Township High School District 214 Board of Education - Regular Meeting

Test one, two, August 7th, 2025. [Applause] [Music] Welcome to Jerry's Cafe. 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. Yes. Here you go. Enjoy.

Thank you. 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 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 great.

I always am. 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. 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.

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 tags 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. Prospect Marching Knights are heading to DC. We're in Washington DC.

Prospect Marching Nights 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 careers and think and welcome them home was really impactful for me as well. United States Marines.

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 Hersy 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. [Music]

Good morning. and I'd like to welcome you to the Stevensilla Tuttler 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 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 lb of gear, ran 2 and 1/2 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 were in the Civil War or these other moments in American history, but they can. That I think is 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 to it's nice to see

a special thanks especially the FDMY crew to the SL Foundation to Soldiers Journey home to District 214 to all of Hersy. I I'm grateful for everybody. A 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. 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. [Music] This year being the 40th anniversary of the Jazz 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, '80s, early 90s. We have Bill Jastro, David Bogs from the '90s. And 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 hug. Oh my god, look at you. I I'd have paid money to be here tonight. I really would have. It's is one of those things that I I paid money to be here. 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." Yeah, Mr. King is the reason why I'm here today. Not just that to 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. I mean, I I knew it was going to be good, but not this good. 52 of my actual students are in this group. I get a lot of feedback from them telling me how much they they enjoyed the music program with me and how they appreciate music for for their lives. That's really special because to know that they are still thinking about me and what what we did here. It's it's just very satisfying.

Well, I flew back and I'm glad I did, you know, especially to see Mr. King. He meant a lot to us. He just brought in the jazz and I mean, we had world class, you know, experience that Boston kids never would have had, you know, a real depth of [Applause] [Music] Welcome to Jerry's Cafe.

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. Yes. Here you go. Enjoy. Thank you.

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 to perform at their highest level. So we see great success in every single employee and their independence and their offerings and activities here.

Okay. Thank you. I'd like to call to order the Township High School District 214 Board of Education Committee the whole meeting for Thursday, August 7th, 2025. Will the board secretary, Miss Marini, please call the role. Baldino here, Chung here. Dustling here. Fioro here. Hinaman present. Sager here. Cryer present. We have a quorum.

Thank you. Uh, I need a motion in a second to go into close session for the purposes of discussing the appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance, or dismissal of specific employees, specific individuals who serve as independent contractors in an educational setting or legal counsel for the public body. Motion in a second, please. So moved. Chung. Second. Baldino. There's been a motion in a second. Please call the role. Chung. Yes. Baldino, yes. Dustling, yes. Fiorto, yes. Hinineman, I Sager, I and Croitzer, I. Motion passes 70.

Thank you. We move to close session and we will con reconvene at 7 o'clock. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] Heat. Heat.

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Thank you. Okay, we are back in uh open session. We are reconvening in open session. And can we all please stand for the pledge of allegiance?

I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the stands nationy andice for all. Thank you. Uh, next is the approval of the agenda. Can I have a motion in a second, please? So moved. Second. Motion in a second. Please call the role. Fito. Yes. Hinaman. I. Valdino. Yes. Chung. Yes. Dustling. Yes. Sager. Hi. and Kiter

I. Motion carries 70. Thank you. Next, I need a motion and a second for the open and closed meeting minutes of July 10th, 2025, please. So, move Sager. Second, Chung. Call the RO. Sager, I. Chung, yes. Valdino, yes. Dustling, yes. Vero, yes. Heinaman, I. And Citer, I. Motion carries 70. Thank you. Next on the agenda is public comments, but no one has signed up. So we move on to uh department of uh reports uh teaching and learning. Dr. Hubard, please.

Good evening. Uh thank you for the opportunity to present this evening. Uh what you'll see in your board packet is a uh we've got a couple of slides here, but also a summary of the data from our summer experience, our district 214 summer experience. I'd like to start just by thanking Kelly Martin who has had an incredible role in the coordination and structure of summer school and then put together the data as well. I'd also like to thank our staff and our administrative team teams at the the sites both at Rolling Meadows and at Forest View who spent a considerable amount of time planning and serving students in a whole host of uh ways over the course of the summer. And then most importantly, I'd like to thank the students who invested in themselves this summer. students took time out of their summer, whether it was credit recovery, uh, nonredit bearing enrichment opportunities, or get ahead courses that they took to open up places in their schedule to take additional experiences in their four years with us. Um, our students invested in themselves. And I I think that that's a true testament to the not just the offerings that we have, but the students that we have that want to to work to get ahead, to work to catch up, to work to support each other and continue building relationships with our staff. over the course of the summer that was hosted uh both at Rolling Meadows and here at Forest View, different programs. Um we've had over 3,000 total enrollments. And so some students are enrolled multiple times, some students do credit recovery in multiple courses. Some students take session one and session two. Session one started back on June 9th and session two ended all the way in on July 24th. We have students in graduation um recouping graduation requirements and credit recovery. we had 85% pass rate. Uh just online credit recovery netted uh 334 credits accumulated. And so that was a a remarkable uh I think push to make sure that we're catching kids up and making sure that they stay on pace for graduation. And then we also have a series of get ahead courses that allow

