Middle School traffic problem. It was not something the village needed to do as part of the development. It was perceived that the village was asking for something that the school district received no benefit of, and using impact fees to address and contribute to a long standing problem that has existed for years and still exists at Dundee Middle School. At the conclusion of 2024, the operations committee, the consensus from the board was not to support the concept. There were similar concepts comments made by the park district. The village continued to work through our final approvals in engineering with the development with Lennar, and the extension of Rec Drive was removed from the development plans and from the agreement. In April of 24, the Park District softened its position and was willing to support the concept, so we reestablished and tried to reengage the school district's interest. Somewhere in this time frame, the school district engaged the services of Kimberly Horne to do a full evaluation. In July of 2024, Kimberly Horne made their presentation, stated that additional access gives the district flexibility. Shortly thereafter, the village board approved the annexation, zoning, and development plans as well as the development agreement without a rec drive extension. In September 24, the village responded that we were seeking direction from the school district because we were not interested and willing to expend additional energy, resources, or staff time. Thank you. Thank you. The village is protected Thank you. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. I believe we're at the public hearing now. Thank you. May I have a motion to open the public hearing for the 2024 tax levy? So moved. Second. Madam secretary, would you please take the role? Ferentino. Aye. LaMarca. Aye. McKinney. Aye. Thomas. Aye. Zettler. Aye. Scarpino. Aye. Birkett. Aye. Motion passes 70. Thank you. Miss Porter will provide a brief overview of the proposed 2024 tax levy. Thank you. Good evening superintendent Smith, members of the board, staff, and community members. I'm here this evening to provide an overview of the 20 24 tax levy. District 300 is subject to the property tax extension limitation law known as PTO. Therefore, the overall taxes that we extend yearly are limited to those rates generally the lesser of 5% or CPI. Because the district resides in 4 separate counties, we overestimate our request to accommodate any unforeseen variances related to the final EAV and new property that will be used in the PTOIL calculation in April. So when we do our ask, which is again an overestimated amount, we go from 253,000,000 in levy year 2023 for our total extension to 272,000,000 for levy year 2024. If you look at the overall tax rate, you will see that it increases from 5.05 to 5.14 in this scenario. Again, in our ask we want to overestimate our levy to capture any new dollars associated with any additional EAV that might come on the books because if we don't claim all property we'll never get the opportunity to get that property tax revenue back to the district. Due to state statutes there are maximum rates that we're limited to. For example, in the Special Education Fund the max rate is 0.80 which is highlighted in that first column on the left in purple. In the middle column under that s, the calculated rate is 0.8397, which again is highlighted in purple. However, because the max rate, the County Clerk's Office will limit the district to the max of 0.80. When we take a look at what is expected to happen, the district expects to collect actually 262,000,000 for levy year 2024 and that is in the right column. The overall tax rate is expected to drop from 5.05 to 4.98, again with preliminary estimates from the counties. The rate looks to decrease by 7¢. Again, I'd like to point out that the purple shaded box on that right hand side, we are limited to that max rate of 0.8, not the x s rate of 0.83. Data provided by the King County supervisor assessments indicates that the average assessed valuation of homes within District 300 boundaries is 316,000. In this slide we show the difference for a homeowner with an established home value of 316,000 for tax year 2023. For a home that was valued at 316,000 in 2023 and sees a 3.4% increase based on last year's CPI and their assessed valuation for tax year 2024, their projected tax district 300 tax rate would reduce from 5.05 to 4.98. However, the District 300 taxes that they would owe would increase by a $110 as a result of the increased assessed value of 3.4 percent of their homes since their home's value increased from 316,000 to roughly 327,000. The district doesn't have any control over assessed evaluations. For the same home that was valued at 316,000 in 2023 and sees a zero increase of their home value for levy year 2024, their projected District 300 tax rate will reduce from 5.05 to 4.98 again and their District 300 taxes would decrease by $68 Again, these figures are based on preliminary information that we have today and include the established homestead exemption of $8,000 The actual tax rates will not be known until April or May. This is a historical chart of the last 10 years of the District's tax levy information. As you can see, the lowest CPI in the last 10 years was in 2016 at 0.7% and the highest was the last 2 levy years at 5%. As a reminder, because we are a P TEL district, we are limited to the lesser of 5% or CPI from the preceding year. As I'll remind you, in tax year 2022, the CPI was actually 7%, but because of PTL, we were limited to 5%. The district's EAV was at its lowest point in 2014 due to the recession when home valuations declined. After 2014, the EAV has steadily increased up to $5,000,000,000 in levy year 2023. In 2021 you'll see that new property was at its highest at $212,000,000 and that was due to the Sears facility rolling back onto the tax rules. The district's tax rate has continued to increase since 2015 which has been good for all taxpayers. In November the tentative levy presentation was presented at both the operations committee meeting and the November 19th board meeting. Both of these meetings are available to view via the district's Board of Education video archive page. At the November 19th meeting the board approved the tentative levy resolution and authorized the district to post the required legal ad notifying, district to post required legal ad notifying the public of today's tonight's hearing. A requirement of the truth in taxation hearing is that the district must disclose the board's current cash reserve balance of all funds held by the district related to the operational levy and any obligations secured by those funds. Such details are available in the treasurer's report, which was included in tonight's packet. Later in this meeting, the board will be asked to vote on adopting the 2024 levy resolutions. Upon adoption, my office will then file the certificate of tax levy with all 4 of the counties. In April, the county clerks will finalize those tax rates and in May, the district will begin to receive property tax dollars associated with this levy. I thank you for your time and our tax levy season, and please let me know if you have any questions. Board members, any questions? I've got one for you. Mhmm. If you can go back 2 slides, please. 