Township High School District 214 Board of Education - Regular Meeting

Test. One, two, three. Welcome to Jerry's Cafe. [Music] We are a destination cafe and we offer craft food and beverages, meaning we make everything fresh on site when you order. And all of our food and our beverages are prepared and served by adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. And then lastly, just say the name. Tom. Here you go. Enjoy. My favorite part of working at Jerry's Cafe is definitely interacting with friends I've met throughout the years and the expressing machine. My co-founder Amy Philpot and I opened Jerry's Cafe for job opportunities and a staggering statistic tells us that 80% of adults with disabilities are unemployed. I believe differently and this is the place where our employees can work and feel proud and contribute and can see that they have value and purpose and they are given the responsibility that anyone would be

given in a job. and we expect nothing less than them to perform at their highest level. So, we see great success in every single employee and their independence and their offerings and activities here at Jerry's Cafe. The large hot white chocolate pumpkin pie with whipped cream. It is to die for. It is delicious. It's amazing. Well, the uh favorite part of uh working here is that I I get to serve customers. I am a cashier. They understand to include people with us with exceptionalities. I wanted to tell you I've been watching you today. You're really good at your job. You've been doing I always I always like to serve customers. Customers go first. We are super proud of our partnership with District 214. District 214 has been a supporter from the very beginning of our foundation and several of the schools have done fundraising and helped us get our doors open to Jerry's Cafe. Proudly, we have 12 or 13 graduates from the district 214 schools who will work at Jerry's Cafe as our active employees. This is where we do our salad prep. This is where we make all the salads. And then over here is the sandwich line. This is where we make all of our sandwiches. I have worked here since day one. I love it here. I love my supportive team members and I like serving customers. Here is one chicken Mediterranean trip salad. We know that our community members have lots of choices, but we're hoping that you will come and choose Jerry's Cafe. Thank you. When you come inside and engage with our employees, you feel a sense of joy and you will start your day feeling the best way that you can with a joyful heart and knowing that Jerry's

Cafe has provided you with delicious coffee, breakfast, or lunch. [Music] Mac and cheese. Mac and cheese. Mac and cheese. All right, welcome to our 55th year of putting together an incredible community service project through our SOS class here at John Hershey High School. As you can see around me, it is organized chaos, but it is an incredible day for our students to serve our community by packaging and collecting food that's going to be going to local food pantries in our area to support those in need. We're really happy to be able to do the food drive here at Hersy because it really just brings the whole school together and we are able to help our community and bring the energy with everyone here. All right, take it out. For the past, I would say about two months, we've been kind of working together with SOS, Junior Leaders, baseball, and we've all gathered together. We've done bag and tag with 12 different communities, and we've all come together, and it's really amazing to see the turnout. And then later on, we're going to be visiting eight local food pantries, and it's really exciting. We're just thankful for everyone who's helped each other along the way. It's been really fun. It's a team effort, but it's been so fun. [Music] Prospect marching nights are heading to DC. [Music] We're in Washington DC. [Music] Prospect Marching Knights were invited to travel to Washington DC this year for Veterans Day. So, we're taking the band out um to our nation's capital. We're going to do some great tours of some of the monuments and the museums and a lot of the sites of DC. Um, but it all culminates with performances on Veterans Day. Um, so we've been working really

hard to prepare and we're so excited for our students to have this opportunity. Throughout the trip, we had a few opportunities uh where veterans would actually see our group of students out out and about and spoke to our students. Um, so in addition to uh touring these places, our students were able to actually interact with a number of veterans over the course of the trip, which kind of made everything a little more real and genuine and authentic. So, our first day in DC was really impactful and gave our students sort of a big picture overview of the city and some of the history and really set the stage for our performance day coming up. So on Veterans Day, our morning started off with a performance at the Lincoln Memorial. There we were right on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial facing the Washington Monument. Just a really special opportunity for our students to have a a really great place to perform. It was an honor to perform on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial with the PMK where so much of America's history has taken place. The experience was very impactful for me. It was a unique opportunity that I have never had before and it was something that I will cherish for the rest of my life. One of our students, Emily Pollock, was also asked to deliver a speech at the Lincoln Memorial. I've always wanted to help people, so I'm going to serve my country. More specifically, I want to become an officer in the military. Her speech was really wonderful and got a really great reception at the event. In fact, after the event was over, I had a number of veterans come track me down to tell me how great her speech was. And actually, they wanted to meet her and take pictures with her because they were so moved by what she had to say. My father served in the Navy and so he instilled in me like the value of um serving and like caring for our veterans and those who serve us. And so being able to thank them today and um place medals around their think and welcome them home was really impactful to me as well. United States Air Force.

It was an honor to play at the World War II Memorial today. It was such an honor because music is a way to share emotions without using words. Our performances in DC got a lot of really good responses. Um, one of them, a story was told to me by one of our chaperones that there was literally um, a Marine veteran who was at a performance at the Euima Memorial who was literally in tears watching the performance and just expressed to our chaperon how much it meant to him that this group of teenagers from from the Chicago area had come out there and was was performing. Um, and he was just really moved by it. And uh, I thought that was just a really neat neat story to hear coming out of the the performance. So any trip like this uh takes a lot of time and energy to put together. I feel really fortunate that our school was very supportive of this endeavor. We had a bunch of parents who traveled with us and did anything they could to make this a great experience for our students. Um I'm so glad we were able to bring our students to DC. Uh Veterans Day seemed like a perfect time to bring them and uh it really just in the end I think the whole trip turned out really really great and I'm so happy we were able to make it happen. [Music] We're super excited to have the 911 never forget mobile exhibit here at Hershey High School. As the truck arrived, we had Hershey parents out front with some patriotic balloons. We had Hershey students lining the the sidewalks. We had some, you know, many American flags like they would show on the honor flights. The spirit was high. Good morning. And I'd like to welcome you to the Stevensilla Tunnel Towers mobile exhibit. We have a 50 50ft trailer approximately 1100 square ft exhibit. We travel our nation to commemorate the brave sacrifice of the firefighters, police officers that gave their life that day in the greatest rescue and recovery effort in our nation's history. The reason we're here