students to to take things in the summer both online and in person. and we had over 655 credits uh or classes completed uh through that that program. We have five different transition programs. Uh some of those transition programs are based on a student's course selection for the coming year. Students that are uh taking an honors or an AP course for the first time. So they have an excelling and honors course that they can take for for preparation. We also have a bridge to e and a bridge to high school class that based on teacher recommendations and on assessment cut scores, students are invited to participate in programming that's put together to make sure that they have a good transition and and a good welcoming a bridge to both EL programming and to high school as incoming 9th graders. Uh our international newcomer academy serviced 113 students over the summer. And really that is meant to to make sure that there isn't a decrease in language acquisition over the summer months. So students are invited to continue their education and participate and and make sure that language acquisition continues throughout the course of the year and and they stay on track uh through that program. We have extended school year which is uh a program that serves our students with IEPs and special education students that that serviced 163 students. Graduation acquisition is for students that are newcomer to the to the United States and might not be on track for graduation given their current credit status. So, we offer summer credits and summer classes for them to continue to accumulate credits over the course of the summer to keep them on track for graduation. Driver education is incredibly popular over the summer. It serviced 240 students and then we had 347 students who did uh micro internships and internships. And so we had students out all over the community uh doing various work. In the next slide you'll see that we have a summer enrichment program through our uh talent development program and we offer a

series of nonredit bearing courses. Uh there's a lot of incoming ninth graders that that take advantage of these. And then there's a number of students whose schedules just during the school year are packed and don't allow for them to take things like guitar uh or cooking on a budget. And then there's also ACT prep folded in. So these are nonredit bearing courses, but we had 240 students elect to take nonredit bearing courses that were hosted by our staff uh on our campus over the course of the summer. And I think that again that's another testament to our students, our staff and and the relationships that we build that there's students that are interested in coming to school over the summer and taking advantage of things and in broadening their experience whether it's film making or working on college applications to get ahead uh and make sure that they're prepared for that process. So really grateful for our staff, everyone that coordinates summer school. I'm grateful for the buildings that host it because it's an incredible lift. Uh, traditionally it rotates between our three centrally located high schools, Rolling Meadows, Prospect, and Hersy. Uh, and so we'll be working here in the coming months to identify the location and start working on the offerings for for next school year.

That's it. Yes. Sorry. Okay. Yeah. Okay. Uh, board members, Mr. Ferto. Yeah. My uh daughter took a consumer ed class, the the jump ahead, and it was great. That's great. great. I mean, the results were great. Um, she enjoyed it and I could tell you as a parent, the communication was outstanding. I I never had to worry about it. She was way ahead of schedule, but you know, they they kept on reminding students, at least my daughter, that you know, where you should be at this point, you know, do you need any help? Certainly, it it's, you know, it's the second year in a row she's done. It's a well-run program. So, thank you. That's great. I appreciate hearing that and I will share that feedback. those get ahead courses can be challenging because it's a lot crammed into a short amount of time. Uh but with the staff and the students working together, we see a pretty high success rate.

Yeah, let me get the name of the teacher. I can't remember off top of my head and I'll send it to you. Great. Thank you, Dr. Chung. Um I could actually say word for word what Vice President Fiorto said. My son took consumer education and also yeah just had a great experience and as a parent too I got emails and updates and so um I just echo everything he said. So thank you. That's fantastic. Thank you for sharing. Okay. Anyone else? Okay, we're good. Thank you, Dr. Hubard. Next is the uh superintendent report. Dr. Ro, please.

All right. Thank you, Mrs. Crocher. I actually have a little bit of information to share with you this evening. You may recall um in the in the winter to spring months, we had a public commenter um ask us to review um our our honors designations um and how students are recognized. And in the past the district is recognizes uh students in graduation who have accumulated u four consecutive semesters of earning honor roal designation and then those students who earned seven consecutive semesters of honoral designation. So, uh, we took that and actually went back and asked I asked our assistant principles or associate principles of instruction to review our current practices, determine if they still meet today's standards and they um stand by them or if they make would like to make a recommendation uh for a change and they they did that and over the course of the spring and then the summer they've come back a couple of times with really great conversation and meaningful dialogue uh at their level and then engaged the principles and then Dr. Hubard um and our new director of of curriculum and equitable practice Mrs. Lavachek um in uh in terms of uh the for feedback and so where they in they landed is they would like to their recommendation and we've accepted this recommendation uh and DECA has approved this and we'll put it into practice for this school year um is we'll be replacing that practice uh with a a new honors designation um honor role will be 3.0 0 to 3 and the numbers don't change in terms of the honors designation. It's just when students are recognized. Um honor role will be 3.0 to 3.79 uh consistently across the board. Uh high honors 3.8 to 4.19 and highest honors 4.2 plus. Uh what was eliminated was the four and seven consecutive semesters designation. And it really becomes the cumulative GPA that you that you earn during your time is what matters. So the nice thing about this is all students earning those designations

will be recognized by their individual schools in January and June. So students will be recognized for um honor role after each semester. Um and then culminating their their GPA uh upon graduation students that meet those designations with a cumulative GPA uh whether that be through unweed or weighted the highest of the two following the seven seventh semester. So, winter break of their senior year will be the cut off point for those recognized at graduation uh with their cumulative GPA. But in order to keep students engaged in that spring semester still mattering, their transcript designation will use all eight semesters and it'll be noted noted on their transcript uh that we send off to the schools um or post-secary institutions of their choice. Um it was important that I to note this change publicly uh because uh school starts you know next week obviously I wanted to acknowledge it publicly so everyone so it was out there in in in the public before school actually began. Um this will be cemented in our um in our course uh academic course book that comes to you in the fall. Uh it'll be included in there. Um you take action on that but this doesn't require action. This is sits with the administration. So most importantly, I think the win here is more students will actually be recognized for uh for their academic efforts and and success. So with that, I'm happy to to take any questions on that or I can uh move on to some of my other topics,

board members. Okay.

