##VIDEO ID:enG7dGBUBuU## good evening I call this meeting of Township High School District 211 Board of Education to order may I have a roll call please miss Baron here Mr Bradley miss caval here Mr dski here Mr Macwan here Mr Rosenblum here Mrs clim ktz here would everyone please stand and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance Pledge aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the for it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all okay thank you that takes us to our next item and the recommended action is that the board enter closed session to discuss minutes of meetings lawfully closed under the open meetings act and appointment employment compensation discipline performance or dismissal of specific employees may I have a motion please so moved any discussion roll call please miss Baron hi Miss kavell I Mr owski I Mr McOwen I Mr Rosenbloom I Mrs kimowitz I motion carries okay we're all set Kim you're all set y okay the recommended action is that the Board of Education return to open session may I have a motion please so moved any discussion roll call please miss Baron hi Miss Cavell I Mr d brosi i Mr Macwan hi Mr Rosenblum I Mrs clim ktz I the motion carries out the next is everyone please stand and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance IED Al to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all all right before we recognize our state Award winners I would like to read our mission statement because I think that's the why of why we are here Township High School District 211 serves the needs of our div diverse Community by providing relevant and rigorous learning opport experiences opportunities for involvement and strong support systems that Empower all students to reach their full potential thank you and that'll lead us right into our state Award winners thank you uh I'd like to introduce assistant superintendent Josh schoemaker who will start the recognitions of some wonderful student athletes we have here tonight Board of Education Dr small thank you for taking time to honor some very talented athletes tonight tonight you will be introduced to two of our state medalists from our fall season athletes as your coach comes over to introduce you please walk forward towards the podium receive your award from your principal and stand next to the podium as they speak about you additionally if any family members are present tonight please stand and be recognized as well while they talk about your athlete uh assisting with Awards presentations tonight our palentine high school principal Tony Medina and from Principal Mark Langer our first uh coach and team tonight I am honored to introduce Joe Parks from palentine high school of boys Cross Country Joe is a dedicated Wellness teacher and driver education teacher at Palatine High School and has been a head cross country coach for 16 years his teams have brought home five State trophies including the title in 2009 in total 18 of his athletes have earned All State finishes and Joe has twice been named the Illinois Cross Country Coach of the Year coach Parks all right I just want to first thank uh thank the board and Dr small for the opportunity to recognize these uh these fine young men um I'm going to introduce uh Alex C he's a junior at Palatine come on up Alex Alex is here with his with his parents Scott and Jennifer and his his brother Mason who I was fortun enough to introduce a couple times up here as well uh over the last few years um um Alex was our top Runner not only this year but uh the LA in last year as well um this this award for him is kind of a long time coming he likely would have been up here as a freshman um he got sick before the state meet um and then last year as a sophomore qualified but had an unfortunate run in with an electrical box on the course that was not very well marked but um you know his his a he's a model of persistence and consistency um Alex's run I'll let him say how many days is it over 1,100 he's like over 1100 straight days in a row that this young man has run he's not miss an entire um day in high school and um that's just a part of what makes him who he is um he's just a quiet consistent leader who just shows up every day and does absolutely any and everything you ask him to do um he was uh the runner up at our conference um we our conference was uh arguably the the toughest conference this year competitive wise um we had four teams um contending within the top 10 in the meet um he was a runner up in that helped lead us to a state champ or not State sorry a conference Championship um he was uh he also helped lead us to a MSL West title as well this year um and uh he's not done so I look forward to hopefully the opportunity to um bring him up here again over the next few seasons so all right thank [Applause] you also honored to introduce Matt zooki friended High School Boy boys Cross Country Coach zooki is in his 11th year of teaching and has been a member of the math department at F High School for the past 5 years in addition to coaching boys Coss country Matt is also the coach of the distance athletes for the F stack team coach first of all again thank you Dr small on the board for allowing us to uh recognize these amazing athletes and to coach parks and Alex and the entire paltin team uh we had a lot of fun battling you guys this year um as he talked about their West title and the uh conference title we were able to take the regional from them so that was a lot of fun to compete against them this year um here today with this uh father Mory his mother Megan and grandmother Judy is friend senior Rory [Applause] Gan this fall Rory finished off one of the best cross country careers by a friend runner in a very long time as he finished seventh at the ihsa saate meat covering the three mile course in impress of 14 minutes and 21 seconds the fastest time by a friendman athlete ever on the saate meat course the second fastest is also Rory from his junior year uh during his career he was a three-time allconference athlete finishing the top five at the conference meet three times he was a two-time regional Champion both this year and last year helping the team win the title as well he's a three-time state qualifier and a two-time Allstate Runner after finishing ninth last season um this man is not only a hard worker on on the course but also in the classroom and will be continuing his both his academic and athletic career next year at Dartmouth College Rory [Applause] again mect very briefly already no we need to do pictures okay all right um I thank you very much I thank our student athletes for everything that you do and all the talents that you share within your school and your classroom and thank you thank you to the parents for all the support that you provide because it's not easy getting the kids to different places and you know providing support for not only your own student but for all the entire teams so I thank you very much we are going to take a couple of pictures very briefly and then we will continue with our business portion of the meeting okay our next item on the agenda is public comments and the board welcomes you and is pleased to listen to your comments this evening if it's important that you know this is a public board meeting and not a dialogue so the board members will not be responding to your comments or answering questions at this time as a reminder the board meeting is being taped and live streamed we ask that you value the procedures and decorum of our meeting and be respectful of those at the podium so they may be heard when I call your name please come forward to the podium and state your name for the record though not required you may state if you are a resident of the district please limit your comments to three minutes you will receive a notification when you have one minute remaining any individuals unused time or place in order may not be deferred to another individual if you wish a response from the superintendent please leave your excuse me please leave your name and phone number with Mr tener um at the end of the uh board d uh table here all right um our first speaker is Magda Roth followed by Sophia pisi hello dist put the microphone a little bit closer to you all right hello honorable board members and uh guest my name is magdar yes I am living in Palatine so my family is going to your school I'm a relatively recent uh um member of this community and I have an accent I have a tendency to speak too fast if I do please say like this and I will try to slow down nabila s it is my state representative and I heard her in in a number of speeches saying that she is the generation which grew up with the active active shooter drills this is heartbreaking unfortunately the solution what we hear from a number of politicians is transforming schools in fortresses and teachers and faculty in armed Marksman United States has by far the highest number of guns per civilian in the world about 120 per 100 residents Second Amendment is sacent it really it is but if somebody wants to go hunting be my guest but hunting people is not allowed is not a good idea and it creates tremendous problem according to the Declaration of Independence which I had to learn when I got my citizenship we have the inable right to life liberty and happiness to life your right to have a gun does not uh override my right to have a life in June 2018 I was participating in a water registration program at s Sabina Church in the south side and the number of young people from Parkland Florida who had a shooting in their school a few months before came to talk they established the March for our life and we have representatives of the chapter in uh this area to my knowledge it is the first time that the group one minute remaining one minute oops okay I was always impressed of the students how much they care not only about their situation but about other situation sh things occur all over there are a number of organization which fight against uh guns and shooting the only way to change it is through legislation and in the only way to to uh affect legislation is by vote so please we need citizens young people who know the uh their rights who are convinced to vote who are informed voters voting it is the solution thank you thank you [Applause] Sophia Sophia pisi followed by Jessica Hinkle uh hello my name is Sophia Pichi you guys can hear me right okay um good evening board members thank you for allowing me to speak tonight my name is Sophia Pichi and I am an eighth grade student in the advanced math class m328 at shamberg high school I enjoy being in m328 because it gives me the chance to dive deeper into complex math concepts and really explore how they work it challenges me and it feels satisfying when I finally figure out the solution to a difficult math problem or when I apply a complex concept I always work really hard to do the best I can in class and I'm excited about trigonometry next year and I know that this class is a stepping stone for that even though I like being in m328 there are some things that have made learning harder how it's been really challenging trying to figure out the homework on days when we don't have math and there isn't a recorded lesson it's frustrating and slows me down because instead of learning the methods in class I often have to figure out how to solve the problems on my own and even when we have a recorded lesson there are only very surface level example problems a lot of times I have to do research online about the best strategies to use or how to take on the more complicated problems in the homework because the materials I'm given Aren't Enough which means that I don't always have a complete understanding of the reasoning behind the concepts so even if I can solve the problem I may not totally understand why it works that way that's also important because our test questions usually go in depth about the reasoning behind the concept which wouldn't have been covered in a brief video Lesson without the in-depth materials I can't apply what I've learned without direct examples all of this is important because all of these math concepts are foundational to trigonometry and calculus I don't want to drop this class because if I do I won't have another math class to take it me and I won't be able to take trigonometry next year but I also know that if I had more time with my teacher I could do better in this class and be more prepared for next year today I am asking for your support not because I don't want to do the work or because I want it to be easy but because I want to do my best I want be prepared for honors triom okay I want to be prepared for honors trigonometry and the best way to do that is to have the ability to get all the resources I need that means being able to attend class every day that I can being able to ask questions and go deeper into Concepts sometimes I've felt that because I'm an advanced class people don't think I'm I need as much help but even though I can learn things quickly it doesn't mean I don't need assistance when I'm having trouble so today I'm asking for your assistance please help make more resources available for the e8th grade M 328 students so we can be prepared for the future and Achieve our full potential thank you for your time thank you Jessica Hinkle followed by Jax George hello good evening my name is Jessica Hinkle I am a uh shamberg High School parent um so and obviously a member of the community so my um why I'm here today is that this is a request uh to any of the board members who are here today to um add a board member accountability possible a board member accountability policy discussion to new business as you're all aware you took an oath to serve the students in the community as board elected board members and uh to proper to properly represent the community on important discussions leading to decision-making attend attendance and commitment is critical we have a policy in place for our students that uh for attendance and tardiness sorry there uh for attendance and tiredness so as a board member you should be held to similar expectations and really should be the examples to our students that you represent for example we have three board members who attendance through the course of their term has been subpar in 2023 one board member missed five of the 13 board members board meetings and 24 and in 2024 missed five of the 18 in another board member missed uh three of the 13 board me meetings in 2021 four of the uh 13 in 2022 four of the 13 in 2023 and three of the 18 in 2024 by missing these meetings combined they did not represent their constituents when voting was taking place on things like student user fees budgets propos proposed Le levies uh superintendent selection tax appeals and policy revisions which include fees and reduced pricing for Food Services just to share a few and this is just examples from Open Session they have also missed votes um in Clos session on student and teachers facing disciplinary actions um so and one minute remaining the third uh board member um has has had good attendance however they have been late to five of the last 18 meetings which is almost as critical because it it causes A disruption to the board agenda and is disrespectful to the other board members and administration their time is just as valuable as your yours I believe the board should create a policy that requires board members uh to uphold to board members uphold the Comm commitment they may they signed up for and for um if for some reason they cannot uphold that that there should be a written policy to allow the other board members to remove them additionally I believe the policy should require committee meetings to actually take attendance and have a minimum attendance requirement for the designated Board of Education members I think the timing right now is critical since we have a new election cycle upon us this would provide new candidates clear expectations uh of being a board member thank you thank you ja George followed by alen alendi