1, 2, right there. I'm a homeowner Mhmm. And, my home is whatever. Pick a figure. I could care less what it's valued at, and and I hear you say that the rate goes down, but next year, we're pretending it's next year, all of a sudden my taxes go up. I don't understand. Please explain. It's because the market value of your home has increased, so the value has increased instead of staying remaining flat. K. And that is a question that we do get quite often. Yeah. That's why I'm asking it because that's what we get all the time. So anything else, board members? Nope. Okeydoke. Thank you. Thank you. We will be voting on the approval of the 2024 tax levy and the resolutions later in the meeting under roll call items. Is there anyone who wishes to speak regarding the 2024 tax levy? We've had one person sign up, mister Dennis. Yes, sir. Thank you. Okay. Okay, Mike. Hi, my name is Mike Tennis from Sleepy Hollow. Board members, when considering the proposed property tax increase of 272,000,000, an 8.6% increase, The levy's cap is projected at 262,000,000. That is still an $11,000,000 increase. While the administration may want that, do they need that much money? September's treasurer's report shows a district with over 270,000,000 in cash, earning 1,000,000 in interest. September cash balance, by fund, includes 62,000,000 in the site and construction fund, doubling in a year. The district's cash balance for all funds has grown $35,000,000 or 15%. The administration has been developing a prioritized master facility plan, so do they need to build up a war chest of funds now to support the near term needs of the master facility plan? In the annual report's statistical section on page 167 shows administrative employees grew from 127 in 20 1, 22 to 147 in 20 3, 24, up 20 administrators, principals, and department heads in 2 years. Yet student enrollment on page 169 indicates no change for a decade. School building information on page 174 shows the district's schools are nowhere near capacity, operating at 70%. Big Timber Elementary that opened in the fall of 2023 is operating at 35% of capacity. What is needed are some changes in boundaries to better utilize the district's facilities. The administration will argue for every dollar for buildings and bureaucracy. They will note that the tax rate had been trending down for many years, and compared to other county districts, District 300 is very efficient when it comes to use of tax dollars. The treasurer's report and the annual report tell me, an experienced financial person, that an $11,000,000 tax levy increase is not needed. It is inflationary, and needs to be scaled back by several $1,000,000. Merry Christmas. Thank you, mister Tennis. Is there anyone else who wishes to comment regarding the 2024 tax levy? Is there anyone else who wishes to comment regarding the 20 24 tax levy? Is there anyone else who wishes to comment regarding the 2024 tax levy? Hearing none at this time, we are closing the public hearing. May I have a motion to close the public hearing for the 20 24 tax levy? So moved. Second. Madam secretary, would you please take the role? Who is the second? Okay. LaMarca. Aye. Guarantino. Aye. Zettler. Aye. Scarpino. Aye. Burkett. Aye. McKendy. Aye. Thomas. Aye. Motion passes 70. Thank you. Doctor Smith. I'd like to have Tommy Parisi come back to the podium for an update about advertising sponsorship agreements. Good evening again, superintendent Smith and the Board of Education. I would like to follow-up on up on our December 10th operation meeting regarding our corporate sponsor for the Hinkle holiday tournament. Well, the next slides will explain the board policy, the approval process, what a ticket e store is, and the terms of the sponsorship. Sorry about that. Board policy 826 states companies may purchase space for their advertisements in or on our athletic spaces provided that the advertisements are consistent with the administrative procedures and are approved by the Board of Education. The approval process consists of building administrators and a central office designee to ensure the company and advertise materials do not disrupt the educational process, violate the rights and privacy of others, infringe on any trademarks or copyrights, and are appropriate for school. Building administration then works directly with the sponsor to determine the terms of the sponsorship. Terms include the what, the when, where, and how the advertisements are being displayed or distributed. Ticket eStore has agreed to an advertising sponsorship agreement for Jacobs High School for $1500 to be an official sponsor of the Hinkle Holiday Classic Basketball Tournament. Ticket eStore is located in East Dundee and specializes in selling online tickets to professional sporting concerts and theater events. The terms of the sponsorship include a 4 by 6 banner provided by Jacobs that will be displayed in the Jacobs High School Competition gymnasium from December 2024 through December 2025. Proof of the banner is is right there. A temporary ticket e store sign posted in the athletic entrance, competition gym, and field house for the duration of the Hinkle holiday tournament. Advertisements by Beacon Academy during the varsity tournament game broadcasts, announcements made through the Hinkle holiday tournament allow announcing and acknowledging and thanking ticket estore as a sponsor, acknowledgment of ticket estore and weekly social media graphics during the boys and girls' basketball season. And finally, an advertisement for ticket estore will be announced at all home boys and girls' basketball games. Is there any questions? Board members, any questions? I have one. K. So and I'm not I'm just we've heard a lot in the news about ticket people who sell