All right. I think it's pretty straightforward. I think the the the end of the day the the the the positive outcome is the cumulative GPA is what is what matters and then the fourth and seventh semesters uh seemed and felt arbitrary. So uh next topic is the strategic planning measures will be in front of you at our next meeting. As you recall we approved you approved the strategic plan in April um and and we did that in order for the board that initiated the process to be able to take action on that plan. We'll be coming back to you next uh the next meeting in two weeks uh with the actual metrics that we aim to accomplish after in over the course of the next five years. Uh we'll be painting a picture um of those goals and some of the specific actions that we'll be taking in year one um to start driving towards that uh those metrics. So we've been uh we've been working on those. We actually uh shared um some of them for feedback to administrators on Monday. Uh but it'll be to you for action uh at the next next board meeting and then the strategic plan will be quote unquote will be I can't say complete because we're not going to be finished with it. But the uh the structure of the strategic plan will be complete and approved and then we'll be off to the races. We have a lot of wonderful work planned. Uh I can tell you I hope that you'll feel as energized as our team did when we laid everything out that we're preparing to uh to tackle. It's it's exciting and and the future of the district is extremely bright. Um uh I'll couple that good news with some not so good news that these the buildings in our school district continue to uh give us surprises. Um the the roof and the forest view a building. So not the building that we're currently in, but the one next door. Um our operations team has been chasing a leak for the last eight months trying to figure out where it's coming from. That roof is a is a gravel top roof. So, the way that looks, there's a concrete roof and then there's the subroof where insulation and some mechanicals live.

And then there's the the roof that's exposed to the elements that has gravel on the gravel top roof. And it's it can be very difficult to find a leak because a leak can live in a in a seam and run to a different part of the roof. So, Mr. Julie and Mrs. in this stack have been and their team have been our CMA team have been chasing that that leak for eight months unsuccessfully even conducted something called a nuclear test which really highlights and and tells you the the links that we've gone to try and figure this out. So we got to the point we can't locate where the leak is is starting to fix it. So they decided it was time to do um a boring sample and determine if any of the insulation or that subroof was damaged. And unfortunately, it is extremely damaged to the point where the roof needs to be replaced. So, uh we will be bringing a uh a hefty, you know, $ 1.5 million price tag for a roof replacement uh this fall because if it reaches winter and freezes and thaws, then we have uh not only um roof to replace, but we're going to have um unhealthy conditions for for our kids to learn in. So, we'll be replacing that um this fall and we'll have that in front of you for approval at the next meeting. I just wanted to highlight it tonight so you had a little a chance to chew on it um and and ask any questions in the in the in the window between now and then or get some additional information. And then finally, the really good stuff. Uh we've had an amazing summer. Um, sometimes it always seems to go by too fast. And then we get to this week and the excitement really builds that uh that we get to welcome our kids back uh next week, which is which is a high point for us all. Um, you know, well, we welcomed our new administrators on Monday. We had a really great day highlighting the strategic plan and some of our activities with them. Uh we brought in um some guests in the afternoon who led us through some activities on change management as we're implementing um our new strategic plan and managing some of the change that

that our buildings are inevitably going to see with our new direction to put our administrators in a in a position where they can really be supportive of our staff as we drive the the direction we're heading. Um so we held that kickoff on Mon on on Monday of the of this week. We welcomed our new administrators and supervisors last week. Uh we have a really strong group coming in. Uh certified staff. Um the new staff came yesterday. We have 25 new certified staff members joining uh the district team, which is a pretty small number if you think about a district of our size. Uh which says some positivity about our our retention rate. And then we're excited to welcome our staff uh and our kids back next week. It's going to be a week full of excitement and 95 degree weather. So let's uh it' be fun in the sun for sure. Um, but as we transition, I I want to say a couple of thank yous. I want to I want to commend our administration. You know, obviously, Mrs. Craft for the the the leadership in HR to um get our hiring to a point where we're in a really really good position, but also our our administration at our building level to who have prepared um with their staff to be ready for kids. Um there's some some really exciting themes and and and fun and energy that are being infused into our buildings. And then I'd like to give a shout out to our CMA staff. Um, our buildings, our youngest building, as you all know, is 52 years old. We've got the best CMA group in uh in the state. And I uh our buildings are beautiful. They look really, really good. There's been a lot of um outside work done to beautify them. Uh you may notice some even in this building, but the team did a really great job over the summer. They worked extremely hard and I just want to commend them for their work and thank them. And that's all I have. Happy to answer any questions you may have.

We also uh welcomed support staff um at that day. Uh in the theater. Kate, I'm looking at you. How many new support staff did we have? Do you remember? I know.

Yeah. Yeah. A great group. Thank you. Any questions for Dr. Row? Oh, the roof. Is there something that needs to be done like today or yesterday or something? No, we we have it set to where any uh there's a there's a one conference room on the third floor um that water is is presenting and and dripping and Mr. Julie and team have it set where it is it's not affecting anything in the actual rooms. Everything's protected. Uh we just need to take care of it for long term. So when we have students, they won't experience it at all. They won't it won't impact learning. All of the work will be done at premium time which means after school hours and weekend.

Okay. And no students will be displaced. Okay. Okay. Anything else? Okay. Thank you, Dr. Row. Okay. We have a few action items. Um, can I have a motion and a second for approval of accounts payable? So moved. Baldino. Second. Chang. Motion in a second. Please call a roll. Baldino. Yes, Chung. Yes, Dustling. Yes, Fiorto. Yes, Hinimman. Hi, Sager. I and Croitzer, I. Motion carries 70. Thank you. Can I have a motion and a second for 1012, please? So moved.

Second. Heinman. Thank you. Um, Dr. Adaway, anything to add?