is at Hershey High School to come educate our youth uh on the happenings of that day, but also the the happenings of the days after and to let them know that it was a huge tragedy. It was the single largest loss of life day we've ever had. It was also the large largest rescue we've ever had as well. but just all the good that has come from that tragic day. And they're they're going to learn things that they they can't read about. Uh they're going to hear stories that some have never been told, some have been told many times. Steven Silla was uh one of the 343 firefighters that died that morning. He was getting off duty that morning. He was going to play golf with his older brothers. Heard the plane strike. heard on the news that the plane struck the building, turned around, drove back to his firehouse, Squad 1, located in downtown Brooklyn. They had already been dispatched to the disaster. He got his gear, drove his own truck to the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel where he dawned 60 lbs of gear, ran 2 and 12 miles through the tunnel, mustered up with the rest of the firefighters, and gave his life that day, honoring his oath that he took to protect life and property. So, this is about remembering. So we want people to remember obviously for adults to remember and for the kids to learn. So we don't want this forgotten. It's not taught in most schools in in America and they have the privilege of talking to people who are there. You know, we can't talk to people who are in the Civil War or these other moments in American history, but they can. I think that's pretty special. Thanks for having us. And this means more to us than you. This means a lot to these kids. And these kids have been great. They're very respectful. They listen. It's uh it's nice it's nice to see a special thanks especially the FDMY crew to the SL foundation to solders journey home to district 214 to all of her I I'm grateful for everybody special shout out to Bill Dustin for the for the

magic spirit special shout out to Chief Harris Arlington Heights Police the coolest part about this project was there's like a whole bunch of people that were on it and did it and it wouldn't have happened without a whole bunch of people. The list is just too long. And to me, that's that's actually a good thing to celebrate. [Music] This is the uh Rolling Meadows band alumni event. So, we decided to uh get the band back together. This year being the 40th anniversary of the Jazz and Meadows Festival. So, it was kind of an opportunity to, hey, can we bring people back at homecoming? I had talked to some of the previous band directors. That's Len King in the 70s, '8s, early '9s. We have Bill Jastro and David Bogs from the '90s. Then, of course, Chris Booty, who retired several years ago. Those people set the foundation for everything that we have here. I'm giving you a look at you. I I'd have paid money to be here today. I really would have. It's one of those things that I' I'd paid money to be. This is the banner where your closest friends were really at in high school. So, you're with your closest friends and regrouping after 40ome years and going, "Holy cow." Mr. King is the reason why I'm here today. Not just at the school, but what I do in in life. I owe everything to Mr. King. If it weren't for him, I wouldn't have gone to college. And if I hadn't gone to college, who knows what I would be doing. You know, some of the stuff that we we're doing right now is like we never stop doing it, you know? You know, just to be around these guys again and just hanging out. 40 years seems like a long time, but it seems like it's kind of a short time, too. You know, this is fantastic. Of education for Thursday, July 10th, 2025. Miss Marini, could you please call the role? Valdino here. Chung here. Dustling here. Vero here. Hinaman present.

Zager here. and Citer uh present. We have a quorum. Uh thank you. Um I need a motion and a second to go into close session for the purpose of discussing the appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance or dismissal, a specific employees, specific individuals who serve as independent contractors in an educator setting or legal counsel for the public body and setting a price for sale or lease of property. Motion in a second, please. And please say your name. So moved. Fiorto. Second. Chung. Call the role. Fioro. Yes. Chung. Yes. Valdino. Yes. Dustling. Yes. Hinineman. A I. Sager. I. And Citer. I. Motion passes 70. Thank you. We are now in close session and uh hope to reconvene at 7 o'clock. Thank you. [Music] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music]

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Okay, great. Uh we're back in open session and uh we're ready for the pledge of allegiance. I pledge algiance 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. Pardon me. Next on the agenda is approval of the agenda. Is there a board member that would like to remove anything from the consent agenda? Oh, uh, President Croitzer, I'd like to, um, pull the now arena contract. Thank you. Okay, 1031 is pulled. Any other Anyone else want to remove anything else from the consent agenda? Okay, can I have a a motion and a second to approve the agenda? So move. Fiorto, second. Chung, call the role, please. Frito, yes. Chung, yes. Valdino, yes. Dustling, yes. Hinineman, I. Sager I and Croitzer I. Motion carries 70. Thank you. Can I have a motion in a second for approval of the June 26, 2025 open and closed meeting minutes? So moved.

Second. Baldino. Motion and a second. Please call the role. I thanks and the second was Baldino. Yes. Hinimman I. Valdino. Yes. Chung yes. Dustling. Yes. Fioro. Yes. Sager I. And Croitzer. I. Motion carries 70. Thank you. It is now time for public comments. And before I I have two people that have signed up. So um I will call the first person after I read this. The board of education and the district value comments from the community at our meetings as well as emails. We appreciate everyone appearing before the board and treat all with courtesy and respect. The board of education asked each person to please limit all of their comments to three minutes. However, several people want to address the board on similar topics. The board president may limit the time to two minutes per person. The public comments agenda item will be the only time that the board of education will hear public comments during meetings. Although comments may be made on most any matter related to the operation of schools, comments will not be allowed identifying individual students or staff members. As this is the board of education business meeting, the board practice is not to respond to public com questions or comments at this time because this is not an open-ended forum. However, we do listen carefully if requested. A written response will be provided. Please ensure that Miss Marini has your full name and address on the signup sheet. Uh let's see. To be fair and consistent to all addressing the board, the same protocols and procedures must be in place for everyone. Let's see. Halbert Ken. Okay. The green light indicates your time is started. The yellow indicates 30 seconds remaining and the red light indicates