tickets and things like that in concerts, etcetera, etcetera. Are we confident that e ticket store is legit and that they're not counting people and things of that nature? From the best of our research, Google reviews, and any kind of resources that you can find online for reviews, there's nothing negative that comes to light. Okay. Thank you. Any other board members? Thank you very much. Thank you. Mister John Hummel will now give us an update on, space utilization and capacity. Okay. Good evening Doctor Smith, Board of Education and community members. I'm here to share an overview of some proposed changes stemming from our recent capacity and utilization analysis. To begin, let's, revisit the journey that brought us to this point. On October 22nd, we presented our annual enrollment figures alongside projected enrollment for the coming years. As part of that presentation, we also reviewed the impact of current and proposed housing developments on our enrollment projections. And during that session, 4 elementary schools were identified as having capacity concerns, Dundee Highlands, Eastview, Parkview, and Sleepy Hollow. Next, on November 19th, we returned to provide a a clearer picture of how classroom utilization is determined. In that presentation, we discussed the understanding that even though a school might have classrooms that are not being used for general education sections, it is important to state that these spaces are being utilized for instructional purposes. For example, and this is not an an all inclusive list, music, art, and stem. And then finally, on December 10th, we convened a large boundary committee meeting to delve into potential solutions. The feedback from this meeting has informed the recommendations we're presenting you tonight. The first proposed, change involves the transfer of 2 self contained special education sections from Sleepy Hollow Elementary School to Algonquin Lakes Elementary School. As highlighted in our previous presentation, Sleepy Hollow was flagged as a school facing capacity challenges. Moving these two sections offers a targeted solution with minimal impact on the broader student population. Algonquin Lakes, in contrast, has the capacity to accommodate these sections, and its enrollment is not expected to be significantly affected by nearby housing developments. This adjustment will provide immediate relief to Sleepy Hollow while ensuring a smooth transition for students in these programs. The second proposed change addresses a new housing development located to the east of Dundee Middle School. We are recommending a boundary shift that would direct students moving into this new development to Jacobs High School instead of Hampshire High School. Now here's why. The area immediately surrounding this development already feeds into Jacob High School, making this adjustment consistent with existing boundaries. Additionally, Jacobs High School has sufficient capacity to accommodate these students, and its enrollment is not projected to face significant pressure. On the other hand, Hancher High School could experience capacity challenges in future years, so this proactive measure will help mitigate future concerns. These recommendations reflect our commitment to managing enrollment strategically and responsibly while prioritizing minimal disruption for students and families. Thank you for your time and attention. I'm happy to take any questions. Board members, any questions? No? Okay. Good job. Thank you. Thank you. Next, mister Mark Raeser, CEO of Cambridge Lakes Charter School will give us an academic update. Good evening, board and doctor Smith. Thank you for having us tonight. Accompanying me tonight are are some of our board members of NKEC and some of our executive team members. The information I share will highlight our significant improvement and identify our areas that still need attention. At any point during my presentation And please feel free to stop me and ask me any questions. In reading, we grew 17 points in the area of meets and exceeds from 2023 to 2024. In 2023, CLCS was at 28.9% meets and exceeds and prior to that we were at 25.5%. I would be remiss right now if I did not give the proper credit to doctor Bill Doran, the former CEO as these, the data that I'm sharing this evening is a culmination of his 3 years work at CLCS. In math, we remain static in our meets and exceeds data, but we did see growth in our areas of approaching the benchmark by 6.5% between 20232024. In science, we had one of our greatest gains of 11.6% in the area of meets and exceeds from 23 to 24. So to summarize, our notable academic progress was made in reading. We had static or nominal progress in mathematics and notable progress was made in science. In 2024 in the current school year, what we are looking to do is continue and implement our curricular resources. So what you saw was a bump in reading due to the science of reading and our teachers engaging fully in that curriculum. In math we are in our 2nd and 3rd year of implementation of our different math resources, one being ready math and the other one being illustrative math, and we are continuing to work with those corporations to have them come in and train our teachers. In addition, we've hired a math interventionist. We've increased our math intervention time at the upper school and we are having instructional coaching geared toward our mathematics teaching. In addition, we are expanding our MTSS model and our PLC model for the entire school. And as our overall achievements when looking at niche, we are the top rated charter school for the elementary, middle and high school levels. So between last year and this year during our hearing you can see that there has been significant academic progress at Chambers Lakes Charter School. What questions do you have if any? Board members anything? Would you by any chance have this data breakdown by demographics? Yes, it is in our school report card. Would we be able to get a copy of that? Yes. Any other board members have any comments? I have a couple questions about your claims on the, overall achievements. Let's start with the c u s d three hundred number 1 elementary, middle, and high school. Where does that information come from? Niche. Okay. So all of this is off of Niche's website? Yeah. Niche gets their information where? They triangulate it from different data sources whether it's the school report card for, the state of Illinois and then they also take in the different ratings that are from other entities and