Uh, yeah. episode. I just wanted to mention that as part of the transition uh to the new food service contract, Quest conducted a detailed review of existing menus and pricing across all six high schools. Um through that review, as noted in the memo, we found that while full meals have been priced consistently across the district, allocart items and specialty food items have varied both in pricing and portion size from school to school. Um I think it is important to note that we also learned that this variation was not a result of an oversight. um rather it reflected an attempt by each school site team to be responsive to student interests at their buildings. Um that said, one of our key goals moving forward with the food service program is to provide consistency and predictability for all students. So to do that, we're standardizing both the portion sizes and product offerings across the district. That standardization will allow us to align pricing so that all students, regardless of what school they attend, will have access to the same food at the same portion size for the same price. Um, it also makes our program a lot easier to manage and evaluate in partnership with Quest. So, the proposed prices that you see in the board packet reflect that standardized model and they were developed with input from Quest using current food and labor costs as well as trends in the industry. Um, again, I really want to be clear about this. This shift is not intended as a criticism of past practice at all. Um, in fact, I want to acknowledge the work of our sitebased food service teams who built program programs that are student focused. Um, this really is a next step. Um, building on that foundation in a way that brings consistency, equity, and efficiency to the entire district. So, um, with that, I am recommending that the board approve proposed food pricing for the current school year as presented.

Board members. Yes. Question, Mr. Dustling. what uh what's the relation uh of our food services to uh input from uh federal government or the state government as far as milk or other or other items? So I do believe that uh we receive uh funds for the special milk program but that is the extent um we are not part of the national school lunch program or the breakfast program. We don't receive money from the state or the federal government for any other food items that are sold. Okay. As I recall, when we were in in the program, none of the students were eating the food because uh it just wasn't tasty.

There are quite a few more restrictions that come with participation in that program. Yeah. Really? Okay. Thank you.

Now, I like Mr. Justin, just for context, we uh administratively Quest leadership met with superintendency um last week, I think, and kind of gave us an overview of what they've been focused on and some of the inservice training with our um with our food service team as they are coming back is really centered on scratch cooking in each of our kitchens and from making of the pizzas inhouse to so a lot of that that training is where their their focus is focus is coming. So, uh, they've got they they really stand by and highlighted the the recipes that they're using to ensure just that occurs that our students not only like but want to eat.

Yes. One last question. Do we have a a full staff uh at each of the schools? To my knowledge, we do. Yes. And they've been going through the training with Quest. Okay. Good. Thank you. Board members. So, I have a question about the pricing. Um, I noticed that nearly every price went up. Is that because portion sizes needed to be adjusted? Is it because of, you know, increases in raw materials and and the cost of groceries? Um, these days I think it's all of the above. Um, in some cases there were portion size adjustments. I Jello is one that stood out. Um,

and in a lot of cases the cost of food is escalating rapidly. Um that combined with labor cost really uh forced Quest to recommend some increases to some of our food prices to make sure that we were uh we were covering our costs at a minimum. But these are locked in now for the full school year. So they won't be going up.

They will not Quest will not bring a recommendation for uh price adjustments midyear. We may see a couple price adjustments that they recommend for next school year, but that will come in the spring. And now that the main adjustments have happened, we'll probably see very few uh recommendations for future school years. Okay. Thank you very much. Anyone else? Dr. Ch.

Um thank you so much. I um I appreciate that the prices are going to be standardized across the schools. Um, I do worry about any students who rely on school lunches but might not qualify for the free or reduced lunches, how this will affect um their ability to have the school lunches, especially at the schools that will experience just a relatively higher increase than the other schools. So, I'm just wondering how like what you found in your research about this. Are you doing things to monitor, you know, maybe students surveys or just asking them about their usage and how the costs? Yeah,

we will be. So, I have experience with Quest from a previous school district and Quest does a really good job of seeking student input throughout the year um on a number of of variables um cost, efficiency, food taste. They're really good at surveying students and making sure that students are enjoying the food that they're eating and that students feel like they're getting a value for what they're what they're ordering. Um, I can tell you that Quest has um has a principle that they stand by and as do we at the district that no student who needs to eat is going to go without food. Um, regardless of whether or not they qualify for free reduced meals or if they have money on their lunch account, student student needs to eat, they will eat. Um, and we'll make sure of that.

Thank you. Okay. I think it's important to remember that this is the first year we're using Quest Management. So, I'm not surprised with all the changes that came through, but um welcome addition. Really pleased with it. Okay. Any any other questions, comments? Okay. Call the role. Frito, yes. Hinimman, I. Baldino, yes. Chung, yes. Dustling, Sager, I. And Citer, I. Motion carries 70. Okay. Can I have a motion in a second for 1021, please? So moved. Sager. Second. Chung.

Thank you. Okay. Um I have a statement here I want to read before I open it up for uh comments if that's okay. Um tonight we are voting on a new partnership with Power Ad Company to launch a structured sponsorship and advertising initiative for athletic facilities. If approved, we will work with the new digital scoreboards at Wheeling and Buffalo Grove high schools. This has been a measured, thoughtful approach to ensure that all content materials remain appropriate for our schools and that the district retains full control over approvals. There is no cost to the district to participate. This agreement has the potential to generate additional revenue that can go back to programs, equipment, renovations, and other things that support our students. Most importantly, we are building a foundation for our future partnerships in a way that aligns with our values and serves our community. Um, is it Mr. Mogi? Would you like to start, please?

