##VIDEO ID:PRZu3o9WYwI## e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e he I'm going to reconvene the January 13th 2025 Board of Education meeting I want to welcome our student board member rakanda to the table and if I could have everyone rise as they are able to say the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America to the for it stands one nation God indivisible with liy and justice for all thank you everyone first item on our agenda is Middle School update under strategic plan report Dr Johnson thank you president Owens uh this evening we have a team both near and far joining us for this exciting update so joining us via Zoom will be Dr anata asedo our assistant superintendent of schools and Julie Schumacher Middle School executive director Celia Banks is here in person Celia is our director of curriculum and instruction and they will together provide an up dat to the Board of Education concerning our Middle School planning good evening thank you uh are you able to hear me yes wonderful thank you for the opportunity to present uh this evening we're sorry that we're not able to be there in person but we are excited to be able to provide this update and a special thank you to miss cilia banks for representing us in person so uh let's let's take a moment to reflect on the journey that has brought us here today our work began with a call to committee which resulted in the Middle School steering committee driven by the shared goal of enhancing the Middle School experience for our students with a shift to a 6 to8 true Middle School model the committee consisted of representation from various stakeholders including Elementary and Middle School teachers as well as administrators rep representing various departments we partnered with the association for middle level education also known as amily and engag in a thought-provoking book study of the successful Middle School this we believe a foundational text for understanding best practices in middle level education this helped us ground our efforts in proven principles while sparking meaningful discussions from there we worked collaboratively to develop a portrait of a thriving adolescent defining what success and well-being should look like for our students this Vision has guided our work ever since to address the complexity of this goal we divided our efforts into four Focus subcommittees each tackling a critical area of development curriculum ensuring that we that what we teach is rigorous relevant and student centered and embodies our Middle School philosophy as well as aligns to our high school Pathways and cies transition facilitating smooth and supportive transitions for students families and staff moving between grade levels in schools scheduling creating structures that maximize learning opportunities and flexibility with a true Middle School model that allows for teaming and student focused collaboration and advisory fostering a sense of belonging building relationships and providing the emotional and academic support students need to thrive this collaborative and focused approach has been instrumental in shaping the strategies and solutions we're sharing today grounded in all of this work was the Middle School philosophy School District u46 recognizes the middle school years as a critical period of growth and is committed to supporting the physical cognitive psychological and social emotional development of every student this statement reflects the district's commitment to supporting the holistic development of students during the middle school years the planning for grades 6 to 8 addresses students physical cognitive psychological and social emotional growth the curriculum includes academic rigor through subjects like Ela science and electives while programs like character strong and advisory periods focus on social emotional and psychological development by providing opportunities for goal setting executive functioning functioning community building and emotional regulation the district ensures that middle school students are supported in all areas of growth preparing them for success in high school and Beyond in addition to the Middle School philosophy the committee also identified guiding principles these principles were identified to help navigate the shift to a 6 to8 Middle School model The Guiding principles include The Following being student centered which is responsive to student strength strengths needs voices and identities engaging learning so that we have rigorous culturally relevant standard-based instruction that values students assets and fosters student ownership skill development such as to promote student agency collaboration communication organization and self- advocacy optimize school day structures so that we can maximize learning through effective scheduling and support systems Community connections that build authentic learning experiences linking school and Community collaborative teams to Foster inter disciplinary teacher collaboration and professional growth and seamless transitions to support students and families as they move from elementary to middle and middle to high school I'll now pass it on to miss Shoemaker who will elaborate on the specific work related to the Middle School schedule after the new collective bargaining agreement the a new scheduling committee was reconfigured the scheduling committee has a composition of one retired principal two M current Middle School principles multiple District level Administration ETA leadership and at least eight ETA members turn the volume down all right let's take a look at the specific language from the teacher agreement which outlines the middle school teacher instructional time according to the section 8.2.1 of the agreement beginning the 26 27 school year Middle School teachers will have an instructional load not to exceed 22 clock hours of student contact teaching assignments per week this includes five regular periods in a daily advisory which will be determined by the middle school scheduling committee this contract language ensures that the teacher instructional loads are clearly defined and manageable with a focus on both regular classroom teaching and addition of advisory type the structure is designed to support teachers in balancing their instructional responsibilities with the additional but critical role of advisory aimed at fostering student well-being and personal growth after carefully reviewing several scheduling options we've designed a structure that balances the instructional time with opportunities for connection and collaboration there is an overview of the key components to our schedule we adopted an eight period day plus an advisory period providing students with diverse and well-rounded daily experience that includes core academics elective and physical education there's a dedicated advisory period lasting 28 minutes which allows for focused time on social emotional learning relationship building and individual academic student support transition times between classes are supported with a four-minute passing period this ensures that our students have enough time to get between to move between classes without feeling rushed the other class periods are 42 minutes long striking a balance between providing sufficient instructional time and maintaining student engagement throughout the day this structure reflects our commitment to maximizing learning opportunities while addressing the holistic needs of our students The Advisory period and consistent periods lengths create a predictable and manageable Rhythm to the school day helping both students and teachers stay on track let's take a look at a sample schedule of the seventh grade student in general education classes this schedule highlights how the school day is structured for students providing a balance of core academic subjects enrichment and support you'll notice the day is divided into nine periods but one of those periods is the advisory period and its intentionally lasting 28 minutes this advisory period is a key part of the students day offering dedicated time for social emotional learning relationship building academic intervention or enrichment and individual check-ins with their teachers so if you look at the students they have Ela and math first and second period and then third period is their advisory um and if you notice the student also has two electives fourth period is AVID and seventh period is Art and then at the end of the day they have PE in addition to that sixth period is their lunch everybody needs lunch this schedule emphasizes a well-rounded approach balancing core academics with the elective opportunities and physical activity while reserving time for advisory and a space for personalized support and connection and then we did a teacher sample schedule and if you notice this is a seventh grade math teacher