then they take in the ratings and, responses from parents as well. Would you agree with me that it's really a marketing tool? I would agree that district 300 also uses Niche and many school districts do use Niche, yes. Okay, have you looked at these statistics and information for all of the schools within district 300? I have looked at like comparables, correct. Yeah. Okay. Would you agree with me that there are, schools in this elementary schools in this district that have been rated exemplary by the state? Yes. And you guys have been rated commendable, correct? Yes. We are 6 points away in the aggregate from exemplary. Okay. So I went and looked at, compared your school with other schools in our district, the other 2 schools in the district that are happen to be elementary schools that are exemplary. And, on this, if you're looking at the school the school information from the state's report card Yes. If we're talking about things like, you know, what your ELA and math scores, it says if you do a comparison that those that information was redacted. College and career readiness, freshman redacted, graduation rate redacted, college ready not applicable, and then it talks about post secondary enrollment, meaning after graduation, etcetera. Correct? Yes. And when you look at it for the other two schools, you can see the actual percentages and things like that. It's the things that are in above elementary obviously are not applicable. Correct. When you, when you're talking about Can I just add in? Do you know why they're redacted? So they're they're redacted because the student population is so small, it's less than 10, that if they actually publish that, then you could identify who the students are in that those subgroups. So that's why the state redacts that to save the privacy of the students. So So if we don't have enough in those subgroups, they will not include those because the students then could be identified. That's a good segue into my next question. When you're talking about your school having these admittedly wonderful increases in your proficiency in in reading, especially in science. Is that for all the kids in your school together no matter where they are in the, you know, from k to 12? Yes. So it's IAR data. Okay. So and how many kids do you have in your school? Currently 644. Okay. And, we have, like, over 20,000 in our district. Correct? Correct. Okay, so you're taking a conglomeration of all of your school levels, all of your grades and you're looking at it from one standpoint and then you're we're looking at schools that are all in different areas within the educational spectrum. Yes. Okay. So per the charter, just to clarify, it does say in our charter agreement that we must, we must show evidence, of proficiency in juxtaposition of District 300. So we do have to show that and the only way I can do that is in the aggregate, right? And so I take it to the district and I take it to our charter that we run and that's where the comparison comes in. And, do you have figures for like your grades, your grades within your target? Absolutely, we have the exact same school report card that's public as every other d three hundred school. Where can we find that information? On the I'm talking about your 1st graders, your 2nd graders, your 3rd graders. Yeah. Well, 1st grade, you wouldn't we wouldn't have in in the report card. That would be in our, we switched from MAP to I Ready, so that'll be in our I Ready data at the end of the year. But IAR starts in 3rd grade, so 3rd through 8th grade is all accessible publicly online through the Illinois, interactive report card. Didn't you just say that you don't report that because it would be able to tell us we would be able to figure out where the kids are? No. The grade levels we all have but different subgroups is what you're asking. So you were asking about kids that that some of the data you were pointing to was high school level data. Right. Well, if our high schoolers and seniors, if we only have 7 seniors, they're not gonna report out that data because then you could identify those 7 seniors. Right? So it's under 10, it's the way the state reports it out. So the data that you were pointing to wasn't elementary data, that was our academy data for our high school, for the 9, 12 students. And so if there's any subgroup though that falls below 10 in any small school district you can go and look, they won't report that out because it's a student privacy issue. But all the rest of our subgroups, anything that's above 10 is all public knowledge, is all all all there. So I don't get the data for those smaller subgroups either. So when I'm comparing 2 elementary schools, level schools with your school Yes. And it's and it talks about ready for the next level, They're not talking about going on to college, they're talking about going up to middle school maybe. Okay? Okay. Right? So you guys have the middle school? Correct. And you have high school? Correct. And what is your k is it a k through 5 or is it a k through 6? For the lower school, the lower school is k through 4 and the upper school is, 5 through 8 and then the academy goes k 12. Okay. So if they're we're talking about for 20 3, I believe this was because they don't have 24 in yet, is that it's if it says it's redacted, ELA and math and ELA, you know, like low income English learners, math, you know, students with IEPs, and it all says redacted. And you're saying that it's because there's less than 10 children in these different subgroups? Yes. So in certain in our certain grade levels that that will show that and then you'll see in other grade levels it, it will show it won't show it. Right? So there's I mean, I'm visualizing the different pages right now that are on the interactive report card, and I had the same questions and then I went through and I was like, okay. Well, this makes sense. I I know I only had, you know, 4 kids that would have qualified for that. Right? So it protects those students. It it would in some of your smaller schools if you have less than 10 students with IEPs, they're not gonna report that data out for them. Right? And so you'll see that more often than not. So where can I so you're saying that if I go back on there and I look up your 2nd grade? Mhmm. Well, you can't see 2nd grade because it's not it's only 3 3rd through 8th that gets tested but yes. Okay. So that's fine. Grade level between 3rd through 8th. Okay. So I can find that on there is what you're saying? You'll find you'll find our grade level