Uh, President Ger, I have no additional comments at this time. Uh, Mr. Hulie, anything? No. Dr. Ro. Okay. Board members, questions. Uh, Mr. Dustling,

you know, as I said at the last meeting on this topic, I'm basically opposed to selling or using district or school facilities for sponsorship or advertising purposes. Uh, possibly this is a a generational thing for me. I I'll grant you that. Um, if ADP power is approved for engagement tonight, there are still questions I have about the process. I was told initially that the focus for sponsorship or ads will be for new or updating scoreboards at Willing and Buffalo Grove High School. Beyond that, I'm not aware of other projects or areas that Power AD will focus on. Uh I was also informed that funds generated by power ad will be deposited in a district account and funds from funds from that account will be distributed on an equity basis across the district. What I don't understand is the equity process for the distribution of funds. Who decides the equity needs for distribution? Is there a committee that decides? Is the distribution decided by a person or district staff across the district and in our schools? We have different uh demographic situations and many co-curricular programs in fine arts, athletics, academics, and other programs that could use funds to support students. How will equity be used and by whom? To distribute the funds in support of students. If the funds generated by power ad become part of the accounts that support our 10-year $800 million capital forecast, the amount through power ad that will be generated is really a drop in a bucket compared to that forecast. And depositing those funds in the capital accounts does not directly support the students in various programs that we currently have. So I am opposed to uh the process as I said at the last meeting and I'm still

opposed. Thank you. Thank you Mr. Dling. Uh board members

Dr. Chung. Um so for me I think in thinking about this topic there are two things that frame my um perspective. The first is our board policy on sponsorship and advertising which was adopted last spring and then that 850 million plus in facilities needs across the district. So in terms of our board policy, I want to quickly read um two things that stood out for me. First, the integrity of our learning environment must remain a top priority as sponsorship, naming, and advertising opportunities are considered. The second sentence is the district must hold sponsored and donated materials to the same standard used for the selection and purchase of curriculum materials. So this is an incredibly high standard and I think that what makes this possible is exactly what you said President Citer that the district is going to retain final approval over all ad content and placement. And so knowing that the integrity of our learning environment is top priority and knowing that we are going to hold the ad content to the same standard that we use to select curriculum materials that gives me confidence that we are going to be very selective in what will be displayed and where it will be displayed. Um and then the second about the you know 850 million plus in facility needs. I um appreciate that that revenue is going to be is not going to be school specific. It's going to be directed toward our capital projects fund to support facility improvements across the district. And that's important um because we are accountable to our community for how we manage our resources. Not just whether and how we spend money and save money, but also whether and how we take advantage of opportunities um when it makes sense to bring in money. so that we can um do

anything we can to offset our reliance on taxpayer dollars. So um um member Dustling is 100% correct. This is you know it's not going to bring in that 850 million. Of course not. But I think every little bit helps. Um when it makes sense um and to me this makes sense. So I'm a yes. Thank you Mr. Fioro. Please.

Uh I'm also a yes. But I do want to uh I do agree with Bill that there are some answers that we're going to need somewhere down the line on on this bucket of money and where it's going to go and make sure that there are the proper controls in place and that we as a board, no, we have I won't say we have a say in it, but we understand where why we're doing and what we're doing. Um, I also want to raise a concern that um, and I'm pretty confident that this group of administrators will will do the right thing in that I I don't want our football stadiums or our baseball stadiums or whatever to look gaudy, you know, just overrun with ads left and right. I mean, we're not wriggly field and I'm I'm pretty sure that you guys will take that in consideration, too. when if if and when it really takes off and we get a lot of activity, you know, we don't need to see an ad every 5t of fence and uh where somebody can't even see the ball field. So, that that's a concern I have. I am a yes vote. I I agree with a lot of stuff that that Vicki said that I know it's a drop in the bucket as Bill also said, but um anything we can do to bring additional revenue into our school district to help offset um facility projects somewhere down the line is a benefit to all of our stakeholders in our district. Thank you,

Miss Maldino, please.

So, I want to thank u Mr. Justin for his um his comments and sharing his concerns and and I have given this a lot of thought. The thing that I want that really made me more confident about this proposal is that this feels like a pilot. Um that we have an option at the end of the term of the contract to say, you know what, this is really not appropriate for our district. it's not working for us and we're going to end this agreement. Um, and so if we're starting with just a couple of schools, um, and we have control over the type of advertising that we're doing, um, then I'd like to, um, you know, get some feedback and see how this works out and and and really revisit this at the end of the contract term to see whether or not it's something we should renew. And we have that we have that option. We have that ability.

Thank you, Dr. Sager.

Yeah. So, I I I share uh member Dustling's concerns along along with the benefits side that other board members have spoke to. And so, I think it's a balancing act of making sure that this is done tastefully and in a way that we're not over advertising to students, but it's directed at spectators at sporting events. And I think as an additional revenue source, finding that balance of making sure that we're bringing in revenue that can offset taxpayer dollars and get benefits ultimately for our students makes sense. Um there's a lot of local businesses in our community that District 214 already partners with. They host interns from our district. They help with our career pathways programs. They employ our students and aid our district in a myriad of ways. And I would hope that this would be an opportunity for our local business partners to have an additional way to show support for district 214. So I'm I'm going to be a yes. Thank you.

Thank you. Um Dr. Row, anything to add?

Well, I I would just add that I you know I I don't I don't share the same um concern because I've seen it in action. Um I I think that what I can assure you of is anything that the district takes on will be done will be done with uh with the highest level of class and taste. Uh we have expectations of ourselves uh and the and the standard that we uphold for our community. It's not something that we take lightly. Um as for the the bucket of funds, uh you're right, Mr. Dustling, this is not going to produce a windfall of dollars. Um, we're talking about the um the wind screens along the fence in our football stadiums. Um, and you know, ads on the the video screen and around the video screen in our football stadiums and then the basketball gymnasiums only. That's as far as it will go. Um, and it will not look it will not be gaudy by any by any stretch of the means. Uh and in terms of management of the funds, that will live with our operations team in terms of where um where those funds need to be allocated in terms of based on project need uh as just another source of of dollars that we can spread throughout the district based on where the needs live. Um, but I I have the utmost confidence in in our operations team and as I said, I've se I've seen it in action in the districts. Uh, and I've seen Powerad in action and I believe them to be a good partner and I think that you'll be pleased uh with with the direction that we go and you won't you won't feel that we've fallen short of the expectations you set for the district.