hello my name is Jax George and I'm speaking as one of the many representatives from martial palatin here today so I'm a former graduate of palatin high school I graduated in the classes 2024 and I've been a colag of March laes Palatine for the last two years Mar Palatine is a local chapter of March which is the National Youth L Grassroots movement hoping to end the epidemic of gun violence through youth Civic engagement and youth activism starting ear early in the spring of this year maraliz paltin has been focusing on trying to increase voter education and registration around the district reaching out to many board members and staff members of the multiple schools across the direct some of like the um the principles we saw today such as mrina and and all the other principles today I'm will be talking about voter partisanship increasing voter registration activism extremely important as voting allows students and different members of the community to make the government work for us one of the key principles of our government and our foundational and the foundation of our government however many young adults in District 211 are disconnected from this very important process there is little information given to students whether very rare talks about how to vote or almost obsolute discussion about anything political in class due to fears of being partisan what is understandable in this day and age that we concerned to can be be concerned with being partisan the student in district 21 are the Future Leaders politicians and activists of this generation and of this country is a grave disservice to not properly prepare our youth to be a part of the political process that diates every aspect not only Our Lives the lives of many generations before us and after us therefore we can no longer exclude voter registration and education from our curriculum under the guise of not being partisan what is key to understand that we are not asking for students and staff to hold potentially heated and controversal convers conv Sation regarding voting and different processes in the political process and happenings what we are asking for is for students and staff to be able to talk about political process outside the foundation to government to the Constitutional shelf and voting as District district 2 needs to better equip students through discussions curriculum and drives aimed at teaching how the political process personally affects all for example there should be information on how to register vote how to op how to use mailin and absentee ballots and what and positions are typically on the ballot in our area and it should be yearly vot voter registration drives at every school across the district to ensure that students have access to all this information and able to answer their questions all this is essential in order to be able to create the best educated individuals in our district and I personally urge you not only to hear out not only my comments but the comments of the other speakers today but to take action and make change to ensure that we have the best chance to be the most informed citizens possible thank you for your time and consideration thank you [Applause] Alan alendi uh followed by Isabella amama uh good evening board board members U my name is Alan aende I'm a senior at Palatine High School and this is my first year as a colleague for March for our lives Palatine um growing up I didn't have the resources or encouragement I needed to fully understand the importance of voting or even how to register I remember being in class where voter registration was covered briefly in a student-led presentation it was presented once and then never mentioned again for those who didn't qualify to vote yet it felt irrelevant so many so many didn't pay attention outside of that single presentation there were no additional discussions no follow-ups and no real emphasis on how important voting is even in conversations with my peers especially those of Latino descent voter registration and Civic engagement felt like an afterthought something ignored rather than prioritized the schools were doing enough to make this information accessible and impactful and it left many of us unprepared this experience highlights a significant issue our schools aren't doing enough to ensure every school is included every student is included and empowered to vote currently there are insufficient sustainable resources and little emphasis on voting as an important part of our Lives As Americans This Gap must be addressed by both teachers and administrators um not only that but able consideration must be given to students of color and those in stem tracks since it's statisically proven that students from these backgrounds don't contribute as much as other student populations every student deserves to learn about their rights the voting process and the importance of their voice in our democracy to fix this there needs to be a clear and thorough process to guide young adults through voter registration ensuring they fully understand the significance of their participation in um democracy addressing racial inequalities in access to voting is crucial and efforts must be made to put an end to these gaps it's important to emphasize to students that their vote is their voice and it has an impact which um this is fundamental to Civic engagement you have one minute remain schools should prioritize educating students about the voting process possibly through a required curriculum component such as incorporating voting voting education into Social Studies classes which all students take throughout High School these efforts will then ensure all students receive the resources and knowledge to participate fully in the voting process I appreciate your patience and consideration have a good night thank you Isabella Amana and Then followed by Yuna Lee please good evening board members my name is Isabella Mane and I'm a senior ATR high school and a co-lead for March for your lives Palatine I'm here today to share a student perspective on issue that impacts not just individuals but the future of democracy as a whole yet in schools the truth is often overlooked little emphasis is placed on voting as a core part of the American identity students learn about the Constitution Landmark elections and key historical moments but we rarely connect these lessons to the role we play in shaping the future through voting many of us feel uncertain and disconnected when it comes to the voting process one of the most significant gaps in voter education is Equitable access especially for students of color and those on stem tracks while civic education is mandatory for graduation students pursuing stem often have demanding schedules that leave little room for civic engagement beyond the required curriculum as a result they may graduate without the same opportunities to engage deeper discussions about voting and democracy and for students of color the challenge is even more profound due to the systematic inequities that create additional barriers in accessing accurate voter information I propose that we Implement a step-by-step voter registration educational initiative that's put into classes that students take for all four years each of us has unique experiences concerns and dreams for our community and our country as a whole by starting with us high school students we can foster a culture of informed active participation that carries on into adulthood making our voices heard and shaping the communities we envision incorporating voter education into our high school experience ensures that when we turn 18 we aren't just eligible to vote but we are empowered to do so we can teach students how to research candidates understand ballots and engage in discussions about policies that affect our lives by empowering students to participate in our democracy we ensure that their voices and the voices of our most vulnerable communities are heard we'll be passing out a write up on the student perspectives thank you thank you Isabella oh I apologize all right then we have Yuna louu followed by Lee Bernett excuse me Lee Bennett hi my name is Junior Lou and I a junior at F high school and I have been a co-lead of March for our lives Palatine for the past two years during November of my third grade year my parents took me to the polls for the very first time watching them tick each box of the ballpoint pen I realized the power our democracy grants us regardless of race age gender or sexuality we each have a voice which deserves to be heard and as a collective we have the ability to change the course of our nation's history later I came to realize how vital it is to the principles of our nation that we as students are given the tools we need to be adequately prepared to step up and shape our world even before we enter The Ballot Box to me the purpose of Education expands Beyond academic prowess towards preparing students to be responsible informed and active members of our democracy and it is thus District 21's responsibility to ensure that we are ready to take charge of our Civic lives as adults by establishing voter registration and voter education curriculums districtwide we can Empower young people by providing them with the skills they need from media literacy to critical thinking for success in a Democratic Society through this instruction we can prove to students that their values truly matter and in an age where youth voter turnout is at severe risk of decrease especially in marginalized communities voter education has become critical to generating an Equitable space in which every voice may be equally and accurately represented voting is the most direct way one may mold public policy and shape the political landscape of our nation and access to such a curriculum will equip students with the tools to participate in this process and enhance their dedication to civic duty thereby ensuring an electorate prepared to carry out the needs of our nation the previous denials to recognize voter registration by school administrators have been a denial of American democracy I truly believe establishing a voter registration education curriculum in a district initiative would POS positively and immensely impact the educational experience for every student at a D21 school by preparing students to be engaged and empowered citizens we not only further the quality of their education but also ensure the vitality and continuity of the Civic process providing students with the resources and skill sets they need to shape the world we Forge a bright and hopeful future for our nation after all education is not simply classrooms filled with facts and questions but a hand molding an Engaged electorate prepared to answer the call of democracy thank you for your time this evening thank you Lee Bennett followed by Wendy Crosley hello Dr small Mr Schumacher board staff and Community I'm Lee Bennett father of an education major our schools have an underperforming group not mentioned in the district Equity metrics this group may not be a minority of the entering freshman class but they end up being a minority of the graduates I'm speaking of boys author Richard Reeves of boys and men why the modern male is struggling why it matters and what to do about it indicts our country and its educational system in particular of failing to prepare our boys for a world where women are empowered the book makes the case that changes over re recent decades have improved women's lives but not men's for example the rate of participation in the workforce has steadily fallen from 80 80% in 1970 to under 68% and wages have been flat for the median male worker studies show that many efforts to improve our education have worked but only for the girls reevs and I don't want to make America great Again by returning to the social structures of the 1950s instead we feel our society will be better off when when empowered women have Choice choices that include partnering with a capable man the best known metric for how our education system has shifted is the enrollment ratio in college Advocates insisted that title 9 regulations were needed to address the 6040 Advantage men held it took about a decade for this metric to reach parity and 25 years for the race itio to flip changes have been much slower over the last 25 years but the trend towards even greater share of women in colleges continues among other things Reeves recommends investing in a men can heal initiative to promote the faster growing have one minute remaining female dominated fields of health education Administration and literacy to boys this effort would be modeled off after um programs that promote High ping stem careers to girls to Reeves re recommendations I add my own stop limiting competitive sports for boys due to the lower interest of the girls the notion that males are more interested in competitive Sports is not a misogynistic assumption it's a well established by lots of data including our District's own which I am presented in October since this is a domain that attracts more male interest it provides additional opportunity for male teachers to be a role model for our boys additional opportunities to participate in sports might not solve much of the problems in educating boys but it would be a symbolic step in a needed Direction your speaking time is Ended as please finish your statement and as was the case 50 years ago we need to address the needs of the underrepresented sex in our schools please note that a different sex is now underrepresented of in our education system okay thank you thank you right uh Wendy C Crosley good evening Wendy Crosley resident good evening word members I first want to thank you for uh your commitment to the students and the community um I'm here as a concerned parent and would like to discuss the challenges faced by eighth grade students enrolled in the advanced math program at shamberg high school and to seek your support in helping this program live up to what it was always intended to be an opportunity for some of the best and brightest mathematics students to extel and achieve their full potential the way the program has been implemented has created some unintended challenges and gaps for these eth grade students after the start of the semester our family was surprised to learn that because of the different schedules across the districts and transportation Logistics 8ighth grade students would miss 12 math classes each year as well as part of their class time at the junior high school each day which amounted to over 50 class hours lost as the school year progressed our student shared some of the challenges you heard tonight when they can't attend math during late start days like their high school peers eighth grade students are held to the same standards as their high school peers but do not have the same access to resources and there are no other adjustments to the curriculum to address these gaps early in the semester we shared our concerns with the school and District officials and we were advised that options would be explored to better support students and address these issues unfortunately as the end of the semester approached and students had missed 6 days of math class there had been no updates to students or families and very little progress so today I'm here to respectfully ask you our board to please help students receive the resources and support they need to be better to be able to achieve their academic goals as a parent I know one minute remaining that I don't fully understand the complexities of the board system and the education system however I trust that this board Administration and education Educators at both districts are intelligent and dedicated individuals we asked that the that the board encourage that collaboration and I help identify short-term and long-term Solutions such as allowing students to attend math class on late start days even if this requires some coordination with District 54 consistently providing asynchronous materials for these students and on