as you can see the schedule is carefully structured to support both academic instruction and the needs of the team one feature of the schedule is was the inclusion of the 28 minute advisory period This is a crucial time when teacher transitions from a traditional academic role to one focused on fostering relationships mentoring students and addressing their social emotional needs it's a great example of how we're balancing academics with a holistic student support So if you look at the teacher schedule you see that they have five instructional periods of math the third period they're leading and advisory period there's also time at for the teacher collaborative time or TCT time fourth period they also have personal planning seventh period and then this teacher's lunch is sixth period this schedule showcases how we're aligning instructional time with opportunities for collaboration and personal planning all will making room for Meaningful advisory interactions this it's a model that aims to ensure both teachers and students are supported throughout the day so there is a communication plan for implementing this change of the master schedule and it's a significant step to make sure we have a clear communication that is essential so if we look at this outline of our communication plan we're detailing how we'll inform all of our stakeholders about the important change so today is January 13th we're presenting to the Board of Education the 15th ETA rep assembly will have a meeting and share this schedule as well January 16th there are two things happening instructional Council where curriculum leaders and instructional decision makers will decide on how this shift supports our educational goals and in addition each Middle School will have a voluntary staff meeting led by their principles to go over this new schedule and then January 21st we'll offer a session to all you 46 employees who are interested in learning more about this V Zoom these meetings are designed to ensure transparency address any questions and provide Clarity for everyone involved by engaging with stakeholders at multiple levels we can build a strong foundational understanding and support of this change the Middle School advisory period is a Cornerstone of fostering meaningful connections and supporting holistic development of young adolescents this aligns with the Association for middle school education principles that Annette spoke of earlier this also is a subcommittee and so this time is provid structured opportunity for students to build relationships with trusted adults and peers enhanced their social emotional skills and engaged in personalized academic support including interventions and enrichment so this is just is the sample schedule so if you look at this sample schedule Monday and Tuesday are social emotional learnings Wednesday and Thursday are what I need or academic support and enrichment and Friday is flex so if you're looking at this advisory will be a brand new class for both teachers and students it's a designed to address the social emotional learning academic support and overall student well-being as with any new initiative it's essential we establish clear structures and expectations to to ensure success again like I said Monday and Tuesday are social emotional learning and then Wednesday and Thursday are the what I needs which will work on academic support and enrichment and Friday the week wraps up with a flex time providing flexible opportunity for enrichment catchup work or targeted supports based on students needs again the advisory committee is actively working through the finer details such as creating specific lesson plans for teachers outlining staff expectation and ensuring consistency across all advisory periods this structure is designed to balance the academic and social emotional needs of our students while giving staff clear guidelines for implementation we will continue to collaborate and provide resources to help Staff feel prepared and confident in leading in this important new component of of our schedule so this is a little further on advisory and it shows the possible activities and resources that will be available to students and staff this includes the what I need what type of lessons would fall under the what I need academic support and enrichment time as well as possible resources the same is true for the social emotional learning that also talked about what kind of a possible activities would H happen during that time what are some possible resources as well as for the flex day currently we have three middle schools in our district Ellis Kimble and Abbott that have already Incorporated The Advisory periods into their schedule the teachers at these schools have put a tremendous amount of effort into design and implementing meaningful activities and lessons that will truly benefit their students this advisory period has been a versatile time using to address the needs of and priorities so they've done some things like some administrative informal webinars which ensure students are informed about important updates and policies theyve done some daily announcements explore activities and career exploration has happened in some of this there's been surveys given to get valuable feedback from students and inform some schoolwide decisions as well as other activities that support academic and administrative goals as we've gathered some pre preliminary data of these three schools that are showing promising results given the fact that advisory period has only been in effect for less than a semester at these sites for example this slide shows a slight increase in the a average weekly attendance for two of the three School RS the next slide is about referrals if you notice two of the three schools have shown a decrease in the number of referrals written although Abbot shows a slight increase it's primarily due to tardies which we are trying to build a more consistent system for recording tardies across schools and then last set of data that I wanted to share was out of school suspensions if you've noticed that there's been a significantly decreased amongst these three sites so next steps for advisory as we continue for the implementation of successful advisory program across the eight middle schools the next steps include developing advisory lesson plans 6th through 8th grade we are currently trying on creating a structured and meaningful set of lesson plans tailored to each grade level lessons will include a mix of academic support seal strategies and opportunity for goal setting and leadership development step two we're trying to review and app app adopt resources we will continue to evaluate a range of resources both internal and external to support the advisory lessons and then the last step is to start planning some professional learning for staff it's essential for them to have successful implementation so we'll design professional learning sessions for all Middle School staff and now we will hand this over to Celia Banks so she can talk about some curriculum updates so for the past few years we've been working on updating our curriculum for our Middle School level so you hopefully will remember that um last year we came forward with a new curricular resource for math which was reveal math we also have the plan for sixth grade and so when sixth grade comes forward later in um the spring you will see the sixth grade piece of it but um the same is true for literacy and science they've come forward with their seventh and eighth grade resources as you may remember literacy is currently piloting the middle school resource for El education and science is using um Carolina for seventh and eighth grade and when they bring forward sixth grade they will also be offering it for sixth grade as well new coming up after um it's approved by the board social studies will actually have a sixth grade seventh grade and eighth grade new focus and a new curricular resource to support it we will also be adding Health as one semester uh as part of PE when sixth grade roles forward and then once sixth grade is implemented two years later the eighth grade curriculum for health will also change to reflect the what is taught at the sixth grade level for sixth seventh and eth grade we are also looking at continuously improving what we're doing in our physical education classes when we were looking at our curriculum electives we we tried to ensure that we were providing opportunities and experiences for students to to be able to then make a decision on what they would like to do for their High School College and Career and so we looked at our Pathways and our magnets in order to make sure that students had the ability to stample or try out some of those different areas so for all for all sixth seventh and eth graders there will be yearlong elective options which will include Avid espol