data. Correct. Okay. I'll look again, but I didn't see it and I looked. I'm very very happy that you are doing better. Can you give us an example of what you believe has, like a specific example of what you believe has helped you get, you know, make those advances in your reading levels? I do believe that it had, the biggest impact was our teachers. At the end of the day that they bought into the science of reading and truly took it on, instead of just saying okay, this is just something that's in vogue. The science of reading goes back to a phonemic awareness, right? So it's bringing us back to grammar and spelling and phonemic awareness, the foundational skills and moving away from what was in vogue for 20 some years of whole language learning, which caused a great decrease in literacy across our country because of that. And so, most educators that taught English understood that that was not the best way and so, our teachers really worked hard over the last two and a half years with our students to be able to do that. When did you implement science reading? 2 year we this is our we're in two and a half years now. Okay. Alright. Thank you. Thank you. Any other board members? Yes, mister Fiorentino? Mister Fraser, thank you. I've had the good fortune of meeting with you and your team I think quarterly now and, before that, Doctor. Dorn, I really appreciate, your willingness to be open, transparent with us. I sit on that with one other board member. I guess I would just ask in the future when you do your update, and I'm celebrating this with you, that we have a couple of the other indicators like enrollment, and financials, a slide on each maybe, so that we could understand where we are with those two pieces. What is the enrollment difference? Last year we were at 617 in June and now we're at 6:44 now. Thank you. And our audit will be, was approved last night and so that'll be sent on, in the next coming days to, miss Porter and doctor Smith to file the financials. So I just want to conclude by saying congratulations, you, your staff, your team, your board, well done. You're doing, I think you're doing great things. Thank you. Thank you. Any other board members? No, I, I, I want to echo, congratulations. I will speak personally, I'm one board member, we have in our, in our school, as as miss Zellweger talked about, large district and everything, but let's let's compare Eastview Elementary School Correct. Which is a nationally recognized blue ribbon school. I think coming to a school board meeting and making a statement that at the state level, you're the number one best charter elementary, middle, and high school in Illinois, That's a hell of a statement. It really is. The top 8% for best college prep and for public schools in Illinois. I I would say that we can also brag about schools in our district. We could take Hampshire Elementary School, which has, Doctor Smith, what do we have? 400, 500 kids, something like that? Just under 500 kids. Just under 500 kids there and they have achieved the, you know, the Excellence Award also. And so I I would urge you, I listen, when I was principal of Hampshire Elementary School, I would come here, I would have my kids say you're at the number one school in the district. I would do that and and the kids love that you remember it. No. Heck yes. You do that. I I appreciate it. I do. I know you have team members back there. I would just urge you, you could sing your praises, but if you're going to come here, we have a Blue Ribbon School. You do. We have schools that are also at the excellent level Correct. Which one of our board members said that you're not at. So we could brag too. That's all. I mean, great job. I I appreciate what doctor Doran did, and and you've now inherited that Yes. And and the science of reading. I echo that. It it's about time that we do that. It really is. Yeah. So great job and kudos to you. Okay. Okey doke. Thank you. Thank you. That concludes the superintendent's report. Okey doke. Item 10, board discussion. Any updates with the board committees? No. Anybody? Yes. Go ahead, Kristine. The next, operations committee meeting will be January 14th at 4:30. So again we urge everyone to attend those meetings or watch them because that's where a lot of discussion happens around the things that we then vote on on nights like tonight. Any other board discussion at all? No? I just want Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Maybe we don't do it this time. Oh, okay. At some point in the near future, let's talk about the resolutions at the ISB report out to the community, what passed, how did they go along with what we suggested, etcetera, etcetera. Oh, go ahead. You can do that now. Go ahead. Sure. Take a moment though. Would be wonderful. I took it out of my alright. Next meeting. You took it out of your bag? I took it out of my bag. Okay. Okay. So we will have that on, doctor Smith, let's have that on for the next board meeting. Okay. It'll be on there and I'd like to just give a little summary from our team, who attended as well. Okay, sounds good. Any other board discussion? I have a question. Yes. I would like to talk about the recreation road issue again but is that better now or should we wait till the motion is made? It doesn't, whatever, I mean there there's 2 ways to discuss it. You could discuss it now if you wanted or after we make the motion then there's a time for discussion at that time, so it's your choice. Let's do it when we make the motion. Okay. That's fine. That's fine. Anything else? Any other board members? No? Okay. Item number 11, the consent items. Do I have a motion to approve the consent items? So moved. 2nd. Madam secretary would you please take the roll? Ferentino. Aye. Scarpino. Aye. Birkett. Aye. LaMarca. Aye. McKinney. Aye. Thomas. Aye. Zettler. Aye. Motion passes 6 0. Thank you. Item 12 are the roll call action items. 12.1, approval of advertising sponsorship agreement. Do I have a motion for the approval of the advertising sponsorship agreement? So moved. Any discussion? Madam secretary, would you please take the role? Settler. Aye. Thomas Scarpino. Aye. Burket. Aye. LaMarca. Aye. McKinney. Aye. Ferentino. Aye. Motion passes 70. Thank you. Item 12.2, approval of time and materials bid. Do I have a motion for the approval of the time and materials bid? So moved. Second. Any discussion? Madam secretary would you please take the roll? Zettler. Aye. McKindy. Aye. Birkett. Aye. Malmarco. Aye. Thomas. Aye. Ferentino. Aye. Scarpino. Aye. Motion passes 70. Thank you. Item 12.3, approval of general liability slash workers compensation insurance contract extension. Do I have a motion for the approval of the general liability slash workers compensation insurance contract Extension. I'm sorry, so moved. 