on a longterm basis ask the board to consider creating a policy that would allow future 8th grade students to take the class in District 54 and receive high school credit throughout this process I've always believed that Educators and administrators want what is best for students I ask that you consider what is best for students today and support 8th grade students in math 328 thank you thank you right um I thank all of our speakers this evening and I would really like to um thank our students for sharing your insights on the importance of voting I think that that's really important um and I think if I heard you correctly you have some suggestions so if you do have suggestions I'd like you to to forward them on to Mr tener which can then be shared with the board and uh Dr small and then taking it back to to the schools so I thank you again for that um that concludes our public comments our next item of business is going to be the public hearing on the proposed 2024 tax levy so if you want to give Mr tener your information that's great you could do that now if you want to stay for the rest of the meeting um we could do that all right all right then that takes us to our public hearing on the proposed 20 24 tax levy there's going to be two motions we'll open it up for the hearing and then we will close the hearing the first recommended uh motion is that in accordance with Section 517 d1.3 of the Illinois school code cash balances are reported in item C excuse me item 7. C of tonight's meeting agenda and the public hearing on the proposed 2024 ta Levy of Township High School District 211 is now open may I have a motion please so moved second okay any discussion all right and it's a Voice vote those in favor of opening up the meeting please signify by saying I I opposed okay the motion carries so the meeting the public um hearing is now open I do have one speaker and uh Jessica Hinkle so if you'd like to come up to the podium and we'll follow the same rules in regards to uh the public comment um I only have one person signed up so if we can do for five minutes for speaking if if you need to okay thank you um my name is Jessica hle still and I'm still a member of the community um so as per this uh District 211 board policy DCA operating fund balance the Board of Education should Target an operating fund balance excluding non-expendable fund balance of approximately 33% of next year's budget's expenditures representing about 4 months of operations over the past several years the budget has been presented supposedly as a planned deficit budget to decrease excessive reserves however each of those years resulted in significant surpluses why is this happening it is clear to me that the budget is not accurate and as a result the taxpayers are getting squeezed for no reason I know there are a lot of people out there that say they're okay with paying higher taxes because our children's education is worth it however when the money that is collected from higher taxes is not used for the students and just put into investment funds how is this actually helping the students quite honestly I think it's having an opposite effect for many community members many board members ran on the topic of equity when you tax a community excessively to the point that the middle and lower class income families can not afford to live in the district who are you actually serving unless the administration can explain where the $58 million that is unassigned in the current fund balance is actually going to be used you as board members The Advocates of the community should be voting no to the pro proposed tax increase if you vote Yes it is clear it is a clear indication that you either don't understand how budgets work you don't represent the community or you're trying to create a community of just upper class people thank you thank you I do not have anyone else signed up to speak in regards to the uh public hearing all right so then that way the next will be a motion to close the public hearing the recommended action is that the public hearing on the proposed 2024 tax levy of Township High School District 211 is now closed May I have a motion please so moved second any discussion okay again that'll be a Voice vote so those in favor please signify by saying I I oppos okay the motion carries so the public hearing is now closed that will take us to um our presentation and we have a presentation on the Strategic Plan update um Excellence of Staff Madame President can we take a quick break I beg your friend can we take a quick break all right well really quick okay yes real quick for for thank you all right um now for our presentation Dr small tonight Director of Human Resources Dr Brittain as well as assistant superintendent Mr tener are going to present a strategic Plan update regarding our 2,000 employees in district 21 good evening during the development of our strategic plan District 21's excellent staff was frequently noted by all stakeholder groups as one of the district's strongest resources consequently one of the 10 goals in the Strategic plan is devoted to developing and nurturing this resource this is an acknowledgement that our staff is a critical piece in carrying out the mission of our organization goal number eight reads like this all students will have exceptional learning opport OPP unities through the retainment and development of a highly effective staff obviously there are other important ingredients to creating great educational experiences for our students but our carrying and dedicated staff are the foundation of these experiences within goal eight there are three indicators that we will talk about tonight professional development and growth staff wellness support systems and hiring a diverse staff each of these indicators plays an important role in ensuring that our staff continues to be one of our greatest strengths for years to come a deep pool of talented teachers cannot be guaranteed especially with science pointing to educator shortages in the years to come so we are taking steps to address our future shortages by focusing on the resources that are accessible to us right now our students and our staff at our last board meeting you heard a presentation by Michelle Napier and Josh Shaker on post-secondary success in our career Pathways for the education pathway District 211 provides a series of courses that allow students to explore education as a career and in these courses students spend over 60 hours in Hands-On learning environments in our in-house preschool labs in the district 15 or 54 classrooms um and even District 211 classrooms these experiences solidify students interests in education as a career as well as prepare them for the Journey of becoming a teacher in October of this year m Napier coordinated an event hosted at Northern Illinois University for 250 District 211 students interested in becoming Educators I want to clarify this wasn't an event at Northern Illinois for any school to attend our district planned and facilitated this event exclusively for our students at this event students were able to get a closer look at various careers in education collaborating with professors and college students to learn more about the preparation and support a prospective educator receives during their undergraduate experience and then also when the Strategic plan began three years ago we began a senior exit survey to identify those graduates with an interest in a career in education and the first cohort of those graduates will be seniors next year so this spring we will be reconnecting with these alumni to position them well to begin a career potentially in District 211 and then under our staff-based initiatives we focused on fostering professional growth through strategic Partnerships we have a number of teacher assistants who are currently working toward their professional educator license most of which are in high needs areas like ESL or bilingual and special education universities like National Lewis and companies like bloomboard have set up effective programs to address teacher shortages by designing programs that allow for short-term lers in areas of high need to thrive as a learning organization we must continually evolve and adapt to the rapidly changing world we crafted a broad goal to allow flexibility in addressing the emerging needs many of which were unforeseen even three years ago for instance we could not have foretold the very significant increases we have seen in our students uh with English uh language learning needs to address the needs of our growing student population and the adjustments we've had to make to our instructional programming we recognize the importance of providing additional professional development for our teachers to better support these students in the second semester last year we began the planning of launching a program designed to enhance teacher skills and knowledge in instructing bilingual students this initiative also offers an opportunity for educators to earn ISP recognized State endorsements as bilingual and ESL Educators through the elino resource center in partnership with national Lewis University this year 31 of our teachers have begun the courses to meet the requirements for bilingual or ESL endorsement we have a range of teachers from first year teachers to 20e plus veterans who recognize the value of developing instructional strategies to meet the needs of students whose primary and sometimes only language is not English in 1994 I began my career as a teacher back then floppy discs Speedy dialup internet and the early days of this thing called worldwide web were cutting edge and a small startup uh began selling books from Jeff bezos's garage just has technology has rapidly evolved so to must Educators to address the everchanging needs of students we can't just rely solely on what we learned at the start of our careers today's challenges and opportunities are entirely new requiring us to stay equipped to guide our students professional development isn't optional it's essential to prepare students for an unpredictable but exciting future this semester our technology department uh our technology department chairs have provided professional development to teachers and school leaders on leveraging artificial intelligence to enhance teaching and learning and in the second week of January we'll extend this training to all schools helping support staff harness ai's potential to improve efficiency now let me share a a minor example of how this could apply fresh off of my AI training I was having a conversation with a principal's Administrative Assistant who was once again sharing that she was repeatedly asked questions about our tuition reimbursement process from our teachers we concluded you know what we need to do is uh develop a guide so we can just hand it to students or to teachers that will walk them through the process so I uploaded our teacher's contract into chat GPT and provided a prompt for it to read the contract and provide guidance on what teachers need to do to qualify for tuition reimbursement gave me something I said give me a little more detail and then it generated a categorized document like this one in front of you um so the the principal uh administrative assistant and I went through it the output we made some changes and uh in a few moments we were done what would have taken well over an hour took about 15 minutes as you heard from Dr Brittain professional development can play an important role in the ongoing development of our staff um and uh indicator 8.3 which we're moving into now aims to support employees by focusing on the wellness and support systems that we provide for our staff workplace Solutions is our employee assistance provider they provide a range of services including those listed on this slide through the efforts of our director of benefit Helen Miller and members of The Wellness committee which is comprised of representatives from each school we have been promoting the different ways that employees can capitalize on EAP resources after an informational meeting at one school three employees contacted workplace solutions for help with Elder Care Solutions and uh while an employee at another school contacted workplace solutions for assistance in their role as executive of a family member's will the wellness committee is also an important resource for supporting the physical and mental health of our faculty these committee members are responsible for informing our staff of the various resources we provide such as workplace Solutions and other Wellness Resources they are all also instrumental in coordinating our health and wellness screenings connected to our insurance in their buildings they also lead various healthy lifestyle initiatives like exercise or fitness challenges and uh they have created care packages for staff members they've organized therapy dog visits and uh they have created mindfulness rooms at Hoffman Estates High School Wellness coordinator Wade Heisler provides the staff at his school with a monthly newsletter as you can see on the screen and he organizes regular informational sessions about Wellness initiatives that he calls fires sides he's also created an Afterschool workout group for staff that meets twice a week um while providing resources for teachers to use at their at home with their family on nutrition counseling and family activities Mr Heisler explains that he wants the teachers at Hoffman Estates to model healthy behaviors in front of students so that they begin to understand that Wellness is a lifelong Pursuit recruitment remains a critical Focus for our district we've refined our strategies by expanding efforts to reach historically under representative groups and leveraging social media to reach a broader audience our efforts have resulted in Progressive increases in the applicants of color which in turn has helped us in meeting the goal of diversifying our staff this summer we held our second annual District 211 job fair and use multiple platforms to advertise it including using video ads like this at District 211 we're dedicated to making sure students have the knowledge and skills needed to reach their full potential every employee is part of this effort we're hiring now for Food Service workers bus drivers teachers assistants custodians and more make a difference Create Your Story here since setting this goal we've made steady progress meeting our Target last year and actually exceeding it this year a more diverse applicant pool increases the likelihood of hiring Educators from varied backgrounds enhancing staff representation to better reflect our student population this diversity brings broader perspectives enriches the educational environment and promotes Equity the data underscores the value of ongoing efforts to attract diverse candidates and highlights our progress even as we work toward achieving full proportional representation this chart shows our current student demographics and Compares it to our Educators it is obvious that there are significant differences our student body continues to change but we are also making significant inroads with our staff this chart Compares our new hires over the past three school years and Compares it to our student body showing that our hires now better reflect our students it highlights our initiatives including creating a hiring toolkit to support candidate screening and interviews and fostering professional development focused on equity and diversity among these hires is Jenny Hong a former engineer with a Purdue degree in engineering and two master's degrees in engineering one from Santa Clara University and the other from Northwestern she now teaches applied Tech and math while finishing up an El endorsement fluent in Mandarin she brings unique expertise and perspective to her classroom also included in the in our new hires is Alejandro Marcato a Spanish-speaking Wellness teacher overcoming challenges uh similar to those faced by our students as a competitive boxer she literally and