that would be for our dual language students only orchestra band choir and then World Language would continue to only be offered for our seventh and eighth grade students for both our sixth grade and seventh grade students we will be offering the option of a rotation and in rotation a the classes they would experience for nine weeks would be criminal justice stem art and business innovator the other option they could choose would essential technology which is computers theater career exploration and human development please note that those are not the actual course names we are still working on coming to agreement on what those will be but it gives you an idea of the theme of what will be taught in each of those classes for nine weeks again looking to expose students to the different options they will have available to them in their College and Career Pathways and then in seventh and eth grade we will offer semester long electives so we um you will see on the left hand side these are our current offerings culinary and art are in different colors because we are um significantly changing them based on our rotations and the other classes that that will come before them in order to ensure that these are these classes are appropriate in the path and then new classes that will be semester long electives include Medical detectives MX Inc edu which if you will remember um dream academ or sorry Streamwood Academy's lead Academy has um the other two classes that then follow the pathway of this business class there will be world dance exploration dance Conservatory here we come Hollywood and Broadway bound and you might be able to guess that those titles are actually the titles of the courses that would then expose students to be able to then follow into the magnet academy for vpaa should they so choose turn it back over to Julie is the transition committee whose primary goal is to develop a comprehensive plan that supports not only students and their families but also the staff this committee relies on the collaboration with other committees to strengthen its capacity and Effectiveness this committee is much smaller in size with about eight members ranging totally from teachers to District administrators the transition from elementary to middle school is a significant milestone for our students and their families the purpose of this draft plan is to ensure clear communication meaningful engagement and opportunities for families to feel confident and supported throughout the process this transition plan is designed to provide students and families with consistent Communications meaningful engagement and multiple opportunities to familiarize themselves with the Middle School by building connections and addressing concerns ahead of time we are setting ourselves up to ensure a smooth and positive start to the Middle School experience the plan that I showed you before and the slide before shows that we need a variety of communication methods to keep our families informed and engaged these methods are designed to be clear and accessible and consistent in addressing the diverse needs of our families in additions to newsletters family nights will provide opportunities for parents and Guardians to meet their school staff and ask questions about transition some events will be offered in person and some will be virtual so families who can't attend in person have access to the same valuable information school and District websites are also an act as a hub for transition information so families will have able access to course descriptions event calendars and FAQs online at any time this is a reliable and familyfriendly way to keep families informed schools will directly communicate and will provide timely reminders and updates School visits open houses will provide families with Hands-On opportunities to familiarize themselves with the Middle School environment and these and all these events are aimed to reduce anxiety and build excitement in giving our students and their families a chance to meet staff and explore the school together our goal is to main remain transparent throughout this journey build trust answer questions and prepare families for a positive and success Middle School experience the draft of the professional learning plan for Middle School staff is designed to ensure that educators are well prepared and supported as we Implement new Middle School model and resources this multi-year plan providing continuous opportunities for learning and growing with flexibility to adapt as needed the phase professional development plan reflects the commitment to equipping staff with the tools and resources and knowledge they need to excel in the Middle School environment as we conclude I want to emphasize how this plan reflects a shared commitment to ensuring a successful transition to the middle school for our students families and staff the phased approach comprehensive professional learning opport opportunities and continuous communication are all designed to create supportive and thriving Middle School experience thank you for your time dedication and partnership in this important work together we're building a stronger foundation for our students future success now we're open to addressing any questions again thank you for the opportunity to share this with you thank you all for your presentation do board members have any questions Shonda thank you for the presentation very excited about the changes coming for Middle School on slide 25 can you remind me with the rotations A and B are those semester long or year long since we'll have our first year of sixth grade being in Middle School sixth and seventh graders transitioning to Middle School at the same time is it so each rotation is a year each class is nine weeks so two of the classes would be a semester do that make sense yes so then the seventh graders that come in for the first time and they'll only be in middle school for two years they'll pick one rotation and then eighth grade they can select like electives or so the seventh graders will have the most options they can pick a rotation they can pick year long they can pick semester long so whatever it is that that is their true interest they can pick those and then the rotation would take up one of those electives elective spots okay thank you Sue and and to follow up with on shonda's question so a sixth grader who has fewer options could conceivably take both rotations yes okay okay Kate um yeah excuse me thank you for all this this is exciting especially as a former Middle School teacher um but I did have one question one of the earlier slides where you gave the teachers schedule I noticed that they had um four preps plus the advisory the intention is to hand them ready too advisory lesson plans so it's not like the thought of giving teachers five preps seems really harsh I mean four so they really only have three preps seventh grade math seventh accelerated in algebra and then advisory is their fourth and fourth is yeah yes to answer that question The Advisory is supposed to be readymade curriculum for them so they're not actually having to plan the actual lessons out okay yes I counted wrong but thank you yeah suine I have two questions um you mentioned that in slide 15 um Kimble Ellis and Abbot are currently implementing The Advisory model and it's still early on um what improvements or changes have you seen so far with this at these particular middle schools and then the other question is Global Studies just can you give a little bit more about what that entails thanks I'll let I'll let them answer first and then I'll move on okay I think that the advisory in these three schools not only helps with the sense of belonging for the students but the teachers as well because they are getting more time with their kids in a different light than just their academics um like I said this is the very early stages for these three schools and I applaud them for all the hard work that they're doing because they are creating curriculum as they work through this and um like I said it's it's been it's been a very good start and like I said in that the few slides of data that we gave you show some slight Improvement but again you got to realize character strong didn't start till October and they have even started my path until Mo almost right before winter break so you're going to see some improvement it's just going to take a little bit just because it's in our inaugural years and if I could just briefly add that the teachers um that we've spoken to that have you know from these schools that were part of the committee and have shared the work at The Advisory um you know overall the response has been very positive and they're just really excited about um the work I've also been able to observe um and recently was at Kimble middle school and just um watching the students um in the