Thank you. You know, I believe that this district does have high standards and we and we live by them. And I believe that this will come through with power ad 2 that we that we really stick to those high standards and that whatever comes out that that uh will be content appropriate for for not only the students but people in the community. Roll please. Sager. Hi Chung. Yes. Baldino. Yes. Dustling. No. Fioro. Yes. Hi. And Croitzer. I. Motion carries 61. Thank you.

Moving on. 1031, please. A motion and a second to approve uh personnel reports. So second. Chung. Call the role. Hinimman I Chung yes Valdino yes Dustling yes Fiorto yes Sager I and Citer I motion carries 70 thank you uh motion and a second to approve 1032 please so moved second

thank you any addition disc discussion on these two subject two um job descriptions call the role Baldino, yes. Furo, yes. Chung, yes. Dustling, yes. Hinaman, I. Sager, I. Critzer, I. Motion carries 70. Thank you. And our last uh roll call on for the evening. 1041. Motion in a second, please. So move to void. Second, Chun. Thank you, Dr. Hubard.

Yes. Uh, thank you. As you all know, we have an incredible program here in district 214 that's referred to as the practical architectural construction program. We call it the pack program affectionately. And uh in conjunction with design 214, it's a program by which students take a home and over the course of one to two years completely remodel the home and uh equip themselves with experience from plumbing to electrical to framing to finishing uh to roofing. It's really an incredible program and and as the board knows, we are halfway through a project currently in Mount Prospect at 2011 North Elm Street. Uh that project is a two-year project. We placed a second story on a one-story home in Mount Prospect. There was an open house held in May and and many of you were there to see the progress and and it's just absolutely remarkable. And just a brief update on where we are there has been completely roughly framed. The second floor floor mechanicals are done. Uh this fall the focus will be on finishing the exterior before the winter comes. And then uh the this year's crew of students and staff will be working to demo the first floor, install all the utilities and the finishing work. Our goal is to have that property ready for viewing and up for sale in May. And so at this time of year, we are in the uh we are responsible to find the next property. And the reason that we look at it a year in advance is that it takes uh first of all quite a bit of time to make sure that we get all of our permitting and we have our plans put together for the next project. Uh but more importantly, it gives our students an opportunity through the design 214 program to really help partner with the architects uh to develop the design. and and we've identified uh a number of homes in the area over the course of the last couple of months. Uh we've been visiting homes and and we found one at two uh 2310

Bluebird Lane in Rolling Meadows that we got really excited about uh two weeks ago and we spent some time going through the home and and decided that it was a great idea uh to to to put the program there back to Rolling Meadows. Um it it was a it's a great piece of land with a home that has an incredible amount of potential. Uh we're not sure yet if we're going to go up or out or a combination of both, but I think that that's the exciting part for our students and our teachers to wrestle with and and uh debate. But our plan right now is uh to to purchase the home at 2310 Bluebird Lane and work can begin underway in terms of permitting, planning, designing so that next summer our student apprentices can help prepare the home for then the fall of 26, our pack students to get in and dig in for what will turn out to be likely another two-year project. And so we're really excited about the prospect, about the opportunity, and and I think it's really exciting. And so we're here tonight with a contract. Um I will say that uh there's a a neat story to the home and um and we put in a bid for the home and the the the sellers received bids that were higher than ours but associated with the bid that we make. Um, I wrote a letter on behalf of the district and Dave Weedersac, who's a teacher at Rolling Meadows, wrote what he refers to as Dave's love letter to the seller talking about the importance of the program and the opportunity it provides our students. And the seller is a retired educator and her daughter is a teacher and she said that she didn't need to see any more offers after she saw our offer with the letters. And so I think this is a great opportunity for us to have another project uh to begin to explore. And so we're here tonight with the contract and and hopefully recommending that the board approve.

Okay. In recent memory, I think this is our third house in Rolling Meadows. Yeah. Um board members, anybody? Okay. Well, I'm going to share a quick go ahead story. Maybe the my favorite text message of the summer that I received is, you know, Dr. Hubard's new in his role in July. Um, and and I got this text message as he was going through these conversations and it it just simply says, "I think I just bought a house." It was awesome. I loved it. Had to share. It was fun. Uh, congratulations, doctor. I really think you just bought us a house. Thank you. Very cool. Okay. Call the RO, please. Frito, yes. Chong, yes. Baldino, yes. Dustling, yes. Hinimman, I. Sager, I. Cryer,

I. Motion carries 70. Thank you. So, now we're on to just discussion items and we have uh proposed policy changes. Dr. Ro, anything to add?

Uh, thank you. I just very This will be really quick. It was a fairly small press update. The press update really um offers legal updates and footnotes uh and mainly five-year review. The only um change of substance that I think is worth noting has to do with board members oath of office. Um, and in the the updated oath of office, uh, it was an explicit addition was made, um, where the district had to each district has to to chime in and say whether they would add this. And based on my conversations with Mrs. Croitzer, I think you'll agree it's it's a no-brainer, but it's it outlines the specific action of if a board member violates the oath that you take publicly at a board meeting and during your swearing in, it lines out the course of action that that boards may take um up to the warning, a formal censure, and then um the regional office of education, the regional superintendent would have the ability then to remove a board member. It formalizes that process. Hopefully, that's not something we ever have to endure. I don't anticipate it will be with the way you all conduct yourselves and run business, but I wanted to highlight that's really the only change of substance. And again, this is first reading and it will be back um for discussion and approval at a later date.