figuratively fought through to a path in education her video interview revealed qualities far beyond what a transcript or resume could show take a listen if you can build those relationship with all your students you could have a lifel lasting impact on them I know that's kind of what happened to me in my school and that's what influenced me to make the decision to come back and be an educator I was a student who was not interested in academics and I it took one PE teacher to come into my life and tell me that I could do it and I had leadership skills and I was capable of anything I set my mind to and they said it to me enough times that I finally started believing it myself and came a long way and I think that's where you define success as a teacher is building relationships with your students that could have lifelong impact and even life-altering impacts on them this chart downloaded from our school rep par card data and a little difficult to see in this presentation but it illustrates the demographics of our teachers over the past 10 years historically our teacher demographics have remained unchanged staying at 88% white for many years well before even the time frame shown in this chart however since establishing a specific goal to address this we've seen progress over the last three years our teacher diversity has increased by 1% each year while this may seem like a small shift with nearly a, licensed Educators and an annual hiring rate between 20 and 50 individuals this change takes time the progress though gradual is measurable and significant and it's meaningful Jenny or Alejandra may very well be that one teacher that our students will talk about that they saw themselves in and inspired them them to be an educator themselves as with anything the things that you prioritize have the best chance of coming to fruition and we've uh been very intentional in our approach to staff Wellness to professional development and to hiring and the results support that thank you for your time listening to our presentation and we will now take time for questions thank you very much I'll start with Miss Baron thank you so much for your presentation tonight and being here with us I really appreciated all the information that you shared um no questions but just um as always I love to hear from our students I love to hear like all the experiences that they have um and like that powerful impact that teachers can have just connecting with their students and the representation that we're increasing and our students can see um themselves and um I know that I wouldn't be here today without those impactful teachers that I had in district 21 well I was many years ago so thank you so much thank you Mr Rosen Bloom thank you very much for the presentation as you know as an HR professional myself um I'm very pleased with the additional efforts that we're doing as a a school district to encourage our students to become Educators my daughter is now an educator in district 15 and she was was inspired to become an educator from one of her teachers at shamberg high school um who made a difference to her and she wanted to emulate that and give back the way that he did to her and now she has aspirations well beyond teaching but certainly still in the education world so uh so I know how important that is and it was great to hear that student that I think a former student who um who had that that teacher an inspiration within our district as well during her video interview so uh so that's really what it's about our Educators doing good building relationships with the students and it's great to hear many of the things that you're already working on and having success with so thank you very much okay thank you Miss kavl thank you for the presentation I reflect previous comments um I do want to ask you to pass on on my congratulations to Michelle Napier for that event that she organized which sounds phenomenal I knew I wanted to be a teacher when I was a sophomore in high school because of a teacher not from here down state a similar philosophy and experience so that was great um but that sounds like a huge achievement so fantastic to her I do have a clarifying question and it is about the comments you made regarding uh the use of chat GPT which you know that's uh an examp example of what it's good at doing so that's great I just want to make sure you clarify when you put our contract in you were using our chat GPT enterprise portal right so we're going to clarify for the community that it's not just the go to open Ai and use their publicly available model and I I just wanted to make sure that on the record that that's that's what we're doing right we're using the in-house yes and that's important to clarify of course because you know part of that commitment is that it's ulates that the data we put in such as our employment contract is not going to be used to train any of open ai's generative AI projects so um I'm pleased to hear that that's fantastic and um thank you again for the presentation there's a lot of exciting stuff going on okay thank you Mr dumbrowski thank you uh the information was thorough um well presented I'm torn because obviously there's not enough Engineers out there and and you're poaching the best obviously Purdue educated Engineers but congratulations on inquiring a Purdue engineer there's still time for a career change right Mr McGowan absolutely thank you for the presentation um I guess for our guests that are here I just I just want to put everything in context it's been I ran on a platform of equity so this was something I was very passionate about from day one uh when I first got to the board we sat down and we found the district had three big ways we could have uh impact change in the district and that was h te of color which is the representation diversifying our curriculum and per development for our staff our existing staff and I'm just I want to command a district for doing those three things here it is three years later we've seen small changes in my op but I would I would equate that the teacher part of it I would equ to everyone's ficient for teachers now so I think if that weren't the case and we didn't have the shortage I think those percentages would be even higher right now given all the work that we put in so I just want to uh congratulate this district and let our community members know that there are other districts that aren this conversation there are other districts who are still in denial like hey we don't have these issues our our student population is extremely happy and everyone's succeeding that's not the conversation we've had that's not the tone that this Administration Dr small has taken I just I'm grateful to see the work and I'm I'm grateful to see what it looks like in another four years so thank you okay I thank you very much for the presentation I'm glad that we are making progress and we're moving along that's that's commendable to to your departments and I would really like to commend and all of our staff please let them know how valued they are and what they're doing for our students because I know we are demanding a lot of them and that's important um one of the things that I'm very pleased about is the mental health the well-being aspect the social emotional because that's really vital that um our staff has that and then they can demonstrate that to the students and that's also vital for our administrators here because you deal with an awful lot and to our principles because they deal with more than just students they deal with the staff and they deal with parents and you do need that you know ability to have some some downtime and being able to understand uh the importance of uh social emotional Wellness so I thank you very much um unless there's any other questions then we thank you thank you and have a good evening all right all right that is going to take us to our consent agenda items and is there I do have one request of an item to be removed are there any other requests for removal of an item okay then we're going to end up with uh two motions the first motion is a recommended action is that the consent agenda be approved as presented with the removal of item number G resolutions authorizing intervention in proceedings before the state property tax appeal board may I have a motion please so moved second any discussion there okay roll call please miss Baron I Miss Cavell I Mr dski I Mr Macwan I Mr Rosen Blum I Mrs climit I all right the motion carries the next recommended action is item letter G and the recommended action is that the Board of Education approve the resolutions authorizing intervention in proceedings before the state property tax appeal board which seek assessed valuation reductions in excess of 100 $100,000 for property tax year 2023 docket numbers 2023-24 59 2023-24 one6 2023-24 720 2023 D3 0589 2023 D2 3557 2023-24 36 2023 3- 31283 2023 d29 one65 and 223-224 and further authorize franic as the board of education's legal representative to file requests to intervene appeal proceeding forms with the property tax appeal board on the properties for which the district receives notification of appeal may I have a motion please so moved second okay any discuss roll call please miss Baron I miss kaville I Mr dski no Mr Macwan I Mr Rosen Blum I Mrs kimowitz I the motion carries that will then take us to our special reports and communication we have some Freedom of Information uh information there and if there's no questions then we'll move on to uh number nine our unfinished business and the first item of action the recommended action is that the Board of Education approve the amount of 275 m822 th000 as the 2024 Levy for the Township High School District 211 may I have a motion please so moved second okay any discussion yes dski thank you madam president um I would ask that this board clarify to the community what money is important and what is not this board will increase the levy amount 4 4.5% over last year this is 11,793 th000 more than last year the last budget year ended with 10,846 260 in Surplus why do we need $1,792 th000 more than last year when the rebates are paid to over assess property owners and we vote to aate a recapture Levy why are those monies considered a relief and this increase tonight not if we need 11.8 million tonight why didn't we need 2,534 745 last December when the supplemental Levy was abated why do we Abate any money from a tax levy if in two years when the district is sitting on over $ 57.8 million in unassigned monies we will approve a look back Clause to add those dollars back in anyway this is not property owner Rel belief this is an unchecked greed by an entitled Administration that requires this board to be the voice of victimized Property Owners why is the look back monies more important than the recapture monies is one type of monies compounding in perpetuity and more oppressive to the tax base and the other a single collection that has a temporary impact the absolute worst part of this is that the information to make a reasonable assessment of District finances is presented clearly and acutely it is only by complacency lack of due diligence and blind trust that prevents this board of education from balancing the needs of the district with fair and reasonable funding requests from the community this Levy is excessive the documented financial reporting in today's agenda validates this position to vote for this Levy is either a result of ignorance or malice towards our community thank you Dr small is there anything you wanted to add in regards to the levy um I will speak to the um property tax refund Levy as detailed in the agenda in uh other Communications that as the Cook County treasur puts forth more information that we are just starting to get this will be brought to the board in February to review and then see if they want to take any action on that okay thank you any other comments Madam president my comments um to these matters have been repeated at nauseum as they are the same arguments that we continue to have over and over and over again so just to Briefly summarize I don't believe that homeowners should be paying for the refunds of commercial and business owners property taxes that's something I'm unanimously opposed to um speaking to the abatements of the particular levies mentioned in earlier remarks as well as um the fact that those remarks to me are only accurate if one eliminates all context of our various Financial positions and uh 5-year projections um and which to me does not represent sound financial decision-making as budget projections and um prospective costs of our various contracted employees and services as I've spoken to at the last meeting are things that we have to plan for rather than react to as perhaps a business might be able to do on an annual basis you know we we run a diff very different organization over here but I'm not going to beat a dead horse we'll have the same argument next year and I look forward to tussling again thank you okay thank you any other comments answer questions um if I may I appreciate everybody's point of view um this is not always it's not an easy decision um I think that um all of us here take this very serious um we do our due diligence we do our homework um I do not appreciate the name calling I think that points can be made without um name calling um and again I think all of us do our homework can take this very serious so thank you so much okay thank you all right I I agree with Miss Baron name calling U at the board table of other board members is really unnecessary and uncalled for and quite honestly unprofessional um I I want to make sure everybody realizes that not only are we elected officials and representatives of the community we are part of the community so whatever actions we take with regards to impacting our constituents impact us as well so I want everybody to keep that in mind okay thank you very much all right any other comments all right then may I have a roll call please Mr D brosi no Miss Cavell yes Mr Macwan yes Miss Baron yes Mr Rosenbloom I Mrs kimowitz I the motion carries Mr Macwan can you use the microphone so we make sure that your voice is heard okay thank you very much right then that takes us to um the proposed policy revision gcg professional staff probation and tenure uh the recommended action is that the board policy file gcg professional staff probation and tenure policy be mod ified as proposed and added as an active board policy on board decks further that the superintendent be directed to make appropriate distribution may I have a motion please so moved second okay any discussion okay roll call please Mr Rosenblum hi Miss Kell hi Mr donosi hi Mr mcowan hi Miss Baron hi Mrs clitz I the motion carries um the next item is the recommended action is that board policy file gqb custodial maintenance grievance procedures be deleted as the board policy further that the superintendent be directed to remove the policy from active status on board decks may I have a motion please so moved second okay any discussion roll roll call please Mr mcowan I miss Baron I miss caval I Mr dooski I Mr Rosenblum I Mrs Glitz all the motion carries next recommended action is that board policy file gqb cafeteria grievance procedures be deleted as a board policy further that the superintendent be directed to remove the policy from active status on board decks may I have a motion please so moved second okay any discussion roll call please Mr D Browski I Mr Rosenblum hi Miss Cavell hi Mr McOwen hi Miss Baron hi Mrs clitz I the motion carries next items are under new business the recommended action is that the Board of Education acknowledges receipt of the June 30th 2024 annual comprehensive financial report which includes the financial statements as prepared by Township High School District 211 and audited by Baker Tilly us LLP certified public accountants may I have a motion please so moved second okay any discussion Dr small in accordance with the requirements of the governmental Accounting Standards Board