advisory was was really was really rewarding it's something that we know is essential to the um you know uh successful middle schools and so we're really excited about what more we'll be able to see in the future when we've actually had a full year or more of implementation and so to your second question the global study So currently our sixth grade focus is ancient civilizations and so what part of the work that the middle school committee is doing for social studies and my coordinator is here and he can jump in if if I get this wrong but is to is looking at bringing that into um a a broader Middle School model where in instead of for example 8th grade being US History they actually focus on the American studies so what happens in our nation and then Global Studies is more focused on what happens around the world and then Civic and economic studies is the the governments and um the financial um the financial background that happens across grades did I get that right Jacob yeah it's a inquiry driven more multidisiplinary approach to similar content but it's more than just hisory it's the economics any other questions Sue just a couple more so we'll be getting new curriculum for all of these social studies coming up in the next few months or year y okay remember the plan with and and one other question in your sample you had advisory as the third period is it up to up to the school to decide when they want the advisory what period to use I mean third period sounds like a good one first period you'd have problems with tardies maybe but so the thought is that middle schools would be standardized so that third period everybody would be in advisory and that they would follow this schedule across all eight middle schools okay thank you yeah Shonda I had one more question about the rotations how will grading work will it be a grade for each course and then it's broken down when they see the semester grades for the rotation the way that grades work for rotations is that each course gets graded in the nine weeks so there would be a nine week report that's the grade that you got for this class and then a nine-week report again of this is the grade you got for the second class so they don't average at all okay they're thank you independent classes taught by independent teachers and graded that way I have a a question on uh going back to the advisory so I'm looking at um slide 14 and just want to emphasize because I know I'm removed from middle school I don't have a student in in school anymore but looking at this I just want to emphasize that that there is a a standard curriculum that is going to go along with this because when I'm looking at like these possible resources for the for the wind academic support important enrichment so help me if I am I understanding this correctly like if the the lesson for the day is academic skill building then they could use things like Han Academy to support that skill building but that means then that the entire class is going to be working on those skills through guided instruction from their instructor is that am I interpreting that correctly yes that's one option yes and it like some of the schools that did I ready in my path that's very individualized to the students so they they'll have the option to make it a whole class or more individualized and that can change by the weeks and what the students need okay so some of that can kind of flow into those tier one supports then on that Flex right yes absolutely okay okay thank you that it thank you all for the presentation thank you thank you you're welcome okay the next item on the agenda is public comments Dr Johnson uh we do not have any public comments this evening okay next item is other business board member and superintendent updates does anybody have any updates to share Dr Johnson uh so I would like to extend some thank you so first I want to thank our team tonight so I'd like to thank Celia Banks and SEO and Julie schoemaker for providing the update on Middle School I know we have we've we've had a lot of updates about what to expect with our facilities and the changes that are happening and tonight I I think they did a great job of giving you a preview of why those changes are occurring and what the instructional experience will start to be I also want to send out some thank yous uh to our extensive teams in u46 we welcomed back 30 5,000 students last Monday and while many of our colleagues and uh students of course and households may have had winter recess uh certainly some of our team members here use that time to make sure that our buildings are ready to welcome everyone back for the second half of the year we want to thank our operations team for making sure that our buildings were clean and updated we have a variety of small projects small projects when we say flipping out all changing out all the furniture for two elementary schools you think about the delivery the assembly the install what that looks like um continuing to make updates whether it be paint flooring all of those pieces to be able to welcome our students back uh that means everything and it it's been great to see our new furniture and great to see those updates want to thank certainly our transportation team um as well that was ready to make sure buses were ready to roll on a day day that had I think frozen freezing precipitation through most of the morning uh did a great job with that our grounds team that uh reported even earlier than usual since we again got to welcome students and staff back with snow and ice on the first day uh did an awesome job of making sure that our buildings were safe and clear and ready to welcome everyone I want to thank Our Food Services team for being ready to to uh certainly feed our students and make sure that they were going to be nourished on that on that week back um none of th none of those teams are able to take that that two-e recess because they continue to make sure that they are preparing um for our teams I want to thank certainly human resources and all of our teams who were busy hiring over winter break or winter recess so uh we had staff members whose first day in u46 was also last week and uh want to thank our team members who worked to do that our Communications team of course who uh I think hit just the right uh right amount of communication didn't didn't you know make my children upset with slamming us with communication the first week that we'd have to go back to school but did a great job reminding us that we were getting ready to return certainly our instructional team members as well as we we make this turn into second semester uh and we have all of those resources ready to go we're continuing to make sure that if we need training and professional development and all of the assessments all that is ready as well as uh certainly I know this is primarily High School but if you've ever been to a high school during winter recess you would never know it's winter recess there is sports there's events there's all sorts of excitement happening um and and so really a a tremendous Collective thank you out and I'm sure I have left people off this list I don't mean to overlook anyone it is truly a team effort but uh a really tremendous thank you to everyone who sometimes the the start of the semester is overlooked and I just want to thank everybody for for their work and I want to thank the board of education for your ongoing support and leadership as we uh continue continue with our 2425 years so looking forward to second semester and can't wait to see all of our exciting uh events and celebrations I just want to piggyback on uh the thank yous with Dr Johnson and thank the staff that came out and and board members that came out to the unite u4 46 session on uh Saturday at Lin high school we had some really good conversations with members of the public there um so that's that's really helpful that we're holding those those sessions um I just want to remind everybody that we have two more sessions coming up on the 23d uh the evening of the 23rd at South algen High School um for the South algen Network and then also on the 29th at Streamwood High School for the Streamwood Network um but thank you to to everybody that's part of putting those those sessions together anybody else okay we'll move on to forer requests uh this evening we have five Freedom of Information Act requests they are currently available on the public domain of bardex and will'll also be accessible on the school district u46 website later this week thank you that brings us to consent agenda Dr Johnson thank you president Owens this evening on consent agenda we have Personnel report and workers compensation cases we have minutes of board meetings termination of Edith Cruz noon hour supervisor termination of Christina Taylor dispatcher Transportation resolution for the disposal of surplus personal