three minutes have expired. So, if you could state your name clearly for the minutes, I'd appreciate it. Go ahead. Do you want me to spell it and so forth? How Katson K a tzen. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. Um, so I drove six hours to be here for this because probably more than anyone else on the planet, it's my job to respond to issues regarding what the Uranche book teaches about race and genetics and eugenics. I've been a reader for over 40 years. My educational background is in law and comparative religion. About 20 years ago, I started creating study aids that show how new discoveries and scientific advances are increasingly supporting the version of history in the Uranche book. This led to do doing an extensive review on its teachings about uh race and eugenics as a separate standalone topic. Um, one of the first things I want to mention to help clarify how wrong this has all gone is that the publications in the prospect and and the podcasting uh suggest for instance that the Uranche book is against the races mixing. If you search hybridization in the text, four paragraphs come up and all four of them speak positively about racial mixtures and how the secret to new traits is in that and it's part of God's design and it's four square behind it and offers some wisdom about how we can do it better or worse. So the notion uh suggested in the piece that Dr. William Sadler wrote the book and that he was against racial mixing and that therefore by implication the Uranche book must be against it too is just flatout wrong. It's highly irresponsible

degree of research on the topic. Um and this needs to be acknowledged. Other things that were very concerning uh were the way uh the quote unquote expert referenced was one that was uh associated with some personality called out in Arizona that is um considered at distance from the general uranche community. It would be similar if uh someone went to an expert about the mooneyies to learn about Christianity and tried to imply that the Mooney personality cult was a good and reasonable example and an expert on that would be an expert on Christianity, too. There's all kinds of logical fallacies. And it really concerned me that after this was published, the adults reviewed it and celebrated the work and made a recommendation to take Alvin Kulicki's name off the theater. Whether you take his name off the theater or not is a very minor point compared to whether or not good journalistic practices are in place and review processes. And that's really what my concern is here is for your district and how it's educating the youth about the responsibilities regarding journalism. Thank you very much for your Thank you, sir. Lee Bennett. Okay, thank you. I'll go this way. Hello, Superintendent Row, board staff. I'm Lee Bennett, a District 211

resident. I'm here to advocate for adding a fourth boys volleyball team to MSL competition. The MSL Midsuburban League is the local interscolastic conference for our two districts high schools. Since tryyout data isn't available, tonight we will re review a more indirect measure of how many boys are willing to commit to playing volleyball for their school. Summer camps are highly recommended for the students interested in playing on the school team, but cannot be required. The provided spreadsheet compares camp participation over the last three years to the roster space for MSL competition. The team sports are listed on the left. They are sorted by the colored coded column in the middle, which is the ratio of teams worth of summer participants divided by teams of MSL competition. The surprisingly difficult determination of a team size for each sport is on the right hand side of the chart. Let's turn to the sheet to see how boys volleyball ranks on this metric. Boys volleyball has the highest participation rate for any three team sport. If a fourth team were added for boys volleyball, it would be the median sport on this list, still ahead of all other sports with three or fewer teams. This summer base participation metric may favor baseball and other outdoor sports as the outdoors are more conducive during the summer. In summer, many volleyball players prefer to play outdoor sand courts over being in the gym. Adding a fourth boys volleyball team is reasonable based on this data. The case is much stronger in district 211 where boys volleyball teams is in fourth place, only behind sports with five teams and ahead of one of these. Your summer camp's participation rate is

much higher than district 211, indicating wider participation than the inner scholastic sports program. Your summer camp participation is even greater than shown as this report filters out uh prime students not yet in high school. I applaud the greater participation the summer camps provide, but district 211 data is a better predictor of intercolastic sports participation. This can be seen with girls basketball where despite very high summer camp participation in your district, schools struggle to field all five teams during the school year. Please improve the MSL by adding a fourth boys volleyball team. Brief comment on another topic. Let me commend the now arena as an excellent venue. My youngest son's graduation there last year was well produced. from backstage. I also saw the now arena staff do a great job hosting the recent volleyball nations league men competition. Thank you very much. Thank you. That concludes the um public comment section and now we have um report uh business services. Dr. Adaway. Uh so included in your packet tonight is an annual report to the board of all the gifts received by the district in uh school year 2425. Uh they totaled $154,728 and they are listed in the memo attached. Board members, any questions? Okay, thank you. Uh let me see board updates. Mr. Dustling, you have any updates? Uh, no, I don't. Okay. Miss Maldino, I just wanted to say that I was at the Arlington Heights Fourth of July parade, which is one of

the largest um suburban Fourth of July parades, and it was such a delight to see our bands represented, our marching bands participating from across the district. Um, doing an excellent job in quite a lot of heat. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Ferto. Uh I attended the uh Mount Prospect Village committee of the whole meeting. It happened to be in my backyard on Tuesday. Um one of the things that uh really made the the meeting very good was that uh Maria Brower Zeller, who's the uh supervisor of the Wheeling Township, came and did a 10 to 15 minute presentation to the village about everything that the township does. And to be quite honest, uh, going into that meeting, I I was always a township naysayer, but after that presentation, it really I I didn't realize everything that they do. So just as if it's a future topic or whatever, I think that inviting maybe the Wheeling Township Supervisor Maria and the Elkrove Township Supervisor John Scalleta to one of our board meetings and have them tell us what they do because it just doesn't impact the seniors which are stakeholders in our community, but it also impacts the kids as well, which are our students. So, I think uh a fivem minute presentation from each of them because they are the two biggest townships, maybe the only two townships in our our district 214 uh map. Um I think it would be well worth uh the board to hear it and um I think it would be interesting to hear what they do for our stakeholders and our students. Thank you. Thank you. a number of years ago uh as a member of the Elkrove Lions they uh we went to the Elkrove Township to hear a presentation and yes you'd be surprised how many services they provide. Dr. Sager uh nothing to report since last meeting. Dr. Chung, um I actually just want to piggyback on what um Mr. Fiorito said and flip it. I