the district is required to have an independent audit of its Financial records including a test of financial controls completed on an annual basis The Firm of Baker Tilly recently completed the audit of the district's financial statements for the year ending June 30th 2024 and have issued an opinion thereon the district's annual comprehensive financial report referred to as the acur was prepared by Baker Tilly in cooperation with our business office I am pleased to introduce to you Sebastian debrowski who is here this evening on behalf of the board's accounting firm Baker Tilly he will present the Board of Education A Brief Review of our audit this evening thank you Dr small and thank you everyone for your time tonight so Mike mot the partner on the audit who has spoken to you in the past was unfortunately not able to make it tonight but my name is Sebastian zabowski I'm a senior audit supervisor with Baker Tilly and I'm just going to go over briefly the results of the audit uh before I do I do want to thank Lauren Barb Kathy um members of the office the business office for all their help in getting the audit completed this year it is a really big heavy lift to prepare for the audit a respond to all of our supporting documentation requests on top of their day-to-day job responsibilities so we really appreciate all that help in getting the audit completed and issued so I'm not going to go into the specifics on the numbers I'm just going to kind of go over the reports what they are what the results are so the first I'll start with is the reporting and insights communication letter so that's a letter from US the auditor to you the governing body that outlines the plan scope of the audit what our responsibilities are as Auditors your responsibilities as a governing body if there were any key financial statement finding matters or control internal control matters those would be outlined in here uh we do do walkthroughs over your internal control processes so we look at your significant transaction Cycles to determine if there's any operational risks that we want to apply additional procedures to uh we're happy to report that we did not have any recommendations to your internal controls at this time uh they're operating appropriately right now um outside of that there's also some Communications in here on future accounting updates there are no new standard implementations for fiscal year 2024 so uh great news there makes it a quiet year there and then um I also just want to remind you that we do report to you as the governing board we are engaged by you so if you have any um questions or any concerns we want to be a resource for you so we look forward to hearing from you and please don't hesitate to reach out so the of the audit was on the annual comprehensive financial report um it's got the full picture of the district's Financial uh position for the year uh at the beginning is the transmittal letter and the Management's discussion and Analysis letter uh I highly recommend reading through those uh quick overview of what went on during the year uh in a narrative format with comparison to the prior year um the opinion is at the front near the basic financial statements it's a four-page opinion it's an unqualified or unmodified opinion which is the highest level of insurance that we can provide over your financial information that's unchanged from the prior year so anyone can pick up your financials and rely on the information within uh further on you've got detailed notes to your financial statements you've got budgetary to actual comparison schedules in the back and statistical information that gives you 10 years of long-term Trend data both financial and demographic outside of that we've got some more financial information that gets prepared in the annual financial report that gets submitted to the State Board um it's pretty much the same as the annual comprehensive financial report information on top of that it's got some statutory compliance matters that we look into it gets presented into a standardized form that gets submitted to the state and put into its uh repository um no findings there a clean opinion on your AFR uh there is Page four in the AFR that's got your financial profile score so the district had recognition status which is the highest um Benchmark of the state Awards and also four out of four maximum points on the Financial profile score so those two reports will cover your financial position uh we do do an audit on your federal funding uh it's a uniform guidance audit or a single audit so we come in and we look at the compliance over the spend of your federal funds uh specifically this year we uh tested your education stabilization fund and your idea special education cluster uh so we go in again look at compliance over how that funding was spent uh no findings there and then we also look at the controls over the programs to assure compliance and then the last report that we issue is the comprehensive Financial year-end report uh the cipher it gets submitted to the grant accountability and transparency unit uh no findings there uh clean clean opinion there as well so in all four reports um no findings and with the annual comprehensive annual comprehensive financial report um the business office barart Peterson and her team they prepare that report it's one of the few districts that we work with that actually prepares its own Rapport and they do a tremendous job there so um those were my prepared remarks and happy to answer any questions you have okay thank you any questions okay if not then I I thank you very much and I'd like to recognize Miss hmel oh sorry okay recognize miss hmel and miss Peterson and the staff for all that you do uh you answer our questions you provide us with information and I I know how diligent you ladies are along with your staff so thank you very very much right thank you for D okay thank you all right then uh any other discussion or questions before we get to the the action item I just want to thank the the firm and our district for providing us with the information last week um it was interesting reading material as always and uh good educational information for the board to have thank you very much okay then we're ready for a roll call please miss Baron roll call [Laughter] hi Mr Macwan hi Mr dumbrowski hi Mr Rosen blo I miss Cabell I Mrs clim quitz I the motion carries all right then that takes us to our uh operating fund balance for the period ending June 30th 2024 Dr small the information in the act for allows us to also bring you a standalone report detailing our fund balances as of June 32024 the fund balance levels are maintained to ensure adequate levels of consistent operational and financial planning purposes including avoiding short-term and long-term borrowing okay um then that takes us to the 20123 2024 popular annual financial report of the Board of Education again it's informational item Dr small while the act for includes the information required with a complete audit we have again prepared a paer which is the popular annual financial report to facilitate informed understanding in a different format the Auditors presented High Praise of the quality work conducted by the members of our business team and I want to uh also express our thanks to uh Lauren hmel Bart Peterson Sandy IMS Kathy Zusi who are part of the team that helps develop the ACT as well as Aaron Holmes and her Department which helps put it into a more userfriendly form of the paer okay thank you very much that takes us to uh information about student user fees introduction Dr small as stated this is only an introduction to the structure for District 211 for 2025 2026 school year fees there's no action tonight only information and preparation for January's meeting where the board will then take action on the fees for the upcoming school year as a reminder prior to covid the enrollment fee was $170 per student during Co the feed was waved for four years and the board set the fee last year at $75 per student last year for this year excuse me it is this year's fee okay thank you all right that takes us to um an action item the recommended action is that the Board of Education approve the intergovernmental agreement between the District 211 Board of Education and the community unit distri District 220 board of education for participation in a course exchange recip reciprocity reciprocity reciprocity program may I have a motion please so move okay Dr small District 211 has been partnering with barington District 220 since prior to 2010 to engage in this course exchange reciprocity program through the program students enrolled in District 211 are permitted to roll in certain courses offered by District 220 and students enr rolled in 220 are permitted to roll in specific courses of study offered by District 211 the interg government agreement which is before you tonight provides legal standing and protections for both districts and allows the program to continue by mutual agreement okay any questions in regards to that clarifying note it says in the agreement that um each district is responsible for the transportation of its serving District students yes correct thank you any other questions all right if not roll call please miss caval hi Mr Rosen Bloom hi Miss Baron hi Mr oski I Mr Macwan I Mrs clim quitz I the motion carries all right that takes us to our next recommended action and that is that the Board of Education approve the memorandum of understanding between the Village of Arlington Heights the Board of Education of community Consolidated School District 15 the board of Education of Township High School District 211 the Board of Education of Township High School district 214 and cbfc Development LLC may I have a motion please some moved okay okay Dr small tonight's vote on the memor of understanding is culmination of months of thoughtful negotiation and collaboration between High School District 211 Community consolidate excuse me Community Consolidated School District 15 Township High School District 21114 the Village of Arlington Heights and the Chicago Bears football club the document we are considering tonight reflects our commitment to ensuring the Redevelopment of the Arlington Park site is managed to prioritize the long-term interest of our students schools and communities is results of months of careful negotiation and collaboration among the three School Districts The Village of Arlington Heights and the Chicago Bears football club each organization whether it be the school district the Bears or the Village of Arlington Heights brought their key concerns of theou to the table the school districts consistently sent a common message that this can be found within theou that's presented to you tonight that message consistent from the school districts included full financial support for any new students that may come from the residential development on the property true voting power for any Tiff decisions or pilotti agreements and a tax agreement that is in line with the most recent Cook County assessor's office assessment which Rises between two 5% if there's no completion of stadi Stadium building milestones in the next 3 years while the Chicago Bears have not yet committed to Arlington Heights this agreement reflects our Readiness and optimism it provides a roadmap that balances the opportunities presented between this Redevelopment with the protections needed to safeguard our schools and communities I want to thank my colleagues in district 15 and 214 the Village of Arlington Heights and the Chicago Bears for their collaboration and dedication throughout this process now to provide you more details on theou and the negotiations process I'd like to introduce franic attorney Scott meaf and Coen lobbyist Matt glavin who've been integral partners with the three school districts as we navigated these complex negotiations they will provide a more detailed summary provide insights and address any questions that we might have thank you good evening I'm uh Scott metf I'm a partner at franic PC and I have been working on the former Arlington Park race property for just over two years now um and tonight what I would like to do is go through a timeline of events that have led us up to this point uh look at the key terms and provisions of the memorandum of understanding which I'll probably be referring to later on as theou um then we're going to look at moving forward what does this mean how will the how do we anticipate that the mou will impact the district and and the the future of the property and then um Matt will be giving a legislative update and finally uh we'd be happy to answer any questions that the board members have this first slide in the presentation is an aerial photograph of the old Arlington Park race course as it existed until 20123 when demolition of the uh race course property started you'll see at the top of the property there was a training track and horse stables in the top triangle portion along Highway 53 um then as you proceed down uh directly below that there were a number of dormitories uh for the seasonal staff and in the lower right hand corner of the property is the the portion that we're all most familiar with which is the racetrack and grandstand and the parking at uid and wilky Roads this is an aerial view of what the uh Chicago Bears football club proposed to develop the property into once it was purposed uh purchased the uh the upper leftand corner is the stadium District where the uh doed stadium that we're all familiar with have has been talked about a lot would be built that particular portion that's labeled the stadium District by my populations is a little bit over 120 Acres the portion of the property in the lower right hand corner that's labeled mixed use district is uh it would be a combination of commercial venues and residential venues which include town homes condominiums and apartments that particular portion of the property is 200 Acres so the Lion Share of of this property would be developed into property that could potentially house students and impact the all of the districts and that is really what what was the motivating force behind this this memorandum of understanding because beyond the stadium there is a huge amount of residential development possibility for this property the timeline of events started in the fall of 2021 when the Arlington Park site went under contract for purchase to by the Chicago bearers um in April and July of 2022 uh superintendent Lorie Hines of district 15 sent two letters to the Village of AR Arlington Height Heights expressing her concern about the potential residential development on the property um in September of 2022 the Bears made their presentation at hery High School in which we F got their first um we got their our first impression of what they intended to do with the property which at this point is still conceptual drawings which we just saw in the previous slide um and then in February of 2023 the Bears purchased the property and that that sale closed at a purchase price of $197 million um and in April of 18th of 2023 the the Chicago Bears Village of Arlington Heights and representatives um of districts 15 211 and 214 uh met uh at district 15 I remember that day well because I believe it was Kevin Warren's first day on the job um and so we were we were greeting him at the door so to speak uh it was then not until August 3rd of 2023 that the village of Arling height circulated the first draft version of this mou that you're being presented with tonight and we've been working on it almost continuously since August of 2023 in November of 2023 the districts uh met with villing Village of Arlington Heights officials to discuss what we would like to see changed in the memor memorandum of understanding and how this would play into a number of other things that were going on at the time in January of 2024 the superintendent had uh the honor of meeting with Kevin Warren and up level Executives of the Chicago Bears at halis Hall we met again with