property we have a bid for communications Information Services plant operations video production service bid procurement District districtwide copy paper proposal plan operations Plumbing on call services proposal plant operations Ford F350 truck Fleet replacement proposal plant operations Ford F550 dump truck Fleet replacement contract athletic snap Mobile Incorporated digital communication platform contract professional learning consultant contract renewal food and nutrition services Food Service packaging change order plant operations South Elgen High School water softener installation and Water Heater replacement project number 280 change order plan operations Centennial Elementary School roof replacement project number 576 change order plan operations 500 shales Parkway parking lot reconstruction project 2070 change order plant operations 500 shales Parkway fire alarm replacement project 207 one and approval of settlement against and general release in the matter of Melody bany versus Board of Education of Elgen Area School District g46 are there any items board members would like remove from the consent agenda hearing none may I have a motion to approve the consent agenda as stated so moved second any discussion roll call please miss Kerr yes Miss Khan yes Miss Martin yes Miss Schwarz yes Miss Thomas yes president Owens yes motion carried next item is discussion action Dr Johnson thank you president Owens uh first item is itemized bills for January 13 2025 Dr Frank Williams assistant superintendent of finance will respond to questions from the Board of Education regarding the attached bills Administration recommends the Board of Education approve the list of bills in the amount of 50, 15287 79 may I have a motion to approve the list of bills in the amount of 50,52 18717 so moved second any discussion or questions for Dr Williams roll call please miss Kerr yes Miss Khan yes Miss Martin yes Miss Schwarz yes Miss Thomas yes president Owens yes passes next we have a bid for operations unite u46 Kimble middle school project aggregate Stone Piers Dr Anne Williams Deputy superintendent of operations and Brian Lindholm Chief of Staff will present the attached proposal summary and will respond to questions from the Board of Education Administration recommends award to the lowest responsible bidder CNC foundations Incorporated in the amount of $199,700 and requests authorization for District administration to execute related documents this expenditure will be chared to the capital projects fund the cost is included in the budget for the 2024 2025 through 2026 2027 fiscal years may I have a motion to approve the bid to the lowest responsible bidder CNC foundations Incorporated in the amount of $199,700 and give authorization for the District administration to execute related documents so moved uh any questions for the panelists or any discussion okay roll call please miss C yes Miss Khan yes Miss Martin yes Miss Schwarz yes Miss Thomas yes president Owens yes motion carried thank you that moves us to other business number item number 13 Dr Johnson our first item under other business secondary school's financial report for the first quarter Dr Frank Williams assistant superintendent of finance will review the attached secondary school's quarterly financial report and will respond to questions from the Board of Education great good evening thank you Dr Johnson this report analyzes activity within the middle and high school activity funds from July through September These funds help to support extracurricular activities such as clubs organizations and Athletics serving educational recreational and cultural purposes the beginning beginning of the Academic Year and the fall Sports season generates significant activity within these particular funds middle schools experienced an overall decrease during this quarter of $8,000 in total fund balances Revenue generation was primarily driven in the middle schools from athletic fees while expenditures were largely attributed to those back to school events including those Gatherings and those dances conversely the high school activity funds saw a 800 or $180,000 increase during this period Revenue was predominantly generated through athletic activities and the associated fees while expenses were primarily related to Athletics and homecoming events the combined beginning balance for these funds was 2.7 million by the end of the quarter the balance had increased by $172,000 for a total of $2.9 million board members have any questions okay thank you our next item July August September October and November Financial reports Dr Williams uh continues at the day to review the attached Financial reports and respond to questions from the Board of Education all right during the first five months of the fiscal year the district generated 3 48.8 million in Revenue representing 42.5% of the budgeted amount expenditures reached 278.50 million or 32.5% of the budgeted amount resulting in 70.2 million surplus over the first five months however historically analysis does show that for the months of December through April the district typically uses its fund balances as we don't see the the tax income anymore at least until the month of May however the expenditures typically remain pretty steady this period encompassed several Key activities including the district's annual audit the identification and reclassification of Prior year expenses in the commencement of the academic semester furthermore significant Pro progress was made in gathering information over the five months for the property taxes which constitute 45% of the district's revenue from a local Revenue perspective our property tax collections continue through October minimal in November December minimal in November and December as the end of November the district had collected 47% of budgeted property taxes $176 million These funds are strategically invested to support operational expenses through November November through April prior to the resumption of property taxes that typically come in may interest earnings also remain noteworthy a good source of local Revenue reaching 51% of the budgeted amount this strong performance contributes to the overall local Revenue total which stands at 59.2% of the budget at the end of November from a state revenue perspective as we talked about during the budget presentations the district did receive an increase in evidence-based funding of 18.9 million raising the total allocation from 282 to 30 31.4 million this adjustment resulted in a monthly payment increase of about $1.7 million ebf dispersements occur from August through through June with July reserved for the final calculations and distribution preparations by is as of the end of November state revenue has reached 34.6% of the budgeted amount totaling about $116.2 million from a federal revenue perspective at the start of the fiscal year the district had about 32.4 million remaining in Esser funding through diligent planning the grant expenditures were fully allocated with January 14th tomorrow marking the final date to actually record expenses for Sesser 3 we could finally wash our hands of the Sesser money as of the end of November S3 reimbursements totaled 18.9 million about 58.4% of the allocation other federal revenue stands at 43.3% of budgeted amounts about 30.9 million the district continues to actively monitor Grant expenses and is preparing amendments to make any necessary adjustments as a second semester approaches with five months remaining in the Academic Year our grant revenues about 10% of our total revenues and expenses so we're constantly monitoring to see what do we need to make adjustments for from an expenditure perspective they remain within projected range historically the district reaches 34% of budgeted expenditures by the end of November current expenditures stand at 32.5% indicating some responsible fiscal management salaries and benefits represent the largest expenditure category total 194. 