2nd. Any discussion? Madam secretary would you please take the roll? Zettler. Aye. Scarpino. Aye. Thomas. Aye. Aye. Berentino. Aye. Lamarca. Aye. McKinney. Aye. Birkett. Aye. Motion passes 70. Thank you. Item 12.4, approval of instructional and office supplies contract extension. Do I have a motion for the approval of the instructional and office supplies contract extension? So moved. Second. Any discussion? Madam secretary would you please take the roll? Zettler. Aye. Thomas. Aye. Aye. McKinney. Aye. Scarpino. Aye. Ferentino. Aye. Burkett. Aye. LaMarca. Aye. Motion passes 70. Thank you. Item 12.5, approval of middle school year end event contract. Do I have a motion for the approval of the middle school year end event contract? So moved. Second. Any discussion? Ma'am secretary would you please take the roll? Birkett, aye. Zettler, aye. McKendy, aye. Fiorentino. Aye. Thomas. Aye. LaMarca. Aye. Scarpino. Aye. Motion passes 70. Thank you. Item 12.6, acceptance of fiscal year 24 annual comprehensive financial report. Do I have a motion for the acceptance of the fiscal year 24 annual comprehensive financial report? So moved. Second. Any discussion? Madam secretary, would you please take the role? Zettler. Aye. Scarpino. Aye. McKindy. Aye. LaMarca. Aye. Birkett. Aye. Thomas. Aye. Ferentino. Aye. Motion passes 70. Thank you. Item 12.7, approval of 20 24 Levy and Resolutions. Do I have a motion for the approval of the 2024 Levy and Resolutions? So moved. No, sir. Second. Any discussion? Madam secretary would you please take the roll? Zettler. Aye. Scarpino. Aye. Birkett. Aye. Thomas. Aye. Fiorentino. Aye. LaMarca. Aye. McKinney. Aye. Motion passes 70. Thank you. Item 12.8, approval of recreation drive extension and development of intergovernmental agreement. Do I have a motion for the approval of recreation drive extension and development of intergovernmental agreement? So moved. 2nd. Oh, Steve's got a second then. Any discussion? Yes. I have some discussion. Sure. Our basic role one of our basic roles is to make sure that the money that the people give us and trust us is is spent wisely. And I don't believe that that would be the case in this instance. And part of the reason is because I feel like, since the beginning that the village has tried to, I don't know what you wanna call it, gaslight or whatever, make us believe that this project does not have any benefit for the developer. And first of all, common sense tells us, anybody who lives in this area and has ever driven on Higgins Road, tells us that it is horrible when it comes to traffic, in particular during the day when the kids are being picked up and dropped off, etcetera. Multiple times, you know. Also, you know, I went back and I looked at, you know, we've been given some documentation and mister Kavalore has made some comments to us over the year over this past year. But I went back and I looked at some of the, information that's actually contained on the West Dundee website and most pointedly, things that happened in their meetings. And on September 11, 2023, there was a preliminary discussion about the project, and people that were at that discussion and were making the presentation were a couple of people from Lennar. And one of the questions that was raised during that discussion was from trust the trustees who were concerned about the traffic on Higgins and how it would impact the development. One trustee, trustee Johnson, brought up how heavily trafficked Toronto 72 already is in and around McDonough Middle School with cars lining up on Main Street before and after. In response to that, a gentleman named Mike Stock Stockwell from Lennar said that Lennar was working with IDOT for a secondary entrance north off of Recreation Drive. So to me, this shows that they not only knew that it was an option and that they had a problem, but they were actually looking back at that point in September of 2023. They were looking at seeing about getting it some getting it, taken care of by extending Recreation Drive. Since then, we've been told multiple times that they weren't interested. It wasn't gonna be any benefit to them, and they were basically doing this out of the kindness of their hearts. I went and found the the, meeting where the ordinance was approved that actually approved the development and gave them the go ahead to do all the work they had to do and get started and everything. And I looked at the documentation that was attached to that ordinance and the 2 two different versions of the preliminary plat not only had the road, but it also had it patched it going into the development in July of this year. That happens on several documents. Some of them are directly going in. Some of them have what's called a, Hammerhead turnaround, which gives them access not only if they wanted to, and I believe they do and I believe they will, not only go north to to, to Recreation Drive, it also gives them the option to go south down to Higgins. So this everybody who knows me knows that I can't stand TIFs and the reason I can't stand TIFs is because the money that is supposedly meant for us, for our schools, for our kids, from our taxpayers. Some a lot of it is taken from us and diverted to projects with that that are related to developers. Not in this particular case. But when that happens, that means that more money is diverted by the villages out of our our coffers to their coffers, the developers' coffers. And, you know, I know for a fact that there's a big TIF project that they're getting ready to undertake, and they're probably in the process of already doing it, that involves rehabbing, redoing Spring Hill Mall, and that's gonna be 1,000,000 and 1,000,000 of dollars. And a large portion of that money over 23 years is gonna come from the school district. And now they're telling us that this developer doesn't want this, that this is some isn't something that they should pay for, and they don't wanna pay for, and they're not gonna pay for it. But we should because they think we should. Now I I agree that at Dunning Middle School, we need to do something about the park the parking issues and the traffic issues. And I think that the, traffic studies that we did show us that we do have a, have a way to take care of that, at least up till now. And, that does not involve the