them at the end of January at the district 214 offices and then uh there was a subsequent meeting um on October 7th of 2024 where we came to an agreement on on the this a near final draft of the memorandum of understanding that's before you tonight now the memorandum of understanding is a 13-page document that's starts out W uh with some contractual language at the beginning section one is the recital and the recital basically just tell you what the position of the parties are who they are and what their expectations are going into the agreement section two of the memorandum of understanding is just a statement of cooperation basically expressing the intent of the parties to cooperate in good faith as they go through the process um of implementing this agreement section three is the purpose and impact of the memorandum of understanding the key Point here is that if the uh stadium is not developed in the Village of Arlington Height Heights then the memorandum of understanding becomes null and void the key the the key provision um really for the school districts begins with section four which is residential development the memorandum of the memorandum of understanding which I promise I'll try to start refer refering to as theou for the sake of time um you know includes a formula for addressing the full per pupil cost of new students that are that come from the development that uh formula takes the operating expenses per puple of the district for the preceding year multiplies it by the number of students that are living within the residential developments on the property and then subtracts out project related revenues uh from the property itself so that would be the property taxes that are already being paid by the residents plus any additional monies that are coming from the Village of Arlington Heights or the Chicago Bears to compensate the district and once you subtract the money the school districts are already getting from the from the um operating expenses per pupil times the number of new students then you get the amount of the operating costs that either the village or the Chicago Bears would have to contribute to the school districts in order to make them whole now the second uh component of section four is a special provision dealing with the capital costs because because of the size of this development and the fact that it is as yet undefined um there is a reasonable possibility that it could generate enough students that especially district 214 and district 15 would have to build additional classroom space to accommodate all of those students and so what uh section four also addresses is these uh Capital costs and uh it binds the parties to negotiate in good faith to find a source uh of money to address those Capital costs then we get into the financing mechanisms for the Redevelopment of the property itself section 5A addresses tax increment financing um it uh provides that Tiff will not be used uh in a portion where the stadium is located and a pilot program is in place and pilot stands for payments in Lee of taxes which was a legislative proposal that was introduced uh by the Chicago Bears um and we'll discuss that a little bit more uh in detail in a second but uh basically this prohibits the use of Tiff and pilot on the same property at the same time um for any uh Tiff District where a sto stadium is located uh the school districts are giving given additional Powers uh with the joint review board which is uh a a a grouping of tax taxing agencies that are going to be impacted by a tiff District um and the joint Review Board in this case would have to would have the power to essentially veto the Tiff district for the stadium portion of the property um they are given voting powers in proportion to their share of the property tax bill and since the school districts generally take up and actually in this case do take up 60% of the property tax bill they would have 60% of the vote and therefore would have the majority vote on whether or not to implement a tiff over the stadium for any Tiff that does not include a stadium The Joint review board would have additional Powers over and above what is in the Tiff act The Joint review board is normally only making recommendations which can can be completely ignored by The Village um they would just have the if in a normal situation with a tiff District if the joint review board votes against the creation of the Tiff district there would only be a super majority required by the village board trustees in order to adopt the Tiff District in this case under this memorandum of understanding there would be no Tiff District unless a majority of the members of The Joint review board voted in favor of the Tiff district for any portion of the property that does not include a Stadium section 5B deals with payment in lie of taxes which I mentioned a little bit earlier this is a legislative proposal um and is not law at the current moment but payments in Lee of taxes the concept is basically that the assessment of the property or a portion of the property would be frozen for a period of 23 to 40 years so there would be no growth in the assessed value value of the property as the stadium was being built and occupied however there would be an agreement in place before that happened which would guarantee that the taxing districts would receive a an additional payment outside of the property tax bill to accommodate for that growth in uh value and that growth in Revenue that's resulting from the development of the property so you would have not only the tax bill but this payment in lie of taxes on top of that that would seek to compensate for the Frozen nature of the assessment so the the agreement provides that the parties will cooperate to promote the to promote this legislation um but it will more importantly um the pilot would uh the pilot agreement would have to contain some specific Provisions the first provision is the identification of the base year which is very important as well as the basee assessment so we will have as uh the school district Representatives uh a seat at the table to decide what that assessed value will be Frozen at for the next 23 to 40 years um we would also have a seat at the table when determining what the annual payment to the taxing agencies will be and an agreement on the capital needs of all three of the school districts now most importantly this pilot agreement would also be subject to the same joint review review board approval process with the school districts having a majority of the vote and the ability to reject any uh pilot agreement that they don't agree with because they would have 60% of the vote as I was discussing a little bit earlier finally in section 7 uh the the memorandum of understanding addresses the uh property tax assessment until construction on the stadium begins so at by way of a little bit of historical perspective um when the racetrack was an operation it was assessed at approximately a market value of approximately 33 million per year in 2022 um when the news of the sale of the property became public um the assessor increased that quite substantially but we agreed with Churchill Downs at the time to settle at a 9 a market value of $95 million per year in 2023 uh no agreement was reached with the Chicago Bears on what the assessment of the property should be but the board of review issued a decision finding that the uh market value of the property was approximately $125 million they have appealed that to the property tax appeal board and that appeal will not be addressed in this memorandum of understanding the parties will simply let the process play out at property tax appeal board the agreement then provides for what the assessment should be in 202 4 and 2025 through 2027 for 2024 the parties agree that the property should be assessed at a market value of $125 million and the 10% assessment level because the um the structures have now been demolished um for 2025 through 2027 that assessed value that market value will remain the same as well as the vacant land um as well as the vacant land uh classification now if the zoning approval is sought by the Chicago Bears um for the tax for tax Year's 2028 through 2030 then that um that $125 million value for the property will remain in place if they do not seek that then the assessed value of the property will increase by um no less than 2% no more than 5% per year um so there's an economic incentive for them to go ahead and achieve the uh completion of the uh application for the um land entitlements that would that would entitle them to develop the property for for tax years um 20 Beyond 2030 if they um have not sought the um building permits then um it would increase again but uh but otherwise if they are seeking building permits then they um they will have maintain that uh market value of $125 million for their assessment section eight of the memorandum of understanding before you move on can you briefly explain where the 10% and the 25% come from yes that comes from the Cook County real property classification ordinance which classifies um homes um which we're all familiar with at 10% of their firm market value for taxation purposes so your assessment when you get it in the mail will show you a fair market value and and then if you multiply that by 10% that's your assessment and your assessment um plus the equalization multiplied by the equalization Factor times the tax rate determines your tax bill um for commercial and Industrial properties commercial property like the RAC track it's assessed at 25% of its fair market value um and vacant land which is um you know has no improvements on it is assessed at 10% just like your res like like your homes are thank you last two sections of the agreement Section 8 um is um a statement on cooperation on public statements and the media um and then section n is just general Provisions um and one thing to note in there is that this U memorandum of understanding is binding on the Chicago Bears football club as well as anyone that they sell um you the property to that would want to develop it in the same manner with a stadium um so um if the team is sold for any reason um there's a provision in section 9 that um continues this memorandum of understanding so I'll turn it over to Matt now to talk a little bit about the um the legislation great thank you Scott thanks for having me here tonight I'm going to keep my remarks pretty high level do a quick overview of what's been happening in Springfield and then obviously happy to take any questions you might have the uh general assembly is getting uh close to wrapping up its two-year session they will return to Springfield on January 2nd and run a lame duck session until January 7th um at uh midnight on January 8th the session is concluded and all legislation has will expire so any bill that was introduced in the last two years that did not become law by midnight on January 7th um goes away the new session starts at noon on uh January 8th when the new general assembly is inaugurated and bills can be reintroduced at that time the session is currently scheduled to run through May 31st of uh 2025 Coen as I mentioned um the legislation will expire on January 8th and members are free to to reintroduce their bills um myself and my partner John Dunn have been meeting with leaders in the general assembly including the Senate President Speaker of the House the minority leaders of both Chambers um as well as other uh influential stakeholders in the process including the local representatives from the community uh We've also been working very closely with the lobbyists for the village Arlington Heights and the Chicago Bears I'm sure you're all aware of the public comments that the governor the speaker and Senate President have been making about the willingness to uh provide public funds for a private Stadium um I think it's safe to say that they're cool to the idea um as recently as earlier this week they've reiterated that that point um in the last few months the state has adjusted its budget projections and is talking about a potential $3 billion deficit for next year this obviously makes um P makes the availability of public funds uh that much harder but we will continue to work with the legislature to ensure that uh any proposal makes sure that the schools are are protected happy to take any questions I know Scott's probably got more questions for him but I'm uh happy to answer any as well any any questions Miss cavl uh Tim if you're ready I can go first hold on just a second I just had thank you for the presentation appreciate Rec it's been a long couple years so I appreciate you laying everything out nice and need for me thank you okay um my question was there's language in there about the imposition of a market oriented Capital like Market oriented capital costs in terms of the residential development and that was part of I'll just call it the story of trying to making trying to make the school districts whole but it's not clear to me from that language who's who's paying that cost and who is that cost being imposed on because when it's speaking specifically to the residential development does that mean units sold in that residential development will have an e extra cost that will then be directed to the school who's paying that it it uh it could be the residents um if the developer of those residential units decides to pass those costs on to the homeowners who are living there um The Village um would could impose impact fees on the developers themselves and ask the developers to pay them um but what the de developer does after that in terms of passing those costs along yes um there there's a limit to the um Power of government to to control you know the economic activity of developers yes okay thank you and then so when we're talking about this joint review review board and the weighted voting um we're talking about um each vote at a school board meeting or are you talking about some members of the school board at the time being part of a joint review board that then votes and those votes are weighted The Joint review board typically has one representative from each taxing agency and so if Lisa uh for example was a member of The Joint review board she her voting power would be in proportion to District 21's portion of the tax bill so um you know let's say that 211 has 36% of the tax bill Lisa would have 36% of the voting power okay thank you those were my clarifying questions thank you very much for the presentation it was very clear and I appreciate it sure Mr dski any questions not at this time no Miss Baron um no questions just thank you so much for being here tonight and I also want to thank um our Administration especially Dr small for continuing um to keep us updated um on a weekly basis almost um and really being open to the communications um with everyone so thank you so much for all the hard work that you've put in and you two as well thank you thank you Mr Rosenblum questions thank you for the presentation and thank you for representing us um locally and downstate um the one question that I have is um I believe you said that if the um the Bears decide not to build a stadium in Arlington Heights then theou is absolved is that correct that's correct then we would start from scratch that was my question what what next do we start this whole ball rolling again in all the different ways that it's already been done with the with the taxing bodies and the Bears and maybe legislators all trying to Hash things out a new development plan of what the property may look like or what the Bears may do with it I mean is it all anything right I'm not a big fan of wh ifs but this sounds like a BG big wh if right well I mean the the the key um Factor here is the stadium because the stadium is not is is so large um and such a huge development of the property that they are seeking tax breaks they are seeking Pilots or tiffs or some sort of economic incentive to help them out if the Bears decided to redevelop it as all residential property