7 million or about 38.6% of budgeted amount from salaries and benefits perspective combined expenditures for for supplies and purchase Services has reached 62.2 million representing 39% of the budget in capital outlay for construction projects through November total is about 14.4 million as we've heard Dr an and Brian have detailed in many updates the construction of the new Middle School in Bartlett is progressing quickly in the anticipation of the start for the 2526 school year because of this we do anticipate a steady stream of invoices related to that project in the coming months January marks the beginning of an intensive preparation for the FY 26 budget a comprehensive five-year Financial projection plan will be presented to the board at the finance committee meeting on February 24th providing critical guidance for our FY 26 budget concurrent efforts are underway to analyze FY 26 expenditure requirements including our staffing needs new school year planning and we do have to equip that brand new school that we're getting ready to to open for furniture technology and essential resources and of course aligning our financial support with the new strategic plan that will be coming these activities are being conducted all at the same time while we're also transitioning to a new financial and HR System so with that I will take any questions for the first five months thank you do board members have any questions Sue um a couple questions one is I noticed our local revenues for this year are substantially higher than they were at this point last year is that because last year Cook County was slow getting things in yes yeah Cook County if you remember last year didn't really start depositing tax dollars till November even December time frame okay okay so they were definitely slow okay so that's one and you mentioned the new financial accounting system we're a little behind on these reports was assuming that's why because you're trying to get onto the new system and yeah between the new system new auditor and unfortunately retirement of a key individual we were we were that way um we uh have set up a new process and some new practices and and we'll continue to get better at that and and get them in a timely manner for you okay thanks any other questions so to follow up on on Sue's question because um we are a little bit behind where we were uh where we've traditionally been on getting I know there's always the Cascade of financial reports that that come after the end of the fiscal year um can you give us an expectation because we've got we've got November's now um can you give us an expectation of when we should see December's financial report and then kind of what the expectation is going forward then of when we'll see the reports in relation to the the end of the month sure great question so monthly financials our goal is to have those by the third meeting following the close of of the month so for example December is closing now we're finalizing that so that should be at that first meeting in February right by that third meeting that's our goal takes a long time to reconcile bank accounts the size of ours it takes quite some time uh on top of getting all the other statements that come along with that too uh so that's our goal is to meet that third meeting following the month close to allow for that reconciliation we'll also have been reviewing prior board packets to make sure that we are ensuring that we're following that same timeline right we're trying to meet those same timelines that the board has always been used to seeing in the in the past uh with the five-year projection coming up but then we'll have the budget will be a big one right behind that uh so by reviewing historical we'll be able to say okay this is the expectation so we can meet those um and if we don't then we'll make sure that we update you guys uh via memo to to say hey we're we're running behind for some reason or other and make sure that you guys are aware we we can also uh create a memo going forward at this point so we can look to memorialize what Dr Frank has just shared this evening around those those dates so that uh you have that in advance and and then we have the the shared accountability of making sure that we're doing our part as Administration to make sure you have those reports in the timely timely fashion and certainly I will I will apologize for the lateness of those reports as we've navigated this this year so we will certainly work to do better okay and I know that the um looking back at the the presentation for implementing um with Skyward I believe the cumulative is the new correct y program that will'll be working with um the are we still on target for that being operationally live as of June or July 2025 yes okay yep the goal is to be ready for the fiscal year of 26 okay that's correct okay great any other questions okay thank you okay next item on the agenda is work session Dr Johnson thank you president Owens this evening we have the pleasure of welcoming the alignment collaborative for Education back to our board meeting so the I want to welcome Bill Wright our chairman for the um alignment collaborative for education and Nancy Coleman as well our executive uh director for the alignment collaborative for Education as you'll recall they joined us this fall and provided an update after explore to give us an update on alignments work uh to support our Pathways and our exploration efforts and they have returned this evening as well uh to be present and to respond to the attached summary and proposal if there are any questions from the Board of Education uh but Administration is recommending the approval of school district u46 partnership with alignment collaborative for education and request that the Board of Education agree to a one-year extension in the amount of $88,000 and um Nancy and B want to come to the day if there are any questions or uh anything that they can respond to they're they're here this evening and uh we very much appreciate the ongoing collaboration and support with alignment the opportunities that they continue to provide our students uh locally within our schools and of course with our postsecondary and our career Readiness efforts as a pretty extensive Community here across 11 of them in 90 square miles and Nancy and Bill I'm happy to have you here tonight I as Dr Johnson uh mentioned we had the um really comprehensive uh presentation just a couple months ago um and so um we we did not want to put you through another presentation you know to follow up on that um but thank you for being here to answer any questions do board members have any do board members have any questions just Sue just how how are you doing and getting all your summer internships lined up I know you wanted to get more going really well we had a meeting today with Microsoft that was unexpected about possibility of uh putting a generator project here uh in u46 so that might be a possibility uh we also had a meeting Thursday with uh rattis about putting in their management internship model into that 60h hour internship for our culinary and Vis students so lots of innovative things coming I hope great thank you uhu any other questions and again I just want to thank you all for for everything that alignment has done when we looked back at at where alignment started years and years and and years ago and I'm dating myself um it's uh uh the the degree to which alignment has grown and the and the the the capacity and the the benefits that it brings the district now is just is just outstanding so thank you thank you both well we just appreciate your support absolutely can't do it without you exactly thank you great all right hey our next item uh this evening underw work session board policy updates Trisha Olsen Chief legal officer presented proposed changes to the following board policies in the board policy committee meeting earlier today Administration recommends adoption of the proposed changes and Trisha olon I believe is ready to provide a an overview for us thank you so much Dr Johnson uh I am presenting to the board um issue 117 of the policy reference education subscription service including a variety of changes and updates that are recommended by the iasb a um association with whom we contract for the Press services for the most part many of the press updates that are being recommended are to make sure that we are in line with legislation to make appropriate uh updates to footnotes to correct uh language or for outdated URLs for example that have become broken subsequently but there are a few board policies that I do want to make sure we highlight for the Board of Education and for the public tonight um so that way um the board is advised of some of the important changes that are coming down as well as has the opportunity to check um the YouTube um videos uh for additional information on our board policy updates that have been provided one board policy that I want to highlight is board policy for colon 30 revenues and Investments this change on is um to align our board policy with Public Act 10388 which allows the board to um agree to permit Investments of public funds and instruments that are not listed in the public funds act and this is something that would potentially uh be utilized by the firms that we contract with for investing on our behalf and it's something that we want to make sure the board is um aware would not be uh listed specifically in the public funds act but would be allowable according to the Illinois school code another change that I want to make sure the board is aware of um has to do with additional uh changes that are made to certain uh non-discriminatory and anti-discrimination Provisions within our board policies there's a