road. I also believe that is if if the best I can say about this in the future is that it may help us with some parking issues later, but if that road goes in, the people are gonna use it at reserve on Randall Road in this new development, and they're not gonna want cars sitting on there either. Plus, as far as an emergency entrance, we already have 2 emergency entrances off of Higgins. The closest fire station slash, EMS slash police station, to DMS is down the road on Higgins. They are not gonna go west on Higgins and turn right on Randall Road to go up to Recreation Drive to turn around and go back down. That's just not gonna happen. If it does, it's gonna be awful and it's, you know, be it's it's just it's not the value that they say it is for us. They're trying to get us to pay for it. They don't wanna have they don't wanna have, Lennar pay for it. Lennar may not wanna pay for it. But telling us that it has no benefit to them is just it's it's that it defies common sense and it's really just bad business and I'm voting no. Thank you. Any other board members? Mister Fiorentano. I'd just like to read from the board packet, if I could. I know sometimes we we miss certain things that that were sent, and I quote, we recommend the board approve District 300's financial contribution contribution to not exceed $205,000 funded through anticipated impact fees generated by this development. So as I look at and I try to simplify this, I think we've made it a little more complex than it needs to be over the past almost a year. Our administrators, doctor Smith and team that have poured over this this issue for months have suggested to this board to approve this for lots of reasons. Miss Suttler said it well that this is not a TIF. Right? This is a this is a partnership between taxing bodies, and we have the ability to create something that allows entrance and an exit to our school. The way I look at it, it would be foolish as a as a past first responder. I don't care how many entrances we have to the school. To have an additional one is a good thing, especially as it as it relates to the park district and what may happen behind that current school. There are a couple of items that, that we were presented that I think need to be highlighted. The one that I thought was, I just mentioned giving access and district flexibility. You know, we we have not heard anybody suggest that there's any safety issues outside the fact that this could enhance, safety. Doctor Scarpino called on a very, valued person that was, sat in a very important seat with this district for many years, our operations director, and was asked and publicly stated that if it was up to him that he would respectfully approve this, and and suggested and shared why he would do that. And I do value what mister Bombal has, told us. I believe it was at the last meeting. So I'm voting in favor of this. I'm voting in favor for multiple reasons. I believe the, 200 and some odd $1,000 would be money well spent for our staff and our students, and I do not I do disagree with missus Edler. I believe that we look at every one of our, spends as we should as a Board, but this one, seems interesting that we're spending so much time and so much energy talking about this price point of something that seems relatively simple. So my opinion is and I again I'll say that I will support this for those reasons. Thank you. Okay, go ahead Christine. Yeah, I really am not wild about the idea of a public access road running 20 feet from our track at this school. My daughter goes to the school, I'm very familiar with that property, and the thought of that just as a parent gives me a lot of pause. If it was 100% necessary to solve the the horrible traffic situation, I'm weighing that as well because I'm very familiar with that too. I think I would be more in favor of it, but as it stands right now, it is not essential to, from from my vantage point as a parent at that school and a taxpayer, this solution to me just doesn't really is a trade off and I've been weighing that trade off and to me the trade off of having a public road so close probably less than 20 feet from that track that is used every day, well not in the winter, but most of the time by students, with cars just driving up and down. And now maybe there won't be a ton of cars but there's enough for me that it's a very valid concern for me. That safety aspect versus having another emergency access, which would be a rare use. That's just what's weighing on my mind as I think about, is this road the best thing for Dundee Middle School, and I am leaning no when I weigh out everything. Okay. Go ahead. Leslie. No Leslie, yes go ahead. All right. I have more of a question. I don't know if somebody can answer. I mean I think it's a pretty simple question but in response kind of what Ms. Birka just said. Well, first of all, let me clarify. So today, we're approving the process of going forward and creating the IGA. Is that a correct statement? Okay. So we're not actually it's not a final done deal stamp yet. So as a part of the process for creating the IGA, is it true that some of these safety concerns will be further explored? I know we brought up the fact that we wanted to get some estimates on some specific things and I'm not well versed on what those things are called, but like guardrails and stuff like that I guess. Will all of that be rolled into part of the creation of the IGA and considered? That has been documented of things that the board wants us to discuss in that agreement, but we don't need to discuss it if we can't get to 205 approved. Right. Absolutely. Okay. So as soon if if it passes tonight and we move forward, the IGA in its totality when it's done, everything's in there will come back to us for a final approval. Correct? It will come back. Okay. I just wanted to clarify for myself. Thank you. I guess the question I have is, I have 2 questions. Is Lennar still putting in 165 ks? Yes. That was in the email. And also I think we talked about some options that, the the the company that presented the, traffic evaluation. Are we still thinking about putting a gate there or is it gonna be, like a back and forth traffic on that road? Yes. Regard regardless of what option would it be, we would put a gate currently. There would the gate would remain. There is one right now, but we would Well, there are 2 gates right now. Yeah. The road itself would be a public access road up until the corner of the school where the gate would remain. The gate that is currently down