The BOE Recap

The meeting was called to order at 6:01 p.m.

The agenda was approved.

The meeting adjourned to closed session at 6:02 p.m.

The meeting reconvened to open session at 7:00 p.m.

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

• The district is collaborating to make the upcoming eclipse a learning experience for all. Glasses have been purchased so that all students and staff can safely view the eclipse, which will happen during the school day on April 8th. Families will need to give their consent. A permission form will go home next week.

• South Park, Wilmot, and Caruso teamed up yesterday for their annual West Side Classic volleyball tournament. Congrats to all for a very successful event which students had a large part in helping execute.
• Shepard hosted a Pack the Place charity basketball game last week, pitting 7th & 8th graders against a team made up of the Deerfield Police & Deerfield Bannockburn Fire Departments. Thank you to all for another successful year!
• Tonight, we honor three wrestlers that qualified for the IESA State Wrestling tournament:
• 5th graders Drew & Mateo from Kipling (wrestling for Shepard)
• 8th grader Angel from Caruso
• All three got a really nice sendoff from their classmates!
• Kipling recently hosted their 5th grade inquiry fair, where students got to show off subjects that they had researched about and have a passion for.
• Caruso CMA students recently got to Zoom with actor James Wolk.
• Walden was spotlighted for putting resources in their Friday weekly newsletter, teaching parents about programs like Minecraft. A number of our schools do this, so it's important to read those newsletters!
• The Early Learners took a moment to learn about different and difficult health challenges that some kids face on Rare Disease Day.

• Wilmot is our featured school tonight:
• They presented on their Mindfulness Minute challenge, which supports Goal 2 of the district's strategic plan work.

Mr. Simeck highlighted the Pack the Place event at Shepard that he stopped by at yesterday. It's truly a great example of community collaboration and partnership in action.

Some of our administrators recently participated in professional development/"instructional rounds" with other local peer districts that we hosted. It is an initiative that we will continue to pursue.

It's hiring season. Interviews for the Shepard principal position took place this week and we anticipate to have a hire in place next week. We are excited to welcome a new South Park assistant principal later in this meeting.

Senate Bill 2696 has a potential impact on schools. State Senator Julie Morrison has proposed legislation that all new buses built after 2028 be equipped with 3-point seatbelts. There has also been a call locally for our board to mandate the wearing of seatbelts on school buses. While we advocate for all children to wear seatbelts, creating a mandate poses some challenges for our district. Most buses are not equipped with 3-point belts, and our district would end up paying for the cost to outfit existing buses. Moreover, because we do not own and operate our own fleet, we may be asked to pay this premium multiple times over, especially if we ever switch transportation providers. We also believe that successful implementation would require additional staff on each bus. We continue to believe that advocacy at the state level is the best course of action. We don't want to be alone in bearing the cost of this and the implementation of this initiative.

Next week, there will be spring parent/teacher conferences. It's incredibly important that every family take advantage of this opportunity as it's the first year we have had two conferences. I encourage parents to ask about how your children are as people in the classroom just as much as you inquire about their academic performance.

Finally, Mr. Simeck is pleased and proud to welcome Dr. Chala Holland as the incoming superintendent of District 113. We could not ask for a better partner to have.

There were no speakers present.

Dr. Filippi presented a number of items to the board that are detailed in the posted packet.

Dr. Arnold presented along with Ms. Stephanie Mackey (South Park) and Mrs. Tracy Hoyt (Wilmot) about progress in Goal 2 of the DPS 109 Strategic Plan.

There have been ongoing professional development opportunities with Safe & Civil Schools.

Schoolwide initiatives have been started/strengthened in each building, including:

The Caruso Way: Act, Care, Give

Kipling: Mindful, Safe, Respectful, and Choosing Kind

SP Penguin Principles: Respectful, Responsible, Helpful, and Safe

Spartan PRIDE: Personal Responsibility, Respect, Inclusive, Determination, Empathy

The Walden Way: Respectful, Responsible, Safe

Wilmot P.A.W.S (Positive Actions at Wilmot School)

Given that we have different schools with different ages of children who have different needs, we need to develop unique teaching practices to accommodate our students across the district. Two examples of these are a video South Park made about bathroom expectations, and Wilmot's recorded weekly PAWS drawing. There have also been visual signs/cues put in all buildings to remind students of behavioral expectations outlined in the Spartan Code, Caruso Way, Walden Way, and being a CHAMP at Kipling.

There have also been some other important initiatives and steps taken at each building, including:

Caruso: Restorative Circles

Kipling: Morning Meetings & Kip Cash

South Park: Neurodiversity & the Upstairs/Downstairs Brain

Shepard: Piloting Panorama’s PBIS data tracking platform

Walden: Student Council SEL Team & Whole-school & grade-level rewards

Wilmot: Permission to Feel book study and Mindfulness Missions

You can watch their presentation in full, which includes slides with the above information, by clicking below.

The following policies were given a first reading: 7:60, 7:190, 7:270, 7:285, and 7:290.

The board reviewed bid results for projects slated for the summer of 2024. This includes:

• Construction of a new purpose-built Buildings & Grounds facility on the Caruso campus.
• Classroom renovations (flooring & ceilings), door replacement, and miscellaneous electrical work at Caruso.
• Miscellaneous plumbing work across the district.

The board reviewed the FY25 fee recommendation, which can be found in the board packet.

• Slight increases to co-curricular athletics and clubs fees
• Slight increases for paid transportation users

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

The 2024-2025 contract for Ms. Stephanie Mackey was approved.

The resolution was approved.

The report was approved.

The report was approved.

The policies were approved.

The board meeting schedule was approved.

The custodial services contract was approved.

Mrs. Jakymiw shared an update from True North.

There were three speakers, each advocating that the district mandate the wearing of seatbelts on buses.

President Montgomery thanked Dr. Arnold and her team for the wonderful presentation about the strategic plan. She can't remember a time where the strategic plan has ever been so robust and present in the work we do every day. She thanked Mr. Steckling for the What's Good presentation and for the students & teachers of Wilmot who presented to the board meeting. She thanked Mr. Simeck for his work on bringing instructional rounds to the district. She thanked Dr. Fisher for his diligent work on filling open positions and hiring administrators. Finally, she thanked the members of the audience that waited through the meeting to make their public comment.

Mr. Simeck thanked Dr. Fisher for his work and attention to detail in acquiring the best talent pool possible for the hiring of Shepard's next principal.

The meeting adjourned at 9:22 p.m.