variety of board policies that are included in this press update that address anti-discrimination the changes that are being recommended are to align uh with uh current law and regulation that addresses additional protections for individuals on the basis of reproductive health and Military status we are also recommending that the Board of Education review um and uh consider two items to address um recent case law the first has to do with uh connection to the community which is board policy 810 that addresses community relations including Communications that the Board of Education may have including the Board of Ed education president or the bo board spokesperson uh the recommendations that are made here are to align uh the board's policy with current Supreme Court case law there is a Supreme Court case that was unanimously decided in 2024 Lind ke freed that uh the board policy changes that are recommended would align the board with that case decision um I also would like to make sure that the board has information about the changes that we are considering to use for a board policy that has previously come before the board somewhat recently board policy 4110 addresses fines and fees that may be assessed to students including a waiver of fines and fees when an individual qualifies for free and reduced lunch the administration is bringing this matter back before the board to consider fees that may be assessed when there is instances of intentional loss damage um destruction of property in an amount over $500 um the $500 threshold that is being recommended by Administration is to align the board policy with the institutional vandalism that is permitted by the criminal code um although this would not be a criminal violation the board Administration is recommending that there still be uh the permission of fines when there is intentional loss misuse or destruction of school property over that amount sure I'll go there I'm also happy to provide an update on 6 colon 135 give me one second make sure I get that policy 6 colon 135 addresses The Accelerated placement program uh this uh provision has been updated to be in line with standards set out in law and that were changed by the legislature in the last legislative session there is an optional provision that would permit the board the opportunity to have a waiver of course completion requirements when a student demonstrates Mastery or competency in the con content of a course or a unit of instruction because this board of education does not utilize Competency Based standards the current recommendation that is being Advanced by the administration is that we would not include this optional language in our policy therefore the policy would read um with subsections one two three and four but would not include subsection five as being as is is Advanced by press in its latest issue thank you to sha did you as a chair of the policy committee did you have a update also that you wanted to share or comment sure we had policy committee meeting earlier today and um there's more discussion in details on some of these policies that were presented and if anyone wants to watch it will be on our um YouTube channel for everyone to watch thank you any questions Don so I just um in reviewing the policies I'm basically just letting guys know that I'll be submitting further questions on the 8 colon10 which is the connection with the community I'm just going to ask some clarifying questions on how exactly what the changes the section to mean for board members communicating with the community so I'm going to try to think some examples I think that'll be easier to kind of get clarification on how those would be answered I'm struggling with I get the that the board president speaks but it also starts to feel as an a bit of an infringement so I just want to get some clarification I look forward to those I do thank you any other questions okay thank you we'll move on then to work session resolutions Dr Johnson thank you president Owens uh this evening we have a resolution authorizing the renaming of Hawk Hollow Elementary School to become Hawk Hall Middle School Brian Lindholm chief of staff and Rola Tariq Muhammad education Pioneers research search and project management fellow will respond to questions from the Board of Education Administration recommends the Board of Education adapt the resolution authorizing the renaming of Hawk Hall Elementary School to Hawk Hall Middle School I guess that's me um do you want to uh provide any comments about the report that's provided it's a pretty extensive report so thank you for putting that together yes we we would I'd like to turn it over to my colleague Rola um she'll provide kind of a summary of the process that we followed and the summary report that we issued awesome thank you thank you Brian um the construction of the new Middle School in Bartlet is progressing on schedule and within budget with the facility set to open for seventh grade students in August 20125 in alignment with the board policy 4150 we followed the required steps by collecting nominations holding a town hall meeting to together feedback conducting a survey and summarizing all feedback and the report for the board's review we received 42 nominations via email from 54 individuals one additional nomination was excluded as it was named after a living person the nominators included 24 community members 11 new 46 students six parents 6 u46 employees four former students and three u46 teachers a community Town Hall was held on Wednesday December 18 at PR review Elementary School in Bartlet we want to especially thank the students who participated in the town hall and spoke spoke about the school names they're excited about a Google form was shared with the town hall participants to choose their preferred nominations the form was shared with the BR community Through The District's website from the December 18 2024 till January 3rd 2025 the form received 192 responses with input from parents students community members and teachers for the form results 74% of respondents selected hwk Hollow midz Middle School as their preferred name nearly 11% chose enrio ferm Middle School while 5% opted for Bartlet Middle School school we recommend naming the middle school hwalla middle school to honor Community input preserve the Legacy and historical significance of the former HW Hollow Elementary and Foster inclusivity belonging and pride while celebrating the school's Roots thank you thank you so much and thank you for putting this report together and thank you to everyone who participated in the process and all of our community members that came out and attended the town hall or submitted suggestions does any board members have any comments or questions Sue yeah I I want to reiterate your thanks because people took the time to give background you know our board policy says you have to explain why this would be a good idea it looks like people did a lot of work to do that so I I appreciate that Don so thank you so much I I actually looked through all 50 plus pages and I am going to give a special shout out to the student I'm not going to include names who went with Bartlett Hawkins I do also love that TV show and I thought between the TV show and a play Hawk Hollow it was a very cute like it was a nice recommendation I thought it was fitting so I I want people to know we actually see all the recommendations and we're reading them so and like and to the community members the the amount of information and the responses were just it was really well done and you can tell the community really had input and really cared about the decision so thank you to our community for all the feedback and thank you for all the work that was put into this anyone else okay thank you thank you thank you thank you CH team thank you Brian thank you Rola exciting to be here it's very exciting yeah this is okay that brings us to work session bids and proposals Dr Johnson thank you president Owens yes the the slow walk forward uh we have bid for operations unite you 46 Kenyan Woods Middle School project Dr Anne Williams Deputy superintendent of operations and Brian Lindholm Chief of Staff will present the attached proposal summary and we'll respond to questions from the Board of Education Administration recommends Award of bid packages 1 through 15 to the lowest responsible biders including and I'm going to read them all into record bid package number one Excavating and site work King County Excavating 1, 68,500 bid package number two Landscaping landworks limited $3,980 bid package number three building concrete Ed Fogerty concrete $794,000 bid package number four masonry Midwest Masonry Incorporated $2,539 700 bid package number five steel mckin steel and Sales Incorporated $178,000 bid package number six Roofing Sterling Commercial Roofing 1,500,000 000 bid package number