think um maybe an opportunity for district 214 could be to speak in an upcoming um committee of the whole mill um village meeting whether by Mount Prospect or any of our neighboring I know you've already done this um Dr. Row but specifically since um the committee of the whole meeting from Mount Prospect that could be a great opportunity for Dr. row to share about all the things that are going on in um in the district partic I mean with the strategic plan but also our building needs just to um familiarize the residents with what's happening. Thank you Mr. Heinman. Any report? Okay, great. So now we move on to the consent toenic and can I have a motion in a second please? So moved. Second. Baldino. There's been a motion in a second. Yes. Uh, please call the roll. Hinaman. I. Baldino. Yes. Chung. Yes. Dustling. Yes. Fioro. Yes. Sager. Hi. And Kitzer. I. Motion carries 70. So now we have we go to the uh consent agenda item that was moved 1031. Um motion in a second. Uh Dr. Dr. Chong, you want a motion, please? Uh so moved. Second for your readto. Motion in a second. Dr. Chun. Um yeah, I know we discussed this at our last meeting. Um but since then um I know all of us have received at least some feedback from stakeholders about the potential venue change. So first I just want to say thank you to everyone um on behalf of the board, everyone who reached out whether by email or took the time to um call us just to share their feedback. We really appreciate all your view your perspectives. So, thank you for doing that. Um, second, I know that a lot of school districts have moved to holding their graduations at a um

outside venue. There are definitely pros and cons. The now arena, as we discussed, it offers more space. Um, it's better equipped um for accessibility. Obviously, it offers protection from the weather. Um but as a lot of people shared um you're you're losing what is a very meaningful and special way to commemorate your graduation when it's held at your school someplace where you've built four years of memories. So, I just want to um reiterate for me, I am comfortable with this two-year contract with the now arena. Um especially if we maybe think of it as a trial and um make it a point to share with the community that we do definitely want to hear their feedback after the ceremonies to see what could be improved, what they liked. Um and then lastly, exactly what we said last um at the last meeting to offer something to our families in terms of taking photos at the schools or on the their football stadium so that they can commemorate it at the school. Anyone else? I just chime in and say I appreciate you sharing that perspective. I I uh I did receive a couple of emails that board members forwarded to me and I appreciate the people that that reached out and advocated um for their belief that that definitely does not land on deaf ears by any means. Um and the theme was wanting to maintain that ability to come and take photos with their their family and friends of the field and we will work with our principles to ensure that opportunities like that exist. Um but Mr. Fo, um I I just want to touch upon a little bit what what Vicki has to say. Um with with a lot of those um emails that we did receive, I'm very sympathetic to what many of them were saying. The one area that I I did want to point out that for me, I was really not so much a supporter of now Arena because I thought from a district perspective that the costs would outweigh what we currently do today. But as we found out, it it would be even cheaper to go to now Arena. We're not talking, you know,

millions of dollars that we're saving, but we are saving money. So, we are being good stewards of the financial purse. Um, I do like the idea of of the two years and and just, you know, making sure that this is what we want. But, um, I have done 16 uh graduations, 13 elementary middle schools at Hershey and a very hot, uncomfortable gym. And that's for a middle school. That's less than half, maybe even a third of what um the Hershey student body is. And I've done three district 214 uh graduation ceremony. One was at Hersy my first year in freezing weather which I sat next to the flag and got hit in the face a million times and and everybody froze. The second year at Wheeling was beautiful and then last year at Rolling Meadows we all know what happened with the weather and it was sad. Um Mary Kay can probably speak to it as well. It was sad walking into the arena and seeing people put turned away. I mean, we physically saw people asked to that had tickets to go into this into the gym being told they had to go to the um theater theater. And it's very easy to say, well, you know, you can send these people to the theater and they still get to see have the experience, but for me personally, I would want to be in the the gym to see my kid walk across the stage, not not on the theater screen. So, and and the other thing that comes into play too is with the weather, it the they all did an amazing job with the turnaround. The turnaround that they had to do on such short notice to move everything indoors had to be incredible and I'm sure it had to be disruptive to the schools as well. I don't think people walking through the buildings with chairs and everything else just, you know, nobody pretended like it didn't happen. So as I am sympathetic to all the people that did reach out and I get that experience that they had. Um to me right now it is a necessity for at least the next two years to avoid what we experienced last year or this year and what we experienced three years ago. So that's where I'm at. Thank you. Anyone else? Yeah. So, I I just wanted to reiterate

because I' I've seen it come up as more and more people have paid attention to this uh that it is actually a slightly lower cost for us to to transfer to the now arena. There's the downside of losing some of the tradition that we have, but this guarantees those dates two years out. And I just wanted to note the reason why we have uh the one set of dates next year is there somebody else has the week after when we would typically the week where we would typically correct. The 2026 dates were the only dates that were available to us and the 2027 dates there was a uh a district that was either leaving the now arena or changing dates for some reason. So some earlier dates that are closer to our typical graduation date uh became available. Yeah. So, it's unfortunate next year we wouldn't have our typical week, but it locks us in in the future of getting that week back at the now arena. And our ultimate goal is, you know, should we look to extend this beyond two years would be hopefully to get a Saturday and Sunday where it's a weekend for both for all six. Thank you. So, having been around for a few graduations, I can remember one uh board member Lenor Braw, she was down at Elk Grove and in the middle of it, it stormed and they all had to move inside. Now, I want you to think about how that h how that took place with all these people that didn't have tickets in the stands. Now they're going into the gym. And um it was the it was it was the year I think your son graduated. We were at Hersy. We were outside. Is that right? Um Frank and it was gorgeous. No, that was it. you're well, but it was nice because you got you sat with your son outside and but and last year was a gorgeous time um weather, but weather is just