or if they sold the property to someone who wanted to turn it into housing units or a data center then this this memorandum of understanding would not apply it it contemplates a stadium being built and huge tax incentives being given to the bearers um so I think it's only appropriate that if something else happens to the property then we start over again and deal with it but all those other situations that I just mentioned developing it as residential or or data center distribution facility all of those things have their would would um would not necessitate such huge tax breaks for the developer okay and I also want to thank the all the parties involved the the school districts The Village the Bears for continuing the dialogue and the willingness to have dialogue because I know that that isn't always necessary in in the case so very appreciative to all of that as well excuse me okay thank you very much thank you for a clear presentation and having the timeline and explaining it to everyone I think it's it's very important because peac meal information has come out and in light you know schools have been looked at negatively and we are just prepar we're looking to make certain that the schools are you know fully covered and that our students are taken care of and I I thank you for the the excellent presentation here if I can add one more component in the what the Bears have currently presented if they move forward with it the stadium portion is in The District 211 area and the residential multi-use portion is the district 15 um 214 area actually district 15 covers the entire area um but theou is set up to protect any one of the three school districts should they change their mind in terms of the approach of how they're designing this but has to include a stadium development yeah thank you for that clarification thank you any other questions okay if not then may I have a roll call please M sorry will you open for discussion or just questions well discussion of course okay thank you I I had no additional questions but I I did have some comments um you know for me uh the action of this board may be inconsistent when we have an assessment um that is determined by the county and is challenged by an established business within our district we hire attorneys to fight the appeals at the property tax appeal board now we're being asked to agree to an incentivizing deal with a commercial entity that has no roots in the community and yet to provide a livelihood for its residents and is sitting on unimproved land as a as a tool of Leverage if this mou is approved tonight I ask this board to consider my words and provide some future consideration to those Property Owners within our district that have established themselves with Decades of equity these residential commercial and Industrial properties are seeking a fair property value to maintain viability as residents in our community I want to vote I want my vote to clear clearly show that d211 is a good partner for municipal agencies that overlap with the district boundaries development is important not only for the government institutions but also for the quality of life it provides to the residents the Alternatives is food deserts blighted property and lower or negative equity growth for property owners but finally I hope this action brings about an end to our need to pay lobbyists if this property is developed into a stadium or some other use this Board needs to return to the focus back to investing in the business of education and return those dollars to our classrooms thank you thank you any other comments or questions or discussion I agree I agree with the state house and that's no public money for a private business and I said that from the outside um this agreement I think represents a good amount of work that I really appreciate and I think it's the best of what overall I consider a bad deal um I'm on board until we get to the pilot I'm not willing to lobby with the Bears for anything and I'm not willing to financially Commit This District to something of 20 3 to 40 years into the future that to me doesn't represent a good financial decision so um you know I've been clear about that from the beginning that's how I feel but not withstanding I think um what you managed to achieve is actually pretty incredible it's just not something I can vote for I think over the years um the board this board and prior boards have been very much against tiffs lasting for such a long period of time and I know we we had some Senators that tried to make some changes to it and hopefully that that will go forward and hopefully that'll address the issues of uh current developments and um you know put us in better positions so I thank you all right any other comments questions or discussion all right may I have a roll call please Mr dski I Mr mcau hi Mr Rosenblum hi Miss caval no Miss Baron hi Mrs kimowitz hi the motion carries that takes us to the next recommended action and that is that the Board of Education award the business for buses for transportation department to the lowest responsive and responsible bidder Central States bus sale in the amount of 1,34 2,770 may I have a motion please so moved second okay Dr small the recommendation before the board is to purchase gasoline and propane fueled buses our transportation department continues to refie the efficiency and practicality of electric buses annually at this point we continue to find alternatives to diesel of gasoline and propane to be the most effective option for transportation requirements within our district okay any comments thoughts questions discussion Dr small just very briefly um and Madame President I know that district 15 recently got some electric buses um and that's fantastic for them but we've had a previous discussion I want to say about a year ago I believe about this maybe a year and a half because I remember it being in the summer but regardless we had a discussion about um whether or not this District could do something similar and one of the things that was discussed at that time um like in comparison to district 15 is the size of our district and exact how many square miles that our buses need to cover and then the V you know the impact that has on the reliability and the other Associated costs so um I appreciate the continued review but we've had previous discussions about this issue too for any community members who are looking for more detail thank you anything else is our enti sir our entire propane right yeah we we currently have uh 25 gasoline buses in our Fleet I think we're at about um somewhere between 70 and 80 in the propane and the remainder are still diesel so this will replace all diesel buses right any other questions I appreciate the continued um influence and in and uh influx of propane powered buses um and the the benefits that those have to our school district the community and the environment and things like that I remember when we first looked at that and first started to bring them in and it's uh it's pretty impressive the the transition that we've been going through to uh gradually switch over to more more efficient and effective uh resources so thank you for that all right if there's no other comments or questions or discussion then may I have a roll call please Mr Rosenblum hi Miss Baron hi Mr McOwen hi Miss Cavell I Mr dski I Mrs clim quitz I the motion carries the next recommended action is that the Board of Education authorize the district to complete an application for the school maintenance program grant for the replacement of Fire display panels and further that funds be allocated in the 2024 2025 and 2025 2026 operations and maintenance budgets for completion of this project may I have a motion please so moved okay all right Dr small this is a matching Grant from the isbe for up to $50,000 all right I know you provided us information any questions comments discussion okay none then may I have a roll call please Mr McAllen hi Mr Rosen blo hi Miss Cavell hi Mr dumi I M Miss Baron hi Mrs Glitz hi the motion carries next recommended action is that the Board of Education schedule regular board meetings in the ga mcroy Administration Center to begin at 6:30 p.m. for the purpose of entering closed session with the public portion of the business meetings beginning at 7:30 p.m. for Thursday July July 177 2025 Thursday August 14th 2025 Thursday September 18th 2025 Thursday October 16th 2025 Thursday November 6th 2025 Thursday December 11th 2025 Thursday January 22nd 2026 Thursday February 19th 2026 Thursday March 19th 2026 Thursday April 16th 2026 Thursday May 14th 2026 and Thursday June 18th 2026 further that the board secretary be directed to post proper notice may I have a motion please so moved okay discussion Dr small each year the Board of Education sets the dates for the upcoming fiscal year at the high school level the major events and building usage calendar development begins in February for the upcoming year by approving these dates early the Board of Education can then uh help the school districts manage those programs events and calendar dates to go outside of the board meetings as best as possible okay any comments thoughts questions okay roll call please Mr dski I Mr Rosen blo I Mr Macwan hi Miss Baron I miss caval I Mrs clim quits I the motion carries next recommended action is that the Board of Education approve the pre-approval form for future expense reimbursement for Steven Rosen Bloom to attend the Ed red annual legislative dinner meeting on January 27th 2025 as submitted may I have a motion please so moved it okay any discussion roll call please miss Baron I miss kavl I Mr McOwen I Mr Rosen Bloom I Mr dski no Mrs clim ktz I the motion carries that takes us to potential topics for future discussion I do have two that have been um that I was informed about the first I'm going to start with Mr Rosen Bloom and it's in regards to iasb their Vision 2030 Mr Rosen Bloom thank you The Joint annual conference held in Chicago last month was a fantastic professional development opportunity for District 211 administrators and board members who attended including me Mrs clim quitz Mr harlon and Miss hmel we were able to attend session on several topics and will'll be working in the weeks and months ahead to bring insights and ideas back to 211 for the benefit of our students Educators and families for me a particular highlight was the introduction of the vision 2030 blueprint for excellence in public K through 12 education at the Joint annual conference education leaders from five Statewide organizations introduced The Vision 2030 blueprint for excellence in K through 12 public education Vision 2030 was developed through an engagement effort that included input from more than a thousand stakeholders including locally elected school boards Statewide from the southern tip to Northern Illinois it also reflects input from discussions with local Educators who work tirelessly inside and outside of school buildings to improve outcomes for children from all backgrounds across Illinois development of the vision 2030 blueprint was led by the Illinois Association of school administrators Illinois Association of school boards Illinois principal Association Illinois Association of school business officials and Illinois Association of regional superintendents Vision 2030 is rooted in a shared belief that students learn best and Educators teach most effectively when they feel safe and connected to one another and their communities this is the single most important thing we can do to support both academic achievement and individual well-being and it is something that has to be considered in our instructional approach curriculum student support services and finances so that local districts have the resources needed to ensure that our school buildings are safe Vision 2030 provides a road map to enhance K through2 public education through future focused learning shared accountability and predictable funding it articulates a shared commitment to putting systems and process processes in place that support all school districts throughout the state in Sharing what works for our kids and our communities and it details plans to Advanced policy legislative and fiscal Solutions leveraging public resources and preserve local flexibility and Leadership so that the important decisions about curriculum and finances are made closest to home I would like to propose that this school district discuss the school District board discuss and possibly agree to a resolution to support Vision 2030 blueprint um at the state level and so I'd like that to be considered for an item for future discussion and I can certainly uh forward additional information if it is so chosen to be an item for future discussion at our January meeting um to this board through through our president and Dr small so that we can have a a a thorough educated discussion if needed um in hopefully voting to support this resolution at the state level and and we can if it is so chosen um there is time for us to agree to support it at the state level at our next board meeting in time for it to be considered at the legislation okay if I may just add um I know iasb had has sent out information and that could go to all of our board members for the discussion then in January um it talks it has talking points in regards to it and more specific information of what they're proposing and um would I have consensus from the board to present this and discuss it at our January meeting Mr Macwan absolutely Mr dumbrowski is this blueprint finalized or is it still in development my understanding is that it's it's finalized and they're asking all of the school districts to agree to a resolution supporting it but we need to be able to have that information and be able to talk about it so this isn't a standard resolution that the iasb is bringing forth like they typically do at their conferences this is something outside of that correct that's the way I'm in yes that's fine I I can listen to information okay sure okay Miss Baron okay all right then um I know we had sent the information to to Dr small would you be able to distribute it to get it to all the board members please and then we'll take a look at it and um have a discussion in regards to it I don't want to do a whole hour presentation on it no I agree and I guess the best would be to have a motion at the January meeting to uh agree to to have this board support the resolution and then it'll be open for any discussion and then we can have a vote as a board as to whether or not to yes or no yeah to endorse it as a school district okay and I know that um the different organizations um the Illinois Association of the superintendent um is looking at it also I don't know if Dr small if you have any feedback from the um associations yet because maybe you haven't had an opportunity to meet and discuss it cor right so that would be valuable information to what the Insight is with the other um associations okay thank you all right thank you any other questions there all right thank you the other item that was presented for discussion is from Mr dumbrowski Mr dumbrowski would you like to present that and see if the board is interested in um having some discussion on it yes I'd like to move that the board add to the January meeting a discussion on a board policy for high school credit earned through cour taught by High School endorsed teacher at the junior high level um over the last decade I have heard about the challenges parents and students face getting from their junior high school to the high school buildings for these classes I believe there is an opportunity to improve the academic experience for these students it is important similar to the memo of understanding that was presented tonight that a clear policy is in place for our partner districts and parents to understand what would be expected a commitment from D21 through a proac written and posted policy would incentivize junior high schools to prioritize the students with minimum disruption um