The BOE Recap

The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m.

The agenda was approved.

Mr. Steckling presented the monthly What's Good in 109 report.

Wilmot had a big assembly to honor Dr. Brett's birthday, featuring cutouts of her head decorated by kindergarteners.

South Park 4th graders did a wonderful mindfulness activity where they each thought about how they will bring light to the school and then created a luminary from putting a small light inside of a paper bag.

Walden welcomed back a former student to observe first grade teacher Mrs. Frank. Maddie S. is an elementary ed major at Iowa and wanted to watch her former teacher in action.

Caruso math classes (and others around the district) had a visit from the Math Magician. He taught students tricks on how to do very complicated math problems in their head by identifying and using patterns!

Shepard students held their annual door decorating contest right before the holiday break. Superintendent Simeck along with Principals Lombardo & Strenger served as judges.

Kipling band students held pop-up quartet performances around the school and even stopped by district office to put on a little concert! We appreciate Mr. Schwartz and his students for coming over.

We want thank the 21 businesses & groups that donated towards the DPS 109 Holiday Gift Drive this year. A big thank you to the Wilmot Student Council for their work in reaching out to get a lot of the donations!

We also want to remind people that the annual Pack the Place basketball fundraiser game between the Shepard 8th graders and the Deerfield Police & Fire is scheduled for Wednesday, February 5th at 5 p.m. Proceeds benefit the 100 Club of Illinois.

Next, the Caruso Peer Tutors presented about their program.

Click below to watch their presentation.

Mr. Simeck presented the January Superintendent's Report.

We had many examples of professional development during our past Institute Day on January 6th. Kagan trainers were back across the district, reinforcing cooperative learning techniques. LETRS training cohorts were able to meet at Wilmot and Walden. Others across the district received training i the new Standard Response Protocol from Officer Maldonado and Solvei Jurmu, Director of Safety & Security.

Speaking of the SRP, students received training yesterday and the new language has now been implemented across all buildings. This shared terminology will be used by Districts 109, 112, and soon, 113.

The new Buildings & Grounds facility has been completed and is a welcome addition to the district. It has dedicated storage space not only for B&G but also for all of our schools and various district departments. Most importantly, it will begin to free up space at Shepard, which will be converted into instructional space for fine arts and physical education over the summer. This is all part of our Master Facility Planning process, which you can read more about at dps109.org.

Kindergarten registration for 2025-2026 is officially open! January 31st will be Kindergarten Signing Day at DPS 109. It will run from 7:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. at our District Office. We invite people to come ask questions, turn in final documents, meet DPS 109 staff, and get a photo op/keepsake for your new student! Incoming kindergarteners are encouraged to attend!

We have talked a lot about the "Let Grow" project, and it was encouraging to see it launch at South Park this past month. This initiative encourages families to allow their children to try something new of their choosing. In Ms. Merens' 2nd grade class at South Park, we heard students talk about packing their own snack, making breakfast for their parents, ordering pizza without assistance, and riding their bike to the park!

Finally, Mr. Simeck showed a series of videos from the recent band concert at Shepard, highlighting the progression from beginning band students all the way up to the Shepard Jazz Band. It's amazing to see the improvement they make in just a few years!

There were no speakers present.

There were none this month.

Dr. Fisher presented these policies for a first reading. Every three years the ROE requests an audit, which prompts a very large review of policies and explains why so many are being presented tonight. These policies will be up for action in the next meeting. The Policy Committee will have another meeting in February to go through more updates.

Dr. Filippi presented this item. Last summer was the first year of the 20-year look ahead master facility plan. The first piece included mandated life safety projects across all campuses. The second piece was the completion of the Buildings & Grounds facility, which the board got a look at tonight. This is a key step to not only give that department adequate space, but to free up space at Shepard to create comparable music & PE facilities to Caruso.

In Summer 2025, there will be a major renovation project of the northwest corner of Shepard. We received 7 bids for this project, which will consist of:

• Repurposing the existing band room into a fitness center
• Taking the existing Buildings & Grounds space, renovating it, and turning it into band & orchestra facilities
• Construction of an IT/tech office in the main hallway of the school - students will be able to walk up and get service

The lowest bid is from Manusos, who is a familiar bidder to our architect ARCON. The estimated cost for the work, $2.8 million, is budgeted in the operations & maintenance budget. We were able to keep costs down with some foresight in ordering things like HVAC equipment that generally have a long lead time to fulfill.

Historically, the district has been responsible for maintainig the landscaping around our schools. We are proposing a not to exceed $200,000 irrigation system for Caruso & Shepard. We are awaiting further development of the master facility plan before deciding whether to proceed with similar systems at elementary schools.

The meeting minutes, personnel items, and bills for payment, included as part of this item were all approved.

The minutes were approved.

The report was approved.

The contract was approved.

The contract was approved.

The agreement was approved.

Mrs. Jakymiw said that the Facility Development Committee met and considered a lot of the work discussed tonight. True North has not met since December; District 34 has filed a petition for withdrawal that the board will need to take action on in February

President Montgomery mentioned that an Executive Development Committee meeting will take place in February

Dr. Fisher noted that the Policy Committee will have another meeting prior to the February board meeting.

There were no speakers present.

President Montgomery thanked the Buildings & Grounds team for the work on their new building. It will provide a lot of value to the district by preserving our equipment, providing storage for all of the buildings, and most importantly, freeing up space for Shepard to receive improvements in band, orchestra, and PE. A big thank you to Tim Ryan, Jen Lucas, John Filippi, and ARCON for all of their work.

She thanked Dr. Fisher for his work on the policy audit. She thanked Dr. Arnold for all of the professional development that took place on the recent Institute Day. She thanked Mrs. Jurmu for the training on the Standard Response Protocol. Lastly, she thanked Dr. Filippi and Mr. Ryan for all of the planning behind the upcoming summer work.

The appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance, or dismissal of specific employees, specific individuals who serve as independent contractors in a park, recreational, or educational setting, or specific volunteers of the public body or legal counsel for the public body, including hearing testimony on a complaint lodged against an employee, a specific individual who serves as an independent contractor in a park, recreational, or educational setting, or a volunteer of the public body or against legal counsel for the public body to determine its validity. However, a meeting to consider an increase in compensation to a specific employee of a public body that is subject to the Local Government Wage Increase Transparency Act may not be closed and shall be open to the public and posted and held in accordance with this Act. 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(1).

The board adjourned to closed session at 7:40 p.m.

The board reconvened at 8:53.

The board adjourned at 8:53 p.m.