The BOE Recap

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

The agenda was approved.

Mr. Simeck presented the monthly superintendent's report.

We recently had new staff orientation. We have 19 new staff members this year, which is a much smaller group than last year.

Today, we had a huge opening ceremony at Shepard featuring all 6 mascots. One of them was the board's very own Mrs. Bonar! She pinch hit to play the role of the Kipling Cougar. We are thankful for everyone that helped pull off today's events. The comms team and our two new principals were featured speakers today. Tomorrow, you can look for a fun Olympic-themed video on the district Facebook page. Thanks to Kat Schroeder for all of her hard work. Also, a note of thanks to Dr. Fisher to ensure that we are fully staffed for the year. We also heard from two student speakers, Rose and Angela, who did a fantastic job.

A few weeks ago, we began an important conversation as South Park hosted a parent group discussing The Anxious Generation. This will be a model for many discussions around the district as other principals will be planning similar events for their school community. We will also be looking at how we can expand this to be a districtwide conversation.

To reiterate what the district has done or is doing to this point,

• We will continue storing all K-1 devices in classrooms
• We are re-evaluating the need for sending devices home nightly (2-5)

• Our digital citizenship lessons continue to be updated

• All elementary schools will continue to be phone free (middle schools, too!)

• Phones confiscated if seen during school hours after 1 warning

• We are encouraging parents to refrain from initiating or responding to texts via child’s smartwatch

• We are seeking to expand opportunities for play and independent problem solving

• Our instructional practices aligned with strategic plan goals

• We are continuing our commitment to incorporate social-emotional learning into our everyday instruction

A really important data point to consider that 87% of a child's life is spent outside of school. We can do a lot of things, but we are a small fraction of an overall childhood, so this discussion needs to involve the other parties that make up the 87%. One of our big rocks this year will be working together on this issue.

Our new website is live. It underwent a large redesign after our NSPRA audit. The Back To School page has all sorts of information on it for parents. We also have a new toy. Scout, the AI chatbot, promises to help people save time finding answers on our website. We have it for a two-month trial right now.

We just had a successful communications test and our team is working on rectifying any issues stemming from that test.

We are also doing an Info Verification process this year for the first time. They will be asked to confirm contact information, provide medical information, sign handbook consent, and fill out any applicable opt-out forms.

There were no speakers present.

Dr. Filippi presented one Freedom of Information Act request seeking vendor and employment contracts.

Dr. Filippi says this comes before the board once or twice a year. It is the administration's request to try and sell surplus equipment. If that doesn't work, we try to donate it. If that doesn't work, we try to recycle it. If all fails, we dispose of it. A list of the equipment is in the board documents.

Dr. Filippi explained the recommendation. Most summers we are doing between $2-5 million of capital work across the district. Generally, we have our architect work with us and then we have in-house personnel oversee the summer work. For where we are going, our summer work will increase exponentially. We believe having an owner's rep and adding to our team that provides another layout of oversight with large projects ahead makes sense. The chief goal of the owner's rep is to drill down and find all of the efficiencies in how a project is designed, help with cost estimation, and provide an extra set of eyes and oversight. We issued a Request for Qualifications. We got 5 responses and narrowed it down to 3 before interviewing the finalist. The firm that rose to the top was CCS. Dr. Filippi is recommending that the board approve this recommendation at the September meeting.

The personnel items, bills for payment, and destruction of closed session audio included as part of this item were all approved.

The report was approved.

The minutes from the July 2024 meeting were approved.

The recommendation was approved.

The report was approved.

The purchase was approved.

Mr. Kuo said that the policy committee met this evening and had robust discussion.

Mrs. Jakymiw said that each year, TrueNorth provides a summary of annual professional development and read those figures to the board.

Mrs. Montgomery said there will be an EDC meeting in the next month or two.

There were no speakers present.

Mr. Simeck thanked everyone for their work in having the opening Institute Day today. He thanked Mrs. Rudd for a wonderful lunch and Buildings & Grounds for their work in helping get it done.

President Montgomery thanked Dr. Fisher for his work in ensuring we have solid staffing. She thanked the communications team for their work on the website and the launch of the chatbot. She also gave a shoutout to Buildings & Grounds. The foundation for their new building is laid, and we look forward to that going up soon. She thanked Mrs. Jakymiw for all of the work she does with TrueNorth as well.

Dr. Dornfeld thanked Mr. Simeck for bringing up The Anxious Generation. He commended Dr. Faust for the meeting she held at South Park and hopes it's the beginning of something that spreads across the village and district.

The meeting adjourned at 7:36 p.m.