there's no reason why we would wait to establish a policy sorry can you read the first sentence of that again please the motion for yeah like the the very beginning because I want a a board policy for high school credit earned through courses taught by a high school endorsed teacher at the junior high level okay so you mean at the at the feeder districts on on that at that location in in the building where the students reside whether they're hired by 211 or whether they're hired by uh 15 or 54 yeah as long as they have the credentials to teach okay before I ask for consensus from the board if we want to present that I'd like to get some input from Dr small and then I I also have a comment um we can certainly present a policy I would prefer to send it in February our policies are always read by our attorneys and that gives us time to do our due diligence on our side as well as on the attorney side it does not slow down the process for next year in any way shape or that that's assuming that the board would agree to and then a discussion so I'm just asking for the policy ready for January no just just a discussion and then if the board agrees after the discussion to provide direction to the administration then that would be does that make sense fair enough okay all right one of the questions I will ask next week for or next month for your consideration is um whether the board is still open for school districts that want us to teach it or whether we you want to force the only way that it happens is if it happens at the junior high level that will have to be clarified that'll be part of the discussion correct yeah all right I guess what I'm also wondering about is What legislation is coming down in regards to um uh some of the language credits and things of that nature um we've got some new board members that are going to be elected in the very near future I'm wondering if maybe this discussion needs to be a little bit later on in the year i' I'd like some more input from from Dr small I think that it can happen my only concern is creating the policy and we can do that that in two reads in February and March as needed and still meet the timeline of what we need should the board decide to offer that okay and you can provide us with some information as to maybe what some of the legislation is uh What uh what's required what we're doing how it it affects our staff um what the feeder districts are doing what their expectation is can you have discussion with with all of these people to to be able to give us information sure okay so let me just clarify so we're looking for a discussion in January or are we looking for a discuss in February sounded like February March I I think that it'd be good to have the discussion in January and then if the board is in agreement that we'd like to proceed with the policy then it becomes an action item after that if after the January discussion the board decides that it doesn't go any further there's no point in engaging the attorneys developing the policy and you know I this is mostly in response to what I've heard whether it's been students um trying to make classes at Palatine or the eighth grade student that we had speak to us publicly this evening I it's just to open up the door through policy for more options than maybe the standard practice okay I just want to clarify I want to make sure that we have enough time for administration to talk to our other districts also all right and Dr small that would that would work sure okay so we'll talk to them all the time all right let me um is there consensus then to Madam president I just want to clarify are we talking about this particular course or just classes in general that okay thank you all right so classes in general and you can provide us with which ones that we we do currently with the uh feeder schools okay all right is there consensus um if I just may I just want to if the student and or her parents are still watching thank you so much for um coming before the board um especially to the student who was very brave in speaking to the board today um and kind of and also letting us know um from their perspective um the challenges and hearing from them I love hearing from the students um I'm up for the discussion I think definitely we need to have it um as we heard it's creating U very difficult challenges for the students um I would also ask um and I know Dr small you may already be um in conversations but um continuing to have some conversations as to what we can currently do for those students in those classes um to meet some of those challenges that they are seeing so if the board is okay with that I would um like to see some um hopefully solutions to meeting the the students and helping the students out this year instead of waiting for a policy and then the whole group of students are struggling currently I think we had some feedback as to what um I send information to the board absolutely because you've uh Dr small has given us the information of what uh they've been trying to offer what they're looking to do so maybe you know send that out again so we we have that that would be good but as far as our discussion of keeping that kind of a general discussion about um policy issue classes the policy at issue okay let's let's do that then all right anything else I'm I'm all for um whatever we can do to to better collaborate and partner with our with our I don't I hate calling them feeder districts our foundational districts okay Center Center districts is that what we're calling them is that a better okay so I'm all about collaborating and partnering with our Center districts um because there are students right whether they're they're here or coming here they're are students and we need to do whatever we can to help them be successful throughout their educational experiences and if partnering collaborating both ways with those districts is something we can do and I and I think and I'll add to that because I think it's very exciting because um you know these are gifted students who are able to do that I am just in awe of them of being able to do that at at the uh the eighth grade level so having something for our gifted students is is truly important all right anything else there well we got we got one more uh during public comments another point was brought up about uh in regards to board member attendance I just feel like we should probably at least have a conversation and or vote if that's something we want to add the future future discussion we do have um our board policies that will be coming up that we're going to be talking about our protocols yeah our our board protocols is that board protocols and you know different board policies so that would be something that really should be taking a taken a look at okay well well furthermore we just like to add that uh for community members that don't know uh we are here at this board once a month but for a lot of board members we're in these schools very often I'm in Palatine I'm in F I'm in shamberg I'm in Hoffman um as a lot of a lot of my colleagues here because I run into them there so I just I wanted to kind of clean up this idea that Our obligation is to this desk once a month it's actually a lot more than that a lot of things going behind the scenes so just want to clean it up for everybody here and thank you for clarifying that because the board members do attend various functions at the school and there are different meetings and committee meetings so I thank you for clarifying that Mr Macwan no problem mam president all right then we're going to move on to our committee reports um NSO I was not able to attend Mr Rosen Bloom was able to be there in my place please thank you Mrs Clint quitz so uh Mr mcowan speaking of things that we do outside of the boardroom so uh I attended um I I represented our our school district and our board at the um the December 4th nsseo board meeting it was my my second time ever observing a board meeting for nsseo um and uh it was it was really a wonderful experience we always hear about it from from Mrs clim Kitz and the opportunity to hear from students and the Educators that they have and the programs that they have and uh it was a great experience for me um we heard from a couple of students um they have a rising star program and they highlight uh a couple of students every month and we got to hear from those students um and and see them in person uh for the the great work that they've been doing um going through the nsseo programs we also heard from the principal and assistant principal from Timber Ridge School Who provided us updates on some of the the goals that they have um which included uh student outcomes and supportive collaborative and person centered learning environments so they went through presentation with us on some of the ways that they've been uh success sucessfully implementing those goals in their schools so uh so that was really a great experience um and uh and like any board meeting there were things to vote on and um and listen to and get educated about and it was really a special opportunity to represent our district and I appreciate that thank you for being there all right that takes us to edred and Mr Rosen Blom all right so for Ed red um they had a joint Ed R and NW ssbo um which is business officers meeting um and I know there were a couple other people from our school district that were also in attendance because I saw them online um and it was really a great a great program where uh they had Partners from um a lot from a couple firms Chapman and and Cutler Kyle Harding and and jolly VI um discussed and reviewed School Finance legislation pa103 591 um and that was very educational and and good information also there's um and thank you to the board for approving my uh expenses to attend the annual legislative dinner coming up on January 27th with the topic of securing the future of public education navigating Federal uncertainty in 2025 so it should be a very interesting and timely topic um and I hope to bring some great information back to everybody from that meeting thank you next is the community and Family Services report Miss Baron thank you um the up Coalition next meeting is on January 29th from 11 a.m. to 1: p.m. at the Palatine Library District so that's all okay thank you all right that takes us to the Illinois Association of Schoolboard reports Mr Rosen Bloom thank you so as I mentioned um last month was the joint annual conference in Chicago it was very educational and a great opportunity as always to uh to learn what's going on across our state uh that impacts our district uh the annual delegate assembly was held on Saturday of that weekend in conjunction with the conference the resolutions adopted during the delegate assembly established established the advocacy priorities and legislative director direction of the association this school board um many members gave me feedback as to which resolutions they were in favor of or not in favor of and our very own uh Mrs clim Kitz is the resolutions chair for our division um of ISB and she sits on a committee that that reviews resolutions submitted by school districts and decides which ones will go forward and be presented to that delegate six resolutions and one Constitutional Amendment were adopted we also voted to not reconsider three appealed proposals during the assembly members elected president mark harmes from Flanigan Cornell um US District uh USD 74 and vice president Tracy s uh from tropia Consolidated School District 27 to their second terms in office uh other information about the delegate assembly can be found on the iasb website okay thank you very much uh that takes us to parent connections and communication report Miss Baron um unfortunately I was not able to attend uh last week's meeting um so I will turn it over to uh Mr tenor okay so uh at our meeting we reviewed the Student Success guide which is an expansion of what uh was formerly the incoming freshman guide and this is a year-by-year guide um that provides information and resources for parents and students to access um for whichever grade in School their child might be um and uh the committee of uh U there were of which there were eight members who were there in attendance uh provided some very helpful information including things that uh um as we guess from the parent perspective what could happen um they were able to provide us that information and our next meeting is February 11th thank you so much to um Mr tener and U Miss Holmes for leading that committee and leading the discussion um and um I'm excited to attend the next meeting I think it's going to be really exciting okay thank you very much thank you all right that takes us to our upcoming events and calendar items and well within what a week week and a half we'll be starting our week our spring our winter break okay a lot going on and then our next regularly scheduled meeting is going to be January 23rd okay um that takes us to our next recommended action um that the board enter closed session to discuss minutes of meetings lawfully closed under the open meetings act and appointment employment compensation discipline performance or dismissal of specific employees may I have a motion please so moved second okay I know that we've um completed most of our discussion so is there any discussion okay may I have a roll call please miss Baron no Miss kavell no Mr dski no Mr Macwan no Mr Rosenblum no Mrs clim ktz no that um I'm glad we were able to complete all of our close session items all right then that takes us to couple of items here the recommended action is that the Board of Education accepts the retirement requests of Renee Aradia effective June 2028 consistent with the master contract of the The District 211 United support staff Lori Hafner effective May 2025 according to the master contract of the d211 United support staff and David ply effective June 2027 consistent with the master contract of the District 211 United support staff and resend the retirement request of Kathy Cass that was prev accept previously accepted by the board of education on February 22nd 2024 may I have a motion please so moved second okay any discussion roll call please miss caval hi Mr Macwan hi Miss Baron hi Mr Rosen Bloom hi Mr Dum Broski I Mrs Clin quitz I okay the motion carries next is that effective January 6 2025 until June 30th 2025 Michael SLI be appointed as interim director of Transportation at the administration Center at a gross annual salary of 148,000 and further that he assumed the role of director of Transportation effective July 1st 2025 do I have the right dates okay may I have a motion please so moved second any discussion okay roll call please Mr goosi I Miss Cavell hi Mr Rosenblum hi Miss Baron hi Mr Macwan hi Mrs kimowitz hi the motion carries all right and our last item on our agenda here is that the Board of Education appoint Dr Judith Campbell as the superintendent of Township High School District 211 effective July 1 2025 and authorizes the board president and secretary to sign a performance-based superintendent contract as reviewed by the board in closed session for the period beginning July 1st 2025 through June 30th 2029 at an initial base annual salary of 275,000 may I have a motion please so moved okay okay any discussion okay roll call please Mr Rosen Blum I miss Cavell I Mr dambroski no Mr McOwen I miss Baron I Mrs clim ktz I the motion carries I'd like to thank the board for your time and your diligence in all of the meetings that we had we had extremely strong candidates and it was a very difficult choice but your due diligence and time to find an individual to build on our prior successes and continue to maintain and create a legacy of Excellence is truly appreciated and it serves the district well so I thank you for all of your input and all of your time that you had given to that okay and with that um there's no other business to come before the Board of Education the board president declares this meeting of the Board of Education adjourned thank you