unpredictable and uh I know there have been many times where we've had to switch from outdoors to indoors and um I like the fact that you probably don't have to limit tickets uh for the now arena, but anyway. Okay, call the roll. Chung, yes. Furo, yes. Baldino, yes. Dustling, yes. Hinineman, I. Zager, I. And Croitzer, I. Motion carries 70. Thank you. So now we have some roll call items. 1111. Motion and a second, please. So move, Sager. Second. Chung. Discussion. Call the role. Sager. I. Chung. Yes. Baldino. Yes. Dustling. Yes. Fioro. Yes. Hinaman. Hi. And Citer. I. Motion carries 70. Sorry. Motion in a second for 112, please. So moved furo second motion in a second. Discussion call the role. Fiorto, yes. Sager, I. Baldino, yes. Chung, yes. Dustling, yes. Hinineman, I. And Croitzer, I. Thank you. Motion carry 70. Okay. 11 11.1.3. I make a motion to uh have the board approve um board education president Elva Critzer's nomination for vice president of the Illinois Association of School Boards. Second, Chung. I didn't.

There's been a motion in a second. Please call the RO. Fioro, yes. Chung, yes. Baldino, yes. Dustling, yes. Hinimman I Sager I and Kitzer I motion carries September 1st. Thank you. Okay 114 please. Motion in a second. So move Chong second. Baldino Dr. Row. All right. Uh in February, a student contacted Prospect High School administration to share what she had learned while researching uh the named facilities at Prospect High School. This research shined a light on historical information associated with the name of Prospect Theater uh which is which are not in line with the beliefs of Prospect High School or District 214 today. In response to those findings, district administration began evaluating our process for naming and potentially removing or changing a named facility. We constructed a process that did not exist uh that was used in this situation. Following the research period, uh Mr. Mentor, principal of Prospect High School, convened a committee of veteran staff members from a cross-section of departments, some of whom were Prospect alumni. After reviewing the research and details, this committee made the recommendation to the district executive council that the theater should be renamed. The district executive council evaluated the information and supported the building recommendation. I highlight this process because I think it is important for you to know that we have invested a thorough evaluation of the facts and considered the impact of the decision before you tonight and don't make this recommendation lightly. As you know, we believe strongly that every student should feel welcome as if they belong and feel seen in our schools. While we do not pretend that we don't achieve this with every student every day, we are committed to pursuing that end. Therefore, I'm bringing the recommendation of the district executive

council before you this evening to change the name of the theater at Prospect High School and protect that welcoming environment that we seek for every student. If the board supports this recommendation this evening, the theater will be referred to as the Prospect Theater moving forward. Happy to uh open the floor for discussion. Board members, any discussion? Dr. Chun. Um, uh, first I'd just love to thank Sage Gilland. She's the student journalist who brought this issue to light. Just incredibly proud of her investigation and the research she did. Um, for me, I agree renaming the theater um, the space as Prospect Theater is the right decision. I fully support that recommendation. Um, I could understand how some might feel some hesitation and I would respect that, but um, I see it. It's not about discrediting anybody. It's about recognizing that names on public spaces have meanings. And when we hear from our students that a name on a space makes them feel unwelcome, then we take those concerns very seriously. Um, and I do want to also thank administration for handling handling this very thoroughly and carefully. Um, I appreciate that the district did not rush into this decision that you did exactly what you said, Dr. Rose. So, um, I wanted to highlight that. Um so again, yeah, I completely support um renaming the spaces Prospect Theater. I think that's the right move to reflect the inclusive environment that we're trying to build. Board members. Um Mr. Dustling, I have all the information I need to vote. Miss Baldino. Yes. So I both of my children um graduated from Prospect High School um and were very involved in the theater programs. Um the two of them probably

walked past that the name on that theater dozens and maybe hundreds of times and um we had no idea um about the history or never really um understood what uh who Dr. Mr. Kicki was or um about the his background with this movement. Um but to quote the great Maya Angelou, do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better. And this is the right time. We know better and we can make a move that will help all of our kids feel welcome in our district, which is critically important. Anyone else? Yes, I just want to re re-echo what was said previously. This isn't a disparagement of the individual whose name is on there now. It's not saying anything about their time as an employee in the district. It's just about uh making sure that the when we're honoring somebody on a a space on one of our buildings that it matches uh making our students feel welcome and making sure that that what they perceive about that person um and how how that person's name connects to them is something that we can be proud of. and just making sure that they're comfortable with it. It's not a judgment on that person or on the movement they were part of. It's just understanding that that level is a different level. So, it's not a this isn't a court of law. We're not judging anybody on anything. We're just saying the standards higher for a building name or a theater name. Anyone else? Call the role, please. Oh, wait. I I have a com. So, we have

new administrative procedures regarding naming. Yes. Okay. Go ahead, Dustling. Pardon? That's a vote. It's a vote. 114 vote. Did everybody else vote? No. Yes. Frito? Yes. Valdino? Yes, Sager. I Chung Yes. Heinaman I. And Kiter I. Thank you. Motion carries 70. Okay. In line with uh some of the statements that uh other board members the board members have made, I just wanted to uh expound upon that just a little bit to be sure that we are making the proper separation uh between Mr. Kouliki, the employee who earned the honor of the name in in the early 1970s and and the decision that was just made. Um, I just want to highlight Prospect High School's history was shaped by dedicated leaders like Mr. Alvin Kouliki, the school's first principal, who welcomed its first class of 850 freshman in September of 1957. World War II veteran, Mr. Kicki began his District 214 career in 1946 as a chemistry teacher at Arlington High School after serving in the Army where he taught radar and electronics. He worked tirelessly with staff to prepare prospects for opening and guided the school through a period of rapid growth, helping to establish its academic and athletic identity. The honor bestowed upon Mr. Kicki was welld deserved. At the same time, we recognize that our understanding of inclusion, belonging, and leadership has evolved since Prospect first opened its doors. While Mr. Kouliki's professional contributions to the school's founding are a permanent part of Prospect's history. We also acknowledge that personal beliefs or social norms from earlier eras may not reflect the values of our school community today. Our commitment is to ensure that Prospect remains a place where every student, staff member, and family feels welcomed, supported, and seen. Nothing can take away the