Okay, board members. Okay, great. And uh 112, please, Dr. Row.

All right. Uh, as you know, we uh we we bring the about this time of year, the calendar for a school year away from uh two school years away uh for for approval so that families and um and school districts and a lot of the honestly a lot of our cinder districts can plan their own calendars. Um so the 2627 calendar is is in front of you. Um and this has been vetted not only by administration but gone through a standing committee with uh representation from all of our collective bargaining agreements uh and is a a wonderful group of u team that that takes this this role very seriously looking at the trends around the around the area. Um, I will tell you that we had a healthy discussion as to uh when uh spring break falls as it's been falling lately in the last couple of years and we always take the last full week of March and there's been a trend where some districts are beginning to shift to that following week. So, we kind of did an analysis of who around us is um is taking breaks when and where do our teachers live u and our employees live and and and do breaks in the pod the school districts if they don't live in district 214 are we going to have families that going to have tough decisions to make um and it's not significant so no change was needed I just wanted to share that that this is a detailed process that the team takes seriously so we have this calendar before you for uh discussion consideration and approval to the next Uh don't you try to get um quarters the same days, 45 days?

Yes. The semesters uh the semesters are are balanced and I believe within five or six days of of one another. The spring semester is always difficult because it's always longer. Uh but that's that kind of drives why we are starting on August 12th next year instead of maybe a week later so we can keep balanced semesters. Okay. Board members, Mr. Fioro, please. I I'm just wondering throwing out a suggestion here is um is there any chance we could add to the school calendar the the graduation dates now that we're now on different dates? I mean if people if we had anybody that would attend this meeting and they were looking online they would see this and they wouldn't know what the graduation dates there. So it's just a suggestion I'm throwing out there.

We don't we don't have those yet for 26. Do we have we do have the 2027 graduation dates, but given that they're on different dates, I think that was why we left them off. So, we'll we'll leave them for the schools to add them to their calendars, but um whenever we get it to a weekend, then uh then definitely Okay. Okay. Thank you. Good point. Thank you. Anything else? Okay, great. Um Mr. Dustling calendar. Could you turn your mic on, hun?

Whatever. I noticed on the school calendar that uh when we get down to the uh we get down to the end of the year, we've got the spring break on March 19th. And I'm looking at I guess there's two different calendars here. I'm looking at the one that u looks like this. Now down at the bottom it says uh we've got a a spring break on the 19th, classes resume on the 29th and then we got non-attendance day on March 26th and uh then last day of class is the 27th. This bottom part is different than what's over in this other one. Is that going to be create any confusion?

Should be gone. Mhm. You see what I mean? The first one shows an order. 19th, 26, 27th, 31st. The other one shows different. You see it? Oh, I do see what you're saying. I I do see what you're saying. The the class I I got you, Mr. Mr. Fix that for next year. I will fix that and have that updated for approval. Thank you for pointing that out. Okay. Thanks, Mr. Dustley. I am awake. You see, that's good. Glad to know it. Okay. Um 1121, Mr. Julie, please.

Thank you for your consideration. Um is the purchase of 160 new radios. Um the district has heavily invested in our safety and security infrastructure over the last few years. Cameras, card access, our overall um system itself. Uh recently we've upgraded all of our building repeater systems, basically the antennas that allow the radios to interact with one another. And so it's time for us now to move on to radios. We're sitting on roughly 800 radios across the district. And they are $1,000 a piece. And so we have to chunk and phase this. And we are starting with our administrative teams or school administrative teams and emergency response teams along with our campus safety teams. The radios also give us additional capability. You talk about safety and security in terms of redundancy. Um, we have text alerts on our phones. We will now be able to have text alerts for 911 emergency call buttons on these radios as well. So, it just adds another layer for us as well. And we have to bring them up to speed.

So, we're going to do every year till we hit 800. I don't know that we need 800. That's part of this process. I think when we when we think about radios, we we can think 8 to three and then we think after hours. I think we can use some of those radios also after hours as well. So not everybody needs a radio. So that's part of this process too. Oh, understood. So a review of who's got the radios. That was my question. Who gets them first? But the security team. I think the purpose is it builds in a a cycle that we can follow. Yeah. And a replacement cycle then that is controlled so that it's not uh all over the place. I've talked to Dr. Ro about this. Everything should have a cycle. Everybody should have a date of when when to

when to replace. Um Mr. Dustling, please. I remember I remember when we bought the uh radios probably eight, nine years ago. That was the second coming. Uh that was supposed to be it. You could, you know, talk to certain groups. Um and you could not have other groups breaking in on is is the replacement of these things. Is this just a normal technology thing that we're going to see at

Yes. Yes. Um part of also what we're doing is we have depending on the building, we have up to 14 channels. So we're also kind of honing in on just more simple um four to five channels max. But yeah, I to to board president Croitzer's point, we need replacement cycles and this is part of also what we're resetting. Great. Thank you. technology moves at lightning pace. Uh, any other comments? Okay. Um, who's up next? 1031. Dr. Hubard.