on the gravel road that, like, at the north end of their property, that gate would be removed and public can drive all the way through down along the side of the track near to the edge of the school into that sub into that development. That that's what makes sense. There'll be a true traffic from Randall all the way to 72 on that road? Correct. Not through our property? Yes. But it would be going through that subdivision. Am I explaining that correct? Okay. Yes. Understand, Tilda? I'm not sure. Yeah. I understand. It would it would go down to the here. Any other board members have any comments, questions? No? Ultimately, this is my opinion, ultimately the DMS Recreation Drive Project is a partnership between the developer, the park district, the village, and the school district. It is also recommended by our superintendent. Partnerships are often mentioned by doctor Smith when talking about the district to various stakeholder groups. Most recently, partnerships were mentioned at the leadership council meeting held on December 11th here in the district office. The graphic the superintendent uses to show this partnership depicts 3 anchors. Each anchor has a title. One anchor is titled student voice. Another anchor is titled Professional Learning Communities. And the 3rd anchor is titled Strengthening Partnerships. The entire slide is titled, District 300 is anchored in. Hopefully, the same board members who are opposing and voting no on the DMS Recreation Drive Project will put in the same amount of energy into the Westfield Road project, which has a projected cost in the vicinity of $2,500,000 I guess the public will see and hear which board members support developing partnerships with our villages, park districts, and developers, along with supporting the superintendent. The public will also see which board members do not support developing partnerships with our villages, park districts, and developers, and do not support the superintendent when we call for a vote on this matter. Thank you. All board members have spoken. Do I have a motion for the approval of recreation drive extension Salute. And development of international agreement? Second. Second. Any discussion? We've already had it. Madam secretary, would Can I say another thing based on what you just said? Well, we've already had discussion. And you said any other discussion? Fine. Go right ahead. If I vote no on this, this is this is first of all very different from Westfield Road. That's a privately controlled road, so I wanna make that distinction. That would be gated, and that would not be a through thoroughfare for anyone of the public to drive through. So my safety concern is very different in that instance than this instance, and I don't think it's fair to say that they're apples to apples. So I just wanted to go on the record stating that. And we are all entitled to a vote that represents what we think. That does not mean I don't support our superintendent or the community partners. I just have a different vantage point as a parent of a student at that school who, frankly, when hearing about this, is scared at the idea of a car driving past the school where she is outside for recess or not recess for for PE. So that's the vantage point that I'm looking at this from as a parent of a student who goes to that school who has very valid concerns. I don't want to get alarmist about it, but I think those are valid concerns in this day and age as well. So that's where I'm coming from on the vote. That's fine. And I'm coming from a different perspective. I wanna just add that I also agree that a vote of yes or no is not an indicator of whether we support our superintendent. I think that's hyperbole. So and that's not accurate. But I will say that I wanna commend miss Zettler and mister Fantino and miss Burkett on on their questioning about this and exploration of it. That is what we're supposed to do as a board, guys. We're not all supposed to sit up here and say, okay, we'll do whatever, you know, Doctor. Smith wants to do or whatever Doctor. Scarpino thinks we should do or whatever. I'm not saying that that was said. But I feel like we're doing the work of a board tonight and it may appear to be a little contentious and maybe it is a tiny bit, but at the end of the day, we're each doing what we feel is right. We're asking the questions that we feel we need to. And I think we all again, I wanna commend my fellow board members for doing that because there's been times sitting up here where I feel like we don't do that enough. And I wanna say also I a 1000% agree with doctor Scarpino when it comes to Westfield. We will, I know I will have a lot of questions because you're looking at 2,500,000 versus 200,000 and I'm not a math person, but that percentage of our actual overall budget is definitely a little bit more eye opening than this. So I just wanted to add that comment. Thank you. Madam secretary, would you please take the role? LaMarca. Yes. Fiorentino. Aye. Zettler. No. Thomas. Aye. Scarpino. Aye. McKendy. Yes, provided Lenard is gonna contribute. Ann Birkett, no. So motion passes 5 2. Thank you. Item 12.9 approval of curriculum materials adoptions. Do we have a motion for the approval of the curriculum materials adoptions? So moved. Second. Any discussion? Madam secretary, would you please take the role? Lamarca. Aye. Barrantino. Aye. Burket. Aye. McKinney. Aye. Scarpino? Aye. Thomas? Aye. Zettler? Aye. Motion passes 7 0. Thank you. Item number 13, closed session. Do I have a motion to go into closed session for the purpose of discussing 1, the appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance, or dismissal of specific employees of the public body 2 parency 1. Number 2, collective negotiating matters between the public body and its employees or their representatives, or deliberations concerning salary schedules for 1 or more classes of employees, 2, parency, 2. Number 3, litigation, 2, parency, 11. And 4, security procedures, school building safety and security, and the use of personnel to respond to an actual, a threatened, or a reasonably potential danger to the safety of the employees, students, staff, the public, or public property, 2 parenchy 8. Do I have a motion? So moved. Second. Madam secretary, would you please take the roll? Ferentino. Aye. Thomas. Aye. Zettler. Aye. Scarpino. Aye. Birkett. Aye. McKendy. Aye. LaMarco. Aye. Motion passes, 7 0. Thank you. There will not be any action taken for close. Thank you. Happy holidays, everyone. Thanks for coming. Happy holidays.