educational legacy Mr. Kouliki left behind. But it is equally important that our school's symbols and recognitions align with our mission to foster an inclusive and forward-looking environment. I understand the belief that honors given in a different era shouldn't necessarily be removed as times change. At the same time, I deeply believe that all students deserve to feel welcome and represented in every space in our schools. I would hate for any student to feel less than welcome in a space because of the message a name might now represent even when the original intent was positive. The perception that has formed cannot easily be undone and may continue to have harmful impact. This action should not diminish the impact Mr. Kuliki made and we will continue to honor his role in shaping Prospect's early years as a active display on a walls in the history of the school. But we are equally committed to ensuring our present and future reflect the inclusive values that we uphold today. So thank you. Thank you Dr. Row. Uh we'll move on to um 1121 accounts payable. Can I have a motion in a second please? So moved to Frito. Second Chung discussion. Call the role. Fito. Yes. Chong. Yes. Alino. Yes. Dustling. Yes. Hinaman. I. Sager. I and Citer I motion carries 70. Thank you. Motion in a second please for 1122. So moved. Hinineman. Second. Baldino. Discussion. Call the roll. Heinaman. I. Baldino. Yes. Chung. Yes. Dustling. Yes. Fiorto. Yes. Sager. I. And Croitzer. I. Motion carries 70. He has to state the motion first. He has to state the resolution first. Okay. Um

can I have a motion in a second uh for 1123? Um Mr. Fiorto, please. So moved. Fiorto. Sorry. Can you state the um can you state the uh motion please? And and the price. The motion is the approval of re resolution authorizing the sale of 2123 South Arlington Heights Road property for the price asking price of 5.5 million. Is there a second? Second. Zagger. Okay. Discussion, please. Uh M. Uh Mr. Dustling. Um I'm against the sale of this property as I was last came up. Um, you know, Bradford Allen has has put out a uh a great u number of sheets that show what they're going to do in the south corridor of Arlington Heights, of which our property is included in their plans. And um I believe that that property is too valuable uh to let go at this time. Um when we were setting a price or looking at a price uh last time uh we had between uh uh the lease and the purchase we were at about 5 million three another 1.8 million in renovation and relocation costs. Um and most of it was probably renovation. That puts us at about 7.2 million. seems like uh anything we set uh below that is not going to sit well with the community. Uh also we have engaged Eio Sullivan to gain an understanding of what the community wants moving forward. If the community wants something that requires a large piece of property 2123 would fit that criteria. Um that piece of property has an entry and an exit on

Arlington Heights Road. It has an entry and an exit onto uh a street that borders the east side of the property. It's prime property and uh Bradford Allen is not uh they're not rookies. They've developed most of this area and uh it would not hurt us uh to wait to see what that property in the larger scale of our total budget. We can hang on to it for a while to see what happens. No board members. During the the time time period where the um we were relocated from the this building or some other building into that one for the administrative offices while Forest View is undergoing renovation. Um were there other choices of locations? Does anyone know maybe Alpha whether there were other choices of locations and would we have had to pay any rent for any of those other options? That that timing period was prior to my arrival in the district. We were already in that building. Um Mr. Julie, I I don't know if we evaluated other properties or not, but had we relocated somewhere else, we would have absolutely had to pay rent. That conversation happened before I was in this role, but I know other options were vetted. That was the decision that was made. So, I understand the concern um that Mr. Dustley has about some of the the sunk costs of the renovations. However, um I think there would have been expenses for that time period um if there had been another option uh employed and so I am more focused on the initial purchase price uh in consideration of whether what kind of price we sell at. Board members, Mr. Fiddle.

Yeah, I I uh I respect what Mr. uh board member Dustling said. Um it certainly is his opinion that we he thinks we might be able to get more money for it. Um from my perspective, um I don't see it adding any value to our to our school district and our student population. Um I am concerned with the money that we spend just taking care of the property. Um, I find that to be probably something that's a little bit more wasteful. So, I'm of the opinion that I would like to sell the property. Um, take that money and use it for the capital projects that we have coming in. I know it's a small chunk of change, but um, it's better to have something rather than nothing. Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else? Uh, Dr. Sager. Yeah. So again, I respect uh board member Dustling's opinion on the matter and I agree with board member Beldino that you can't count the entire cost sunk into the property because we've had use of that property for more than two years to during the renovations of this building. Uh, I think that with our large list of things that we want to accomplish in the near term with within the district that we should not be sitting on an asset when we have a need for those funds and we have projects that are ready to go and that we would use that money for immediately, get benefits for the students, get benefits for the staff immediately. And I think it's best to not think of our district. We are not in the real estate investment business and so holding on to that hoping to get higher rate in the future when we have investments to do now is sort of a an issue of a delayed opportunity. Right? If if we can sell it now, we can we can use those funds immediately to benefit students. So, I'm in favor of selling it. Thank you, Dr. Chung. Um I'm also in agreement that selling the property is in our the district's