Yeah, I'm back for the final time this evening. Um, so there's a a process by which the Illinois State Board of Education allocates federally issued title monies. And one part of the process is the submission of what they refer to as a consolidated district plan. And ultimately what we're responsible to do is to articulate um and you can see I think it turned out to be 53 pages um articulate exactly what it is that we're doing to address the needs of of students um from lowincome families most importantly and students that that are academically at risk for a variety of reasons. And so we talk through what our plan is in terms of the usage of district monies in in rolling out and administering our interventions and it allows us to articulate what our plan is to to utilize title funds whether they be in title one or title two, title three. Um and so this is not a plan and a process that needs to be brought before the board annually. It only needs to be brought before the board when there's substantive changes that are made. And so the last time this was brought forward was back in 2021 right in the midst of COVID and essentially it articulated what the the district's plan was to to address learning loss and to utilize ESSER funds. Now that ESSER funds are gone and now that the the board has approved a new strategic plan, it obviously impacts our approach and our plan in terms of identifying students in need of intervention and how we plan on utilizing the title funds. And so this is a a hefty document that's been put together and Dr. Marcela Zip has done uh much of the heavy lifting, almost all of the heavy lifting actually um and and put this together. And essentially what needs to happen is we're seeking board approval this evening or next at the next meeting. This is anformational item tonight at the meeting on the 21st. We're seeking board approval. We then

submit that to the state which then allows us to then put in the grant applications for the individual title grants. And one of the things that that came up in in in having reviewed this is there is a couple of places where there's essentially placeholder information. Um one of the instances is near the end of it where it talks about our bilingual parent advisory council and what we have to do is submit the attendance from that council. However, that council has not met yet this year. So we put a placeholder in all the names of the parents that we intend on inviting and then we initially submit to the state the plan they approve it and then as things change or if things need to change we would send an amendment to the state and so our plan after the BPAC meeting would be to update as you see on the the document that's in here it's only lists of parents and guardians we would identify Vice President Fido who's part of that committee any uh staff members any administrators any any other community members that participate in that process and then we would send forward an an amendment. And so what you see tonight is as full as we can get it as we sit here today. The hope is to have it approved at the next meeting so that we can send it to the state and then we'll amend it as we need to and send it back to the state.

Have they has uh set dates for this year? Do you know? Excuse me. Has the group set dates for this year when they're going to meet? I am not aware of the specific dates. I am aware of them having an invite list. Okay. They they know who they're going to include. I don't think that they've set dates. Just as long as u Mr. Fredle gets the information. Absolutely. Understood. Um questions. Board members. Okay. Mr. Dustling.

No doubt. Um it took a tremendous amount of effort for Marcelo to put this together. Obviously, it has to be done because uh the state board of education uh said it's going to be done. But what I'd like to know, does anybody really look at this at the state level? I mean, do they really look at it and and and ask questions about it, or is this just an another 53 page uh thingamajig we got to send in so that if we don't send it in, we don't get any money and nobody looks at it to see, you know what I mean? Am I guess I'm just talking to the choir here, maybe? I don't know.

Oh, no. Mr. Dustling, I have the same question about the school improvement plan. Do they really read are the choir bill, but I I can't say whether they do or not, but they keep sending the dollars, so we're going to assume that they do. And if it's a rubber stamp, at least, you know, we're putting the dollars to good use. That's maybe the most I hope the dollars they send us way as much as what the hell we sent in with this report. Okay, Miss Bald. Sorry. It's okay, Miss Bald.

No, I'm not sorry at all. I actually was going to ask who did the work on this. Um, as a newer board member, um, I found it really fascinating. It was a lot to to read through, but I I learned from it and, um, I want to just express my appreciation to to Dr. Zip. That was very good work. She she does put an incredible amount of time and effort into this and for the questions in which she needs feedback, she does reach out to people to make sure that she has as accurate information as possible. um she invests a lot of time and hours not just in this but then also in the subsequent grant applications.

Thank you Mr. Dustling for that colorful analysis. Okay, one more item 1141 Miss Kendrick please. So this evening I'm bringing up Learnwell, which is uh the hospital hospital program's contract with Learnwell to provide academic and social emotional support for students throughout their hospitalizations. Um and as well as treatment ongoing when they return back to school. These uh Learn Well will support our students. Uh we've seen a different level of teachers in these programs most recently especially Alexian brother contracts with learn well and they that's where most of our students end up being hospitalized and the level of teachers has been really excellent. most of them have a learning behavior specialist. So they have the capacity to teach our students with um IEPs in special ed. And we've seen an increase a huge increase in communication back to our school teams as well as to our families. And that's been a huge huge difference from when there used to be one teacher and one hospital liaison at every single program. And so um most importantly the pro academic progress with our students has increased significantly which as you can imagine makes the transition back to school much much easier when students feel like they are not playing catch-up as they return back. Um we have anywhere from 300 to 350 students hospitalized. we have had over the last five years and um each year we um have used all different uh programming at different hospitals, but learn well is becoming more and more um prevalent in in the hospitals that we use or that our students go to. And um so last year we proposed previously we had paid per student. Last year, uh, we proposed a

fixed fee proposal so that we were, um, paying a flat rate and that, uh, saved us $30,000. So, we are asking for, um, your approval of a fixed flat proposal again this year. Board members, great work. Appreciate it. And this will come back at the next uh, board meeting

for approval. Okay. Before we adjourn, I just want to wish all staff and students a welcome back next Wednesday. I think a few board members are going to be at the schools to welcome the students, but uh wish everyone a great uh first day and a great school year. Can I have a motion to adjourn, please? So move Sager second. Hein call the role, please. Sager. Hi. Heinaman. Hi. Faldino. Hi. Jung. Yes. Dustling. Hurry up. Frito. Yes. And Croer. I. Motion carries 70.

We are adjourned. Wow. Hey. Hey. Heat. Heat. N. Hey, hey, hey.