seven General trades pepper Construction Company 1,951 430 bid package number eight glass and glazing SG metal and glass Incorporated $527,000 bid package number nine painting urbon and Suns Incorporated $169,300 bid package number 10 flooring and ceramic tile integral flooring systems $495,500 bid package number 12 fire protection SJ Carlson Fire Protection $220,700 $19,990 bid package number 14 hbac Fe Moran Incorporated $ 28526 bid package number 15 electrical Associated Electrical Contractors LLC $2,583 th000 these expenditures total 9,674 955 will be charged to the capital projects fund the project cost will be included in the budget for the fy2 through FY 27 fiscal years and administration recommends the authorization to execute related documents do board members have any questions regarding that list of bid packages Sue I I noticed there are a few bids that were withdrawn is that usual with a project this size um absolutely um as part of as part of the process the um architect and construction managers go through a scope review just to ensure that all of the lowest biders have all of the criteria met and that they have the Staffing to to comply with what is requested so as part of that process um tile uh ready tile LLC Nelson fire protection and one source mechanical withdrew they either found errors within their calculations or they had missed a piece of the scope so they had under bid so they did um they did ask to be withdrawn from the process but I think it's important to note that we were very excited the day of the bid opening we received a total of 82 bids that were um opened and read aloud during that time so it was a very competitive uh bid opening and um even with the withdrawals we are well within our budget even after we include all of the fees associated with the project like the architect fees and the construction management fees and other fees so very excited about uh the progress here and looking forward to breaking ground in a couple of months samine two questions thank you so much for for reviewing all of these beds and coming up with us when we question number one when we're looking at the lowest responsible bidder and we're looking at mostly supplies and services are you are we getting I mean does quality really how do you rate quality I guess with some of this as it relates to bids it's the lowest responsible responsive bidder so quality would come into consideration when you think about the responsive piece if they have complied with the specifications to the degree that you are satisfied with okay that answer but there's a lot less flexibility than there is with the request for proposal process in the bidding process okay if that helps that helps thank you you're welcome you had two questions oh awesome done thank you for the giant package of information packages two and 11 both only had two bids did the um dollar amounts for those to since there was a a smaller number of bids that came through on those packages were the dollar ranges on on those specific packages still like within what we were expecting for those set packages that's a lot of the word package sorry yes one of the things that our construction manager um looks for and I apologize I'm remiss they're here um to to to support this recommendation but they do review to ensure that the prices seem to be in line for each individual package and they did um their due diligence as it relates to that okay okay good I mean there was a couple that also had three and I like package 15 has a pretty big range on the three bids but the two bids got me concerned for those too so I just wanted to ask thank you any other questions so I know that we are we're currently sitting under budget from from what was forecasted correct ma um with the entirety of of these 15 packages how I mean how how substantive is this to the completion of the of the work can we expect to see completed more more bidding going out or is this is this largely the the the work that will be completed at kenion Woods um Kenyan Woods is different than Kimble they don't have as many staggered um bids so this is it okay okay fantastic okay no other questions thank you thank you thank you okay okay uh continuing next we have a proposal plan operations playground playet replacement returning to the deis for the first time in a little while executive director of facilities uh Sheila DS along with Ashley mckany assistant director of plan operations to present the attached proposal summary and respond to questions from the Board of Education Administration recommends approval of the proposal from Cunningham Recreation play Cor in the amount of 421,750multifamily I don't have a question but I want to say welcome back to I appreciate it anyone else s and and we we're on an obsolescence plan so we we probably replace playgrounds every year or so yes we do so we track them um we track their age and their condition and so we have a a very detailed plan that we've been doing for over a decade and so every year when they come up for um replacement then we um bring a recommendation to the board so parents PTO are no longer any part of this is that correct we still have some sets in the system where pto's have funded those sets however now the district is accounting for all of them and they are ingratiated in a part of our replacement strategy moving forward okay thank you any other questions thank you awesome thank you our next item is a proposal from Information Services exagrid data backup solution Jim wolf director of Information Services will present the attached proposal summary and respond to questions from the Board of Education Administration recommends approval of the proposal from Presidio in the amount of $324,500 next is a proposal for school safety new Middle School radios and repeater purchase Brian Lindholm chief of staff is joining Kevin McKenzie security operations manager to present the attached proposal summary and respond to questions from the Board of Education Administration recommends approval of the proposal from alpha Prime Communications in the amount of $5,895 requests authorization for District administration to execute related documents this expenditure will be charged to the capital projects fund the cost will be included in the budget for the 2024 2025 fiscal year so close to not being the new middle school anymore the title do board members have any questions okay thank you next is a proposal from specialized student services student iPads Dr Latrice satte assistant superintendent of equity and Innovation and Amanda leatherby director of specialized student services will present the attached proposal summary and will respond to questions from the Board of Education Administration recommends approval of the proposal from Apple Incorporated in the amount of $ 46,8 70 and requests authorization for District administration to execute related documents this expenditure will be charged the education fund the cost will be included in the budget for the 2024 2025 fiscal year do board members have any questions Sue how how long will students have these is it like for three years then replace them or as needed we do replace them as needed so uh typically it's because it will get broken or can no longer be updated but they do keep them for several years okay thank you good question any other questions thank you thank you and that brings us to work session contracts over 35,000 we have a contract renewal for assessment accountability and Student Success Apple assessment of performance toward Proficiency in languages Brian Tennison assistant superintendent of teaching and learning Matt Randi director of assessment and accountability and Student Success and Jacob Vandy mortal coordinator of K12 social studies and World languages will present the attached proposal and will respond to questions from the Board of Education Administration recommends approval of the contract renewal with language testing International Incorporated in the amount of $50,000 requests authorization for District administration to execute related documents this expenditure will be charged to the education fund the cost is included in the budget for the 2024 2025 fiscal year to board members have any questions Don I I mean I'm pretty sure I know my answer to this but I'm G to ask anyway so with the Seal of by literacy being a big Push by the state and now they're being a foreign language requirement for graduation rolling out do we get any mandate SL program specific funding for our um by literacy testing from the state we do not I didn't think so but I wanted to confirm thank you any other questions thank you and that is the last item on our agenda I will take a motion to adjourn so moved second roll call please miss Kerr yes Miss K yes Miss Martin yes Miss Schwarz yes Miss Thomas yes president Owens yes we're adjourned at 8:30 p.m. thank you