best interest. Um, right now the building is sitting empty and I think I've read it might not be accurate anymore, but 90,000 a year just in utilities and maintenance. Um, it's money that we can be putting to better use. And at the same time, as was brought up by others, we're looking at millions in facility needs across our six across our high schools. And, you know, I think that's where our focus needs to be on the buildings that are serving our students every day. Um, so, um, I could see the argument that maybe it's being a little bit shortsighted, but I do think it is in our long-term best interest not to keep holding on to a property that we don't need right now, especially when it's pulling resources away from our higher priorities. Thank you. Um, I believe a few years ago when that we decided to renovate This building was the move over to 2123. And this building took a bit longer to renovate than we had anticipated. And the thought process was before your time that we could use it for uh something else. Um and uh this is before we found out that we have This figure is almost two years old now. 866 million in renovation cost. And uh that really kind of changed perspectives for me, you know, and the property was assessed about a year and a half ago for 3.5 and we're setting the price at 5.5. I want you to think about those two numbers. 3.5 it's assessed and we're

setting a price for 5.5. I don't disagree with setting the price at 5.5, but I don't um I don't see uh how we could uh recoup what we've put in there. Um it's like selling your house that you put so much money in and and you want to get all your money back. Well, you know, sometimes that just doesn't happen. Um, so, you know, things changed over the years. We thought we were just going to be in there for a year. I think we were in there for two years. And that's why we went in ahead and and, um, bought the bought the property. But, um, our needs are for our our buildings right now. Um, and I I can't see uh holding on to something and paying utilities um for a building that we're not using. And Dr. Ro has said repeatedly that we have no use for that property because when we're looking at the 866, which is again almost a 2-year-old figure, we uh we've got to show the community that we're really thinking about, okay, how are we going to pay for this? And I think this is a good way. Um, hearing no more. Call the role, please. Fioro, yes. Sager, I. Valdino, yes. Chung, yes. Dustling, no. Hinaman, I. And Crazer, I. Motion carries 61. So, you want to talk about before you move on? I I actually would like Dr. Adaway to he's got two very brief slides um just to walk through and refresh um everyone's memory of the process that we will now engage in um just for the record. We went through it last year but I want to just highlight

so that we're all on the same page about what's to come. I'm actually going to skip just to the last slide now. Um, so now that the board has set the minimum selling price and adopted the resolution authorizing the sale of the property, uh, we'll move forward and publish the public notice of the sale for three consecutive weeks, um, to accept sealed bids for the property. The sale needs to take place within 60 days of adoption of this resolution tonight, um, and must be approved at a public board meeting. So, um, we will be targeting the August 21st board meeting for the final approval of the sale. Okay, thank you. Moving on. Let's see. 1131. Motion in a second, please. Motion to approve. Baldino, second. Chung, call the role. Baldino, yes. Chung, yes. Dustling, yes. Fioro, yes. Heinaman I Sager I and Citzer I motion carries 70 thank you 1132 please motion in a second so move for second ch call the role yes chung yes valdino yes dustling yes I sager I and citer I motion carries 70. I I just wanted to make a comment. I just want to thank Kate and uh Dr. Row for all these job descriptions that we're getting. Um clearly we're looking at every position within our district. Not really the teachers or the support staff, but so many different positions in our district and basically making sure that what we're asking these people to do and what we need them to do is

described in the nth degree. So I applaud you Kate and I applaud you Dr. row for making sure that you know we have positions that we need and they are well defined. Thank you. Uh moving on 1141 please. Uh motion in a second please. So move Sager. Second Baldino. Discussion call the roll. Sager I. Baldino. Yes. Chung yes. Dustling. Yes. Yes. Heinaman I. And Croitzer I. Motion carries 70. Thank you. We have one discussion item tonight. Uh 121. Is that you, Mr. Julie? It's both of us. Oh, okay. All right. Mr. Maggie, please. Sounds good. So, uh, district 214, um, has taken a deliberate and policydriven approach, uh, to advertising and sponsorships grounded in the understanding that these are not just donations, but contractual relationships with businesses seeking visibility and a return on investment. Uh, several year years ago, the district along with the education foundation engaged a firm to evaluate the potential market value of high visibility spaces such as scoreboards, stadiums, um, windcreens, banners, and gymnasiums. The assessment provided the foundation for what types of sponsorships could be viable, valuable, and community appropriate. More recently, the board uh revised and strengthened policy by creating three distinct sections, including a dedicated policy focused exclusively on advertising and sponsorships. Uh the shifts clarified that these partnerships should be managed by the district not the education foundation or individual schools ensuring consistency brand protection and centralized oversight. Uh now with the policy in place we are potentially taking our first strategic step under this framework uh an agreement with the

power ad company a firm that support has supported advertising and sponsorship efforts in many Illinois school districts. Uh under the proposed agreement, Power AD would recruit and manage relationships with sponsors. They would develop proposed ad content which the district will have full authority to approve or reject. Uh we retain the right of refusal for anything. The initial focus is on digital signage on our two new stadium uh scoreboards, signs, and some windscreen banners. Uh there's no direct cost to the district and all revenue will be directed into the capital projects fund uh supporting improvements that benefit all schools. Future sponsorship packages could include temporary naming rights uh if a major sponsor was identified and the board was agreeable to it. Um signage on football and indoor gymnasium scoreboards, digital signage on uh video boards, full screen video board commercials, and signage and swimming pools. We're also developing administrative procedures to ensure school-based fundraising activities such as booster sponsored efforts continue independently are not impacted by district-wide initiatives. Uh this is a focused, responsible and flex flexible first step in structured sponsorships aligning with board policy uh protecting the district's interests and opening new funding opportunities to enhance students experiences across all schools. Um it'll take some time if we're to move forward to get this up and running. Um, and we're, you know, trying to take a deliberate approach. Anything to add, Chris? I know. It was a partnership between uh Pat and I and um I think we've been vetting um this vendor, multiple vendors for for a few months now. um and and power ad rose to the top um because of their work locally um with a lot of larger districts in our area in

an established footprint um and we're not built necessarily to handle this internally and so I think this is the approach to uh partner with power ad and uh take take the first step here Mr. for you. So, one question that just came to mind, are we going to set some financial goals for power ad? You know, what were our expectations? You know, I'm just going to throw out figures just hypothetical. You know, are we going to say, "Hey, we're looking at 10 million. We're looking at 5 million." Yeah, that was part of the work and part of the questions and we we asked, you know, a high and a low-end range. I think you have those figures in. Yeah. So, I mean, the best case scenario in year one there would be like 275,000. Um, to 5 to 10. Yeah. And then down from there. Well, and and to note, I think you know, as part of the tours that we've been conducting, we only have two video scoreboards currently in the district. And so part of our conversation is we have four additional stadium boards that we could look at along with six main gym boards. We have five of six schools that have the digital scoring tables. Um so the only one without that. Um so we have limited infrastructure there to get this off the ground. And I think there's there's an opportunity here to look to invest there to increase our opportunity for revenue. Interesting. Thanks, Chris. Thanks, Patrick. Interesting. Anyone else? Anyone else? Dr. Sager. So, what is the obligation on the district's part to supply stuff? We just have to make the spaces available to them. Do we have cost to put up the signs? Like what? Yeah, our obligation is the installation. Um, and so putting up wind screens is is is a day-to-day responsibility of our CMA teams as is now. I mean, we have so many windscreens across the district now. Um, so they would they would they would create, they would manufacture, they would send it to us with a detailed map and the location of where that windscreen should be installed. And then we also have the option to potentially print it in house using

Studio 214. and they produce all the digital content, send us the file, we upload it to to those digital boards. I think the the value of a partner like this as we've been we've been talking about this for quite some time internally and I even mentioned it you know in individual conversations with some of you is we were debating do we take this on ourselves and hire a part-time person or an employee to do it but the value ad with power ad is it's turnkey they manage all that we don't have to have an employee to do it and it's we just get to if if we eventually get to the point where we purchase the additional infrastructure we immediately reap the benefit benefits of the um of the advertisement revenue. The other option is is you could certainly go down the road with them as I did in my prior district with this very company. They purchase the yield scoreboard and after a period of years they get all the revenue until that is paid for and then you begin to reap the benefit. So there are avenues that we can go and and Mr. you has got some ideas that will be coming to you down the road, but uh it makes it a turnkey process where they do the leg work and then eventually we reap the benefits of the ad revenue. And you I one more thing before any other questions and they're all of course welcome. I just want to commend, you know, Chris and Patrick because they they really put a major emphasis um on the partner in terms of the control for tasteful advertising and ensuring that anything goes up that we have the ability to control content, but then also uh we don't want our schools and the the surrounding areas to be overwhelmed with advertising images. this this will be done in a in a tasteful manner that is another avenue to support our capital needs with some additional revenue that in a creative way. Dr. Chong, um I just had one question and I know this might be too far in the future, but it seems like right now power ad is

focused on like athletic areas. Is there a possibility down the road for even like our fine arts spaces or career pathways or do they just focus on Yes. um because they wanted uh some level of exclusivity, we box that in to um basically what you see up on the the screen there. Uh and we can engage them in other work around career if you wanted to if the board was interested in looking at naming a career pathway or uh something of that nature. Thanks, Miss Baldino. I'll just uh add that I really scrutinized this contract and I wanted to say thank you for putting such an emphasis on the district maintaining the rights to reject any and all advertising that is put forward by this company. Um, it's really important that we are in control of what that is going to be seen by our visitors, our community, our students, and that we don't have to accept advertising that conflicts with the values of the district. So, thank you for um being thoughtful about that in this contract. Okay. Anyone else? Mr. Dustley, I might as well step in it again. I'm basically basically against selling the district or schools for profits for the dollars. And I understand what you saying before, Dr. Row, about the fact that we we're going to control it. Uh we have control of what goes up. Um we we we aren't going to lose sight, I would hope, of the fact that we want money. And then we've got signs all over the buildings uh and on the buses and on everything else that we got. Um because that's that's goofy. Basically, I'm against selling the district and selling selling the schools for for that reason.

The other thing I worry about is how do we control the equity of which schools get which? Does it if you go to a a company and they want to put something up, do they get to say, uh, okay, we'd like to do this at Prospect, or we'd like to do this at Wheeling, or is this a district-wide thing? How do we control that fact so that that we get an equity uh uh through the whole thing? The other thing is do we have do we have the resources to put all this up, maintain it, and anything that happens is our responsibility even on our own equipment and property according to what I've read here. So any rate, basically I'm against selling it ourselves. I'll see what I can vote on next time. Um, go ahead. Yeah, I I would just say that the uniqueness of of working with our whole team is that we established with Justin's help, Dr. Edway's helped the the revenue line item in the 60 fund capital projects. So, this is truly a district managed contract and all revenue will go into the general 60 account where then we will determine how we want to allocate those funds. So, it's not sightbased by any means. Um, it's a it's a district contract. Having having lived in in a in a district that had this, I think what you'll find is you'll find individual communities and the businesses that are known for those communities will want to advertise um to their market. So, for instance, you know, everybody loves Jro's Bakery. I would be surprised to not see a JRO's Bakery on Elkrove's video scoreboard sign when the time comes. Uh and it wouldn't make sense for them to advertise in prospect. So, I I do believe that we'll see it to be localized to their their community. Um, but I I think Mr. Julie's point is is well taken. Um, that the revenue goes to the district fund so we can allocate it based on need regardless of where it comes from.

Okay. And I guess I I'll also add I had just had a meeting with Steve Damhauser, the the CMA president today and broached that very topic about um with him about u putting this this equipment up and he had no concern they do it now and taking care of it. Okay, thank you. That's all the business before the board. So, can I have a motion and a second to adjurnn? So, move. Chung second. Hinaman. Call the roll. Chung. Yes. Hineman. I. Valdino. Yes. Dustling. Is that clock right? Yes. I was just going to point out 59. Yes. To the right. Beo. Oh, wait. Dustling. Yes. Fredo, yes. Sager, I. And Chryser, I adjourned. Motion carries 70. 759. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music]

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