april 22

The bOARDBuzz is put together following District 25 School Board Meetings and serves as a recap of what occurred.

• For the full agenda of the Regular Meeting, please click here.

This meeting was recorded and that recording can be viewed here: www.sd25.org/0422FullMeeting.

As always, the bOARDBuzz is archived at www.sd25.org/BoardBuzz.

*Please scroll to the bottom of this newsletter for an important update on the upcoming Coffee with the Board event.*

A. Recognition of the Students Who Won Battle of the Books

The Board celebrated and congratulated the students who won the Battle of the Books competition from Thomas Middle School! Battle of the Books is a competition put on by our Middle School LMC Directors who create space for a friendly competition between South and Thomas students who form teams on their knowledge of a list of ten books.

The following students were celebrated and recognized:

Ethan de Leon | Andrew Ivan | Steven Munagala | Harshan Rajkumar Anusha

Prakash Siva Subramanian | Nolan Vander Klay

The Board thanked the sponsors, Becky Fahnoe of Thomas and Kelly O’Kelly of South.

To watch this portion of the meeting, click here.

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B. Thomas 7th Grade Girls Volleyball | State Qualifiers

The Board recognized and congratulated the Thomas Middle School 7th Grade Girls Volleyball team that qualified for the state tournament.

Team Roster:

Karina Boduch | Marlow Das | McKenna Fox | Izabela Iwanicki | Alexa Lockhart

Adrianna Marinescu | Kavinaya Muthukumar | Finley O’Brien | Mathea Ong

Claire Perkins | Amelia Redel | Daniela Storelli | Krishna Vullakula

The board recognized and thanked the coaches Todd Slowinski and Sureiya Peshek.

To watch this portion of the meeting, click here.

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C. South & Thomas State Qualifying Wrestlers (CORRECTED) 🔔

The Board recognized and congratulated the South and Thomas wrestlers who qualified for state.

Wrestlers who qualified for the state tournament:

South Middle School

Gabriel Zybowski

Thomas Middle School

Kanoa Canada | William Dugan | Everett Jancich | Dino Klikas | Lucas Siena

The board recognized and thanked the coaches Jay Bingaman and Dan Burdi of South and Anthony Greco and Ben Hamilton of Thomas.

To watch this portion of the meeting, click here.

In this portion of the meeting, the three organizations below addressed Board Members.

• AHC PTA
  
• ABC25 Foundation
  
• ATA (Arlington Teachers Association)

To watch this portion of the meeting, click here.

MOTION: APPROVED

A. Acceptance of Canvass Election Results

That the Board of Education adopt the Resolution "CANVASS OF ELECTION RESULTS".

With the Board's vote to adopt this resolution, the following candidates took seats on the District 25 Board of Education:

Melissa Buchberger | Dr. Anisha I. Jogee | Greg Scapillato | Deb Tranter

To watch this portion of the meeting, click here.

To view this in BoardDocs, including any documents associated with this item, click here.

To watch the Board discuss and vote on this item, click here.

A. Recognition of Outgoing Board Members

On behalf of the District 25 Board, Board President, Greg Scapillato, honored the two outgoing members, Gina Faso & Rich Olejniczak. With dignity, the two outgoing members handed off their seats to the incoming, elected, members.

To watch this portion of the meeting, click here.

To view this in BoardDocs, including any documents associated with this item, click here.

A. Oath of Office

The following members read the oath of office:

Melissa Buchberger | Dr. Anisha I. Jogee | Greg Scapillato | Deb Tranter

Those members were sworn into their positions.

To watch this portion of the meeting, click here.

To view this in BoardDocs, including any documents associated with this item, click here.

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B. Roll Call

MOTION: APPROVED

A. Appointment of President Pro Tem

I move to appoint Kevin Michael to serve as President Pro Tem.

MOTION: APPROVED

B. Appointment of Secretary Pro Tem

I move to appoint Brian Cerniglia to serve as Secretary Pro Tem.

To watch this portion of the meeting, click here.

To view this in BoardDocs, including any documents associated with this item, click here.

MOTION: APPROVED

A. Appoint Board President

I move to appoint Greg Scapillato as President for a one-year term commencing today, April 22, 2025.

MOTION: APPROVED

B. Appoint Vice President

I move to appoint Dr. Anisha I. Jogee as Vice President for a one-year term commencing today, April 22, 2025.

MOTION: APPROVED

C. Appoint Board Secretary

I move to appoint Kevin Michael as Secretary for a one-year term commencing today, April 22, 2025.

MOTION: APPROVED

D. Appoint Board Recording Secretary

I move to appoint Lana O'Brien as Recording Secretary for a one-year term commencing today, April 22, 2025.

To watch this portion of the meeting, click here.

To view this in BoardDocs, including any documents associated with this item, click here.

MOTION: APPROVED

A. Setting of Meeting Dates & Times

That the Board of Education approve the school board meeting dates, times and locations for 2025-2026 as presented.

To watch this portion of the meeting, click here.

To view this in BoardDocs, including any documents associated with this item, click here.

MOTION: APPROVED

A. Bank Depository

That the Board of Education adopt the Resolution appointing the Treasurer and Assistant Treasurers of the School District and the bank depositories for the period July 1, 2025 through July 1, 2027.

To watch this portion of the meeting, click here.

To view this in BoardDocs, including any documents associated with this item, click here.

In this portion of the meeting, Board members catch one another up on the happenings each member has experienced as an individual since the last meeting. Also, some Board members are appointed as representatives to attend meetings on behalf of the District 25 Board of Education for different organizations. Those members convey relative information to the entire Board at the monthly meeting.

A. Board Member Updates

B. ED-RED Education Research Development

C. Illinois Association of School Boards (IASB)

Dr. Anisha I. Jogee & Kevin Michael presented on their experience at the COSSBA National Conference.

To view a PDF of their presentation, click here.

D. NSSEO

To watch this portion of the meeting, click here.

Community members are invited to address the Board during this public comment portion of the meeting. According to Board Policy, public comment is heard for 30 minutes at Board of Education meetings and members of the community have three minutes to address the Board.

To watch this portion of the meeting, click here.

Please remember that the Board can be reached outside of Board Meeting hours by emailing boardfeedback@sd25.org.

MOTION: APPROVED

That the Board of Education approve those items on the Consent Agenda as follows: (A) Personnel Report and Addendum to Personnel Report; (B) Treasurer's Report (C) Invoices; (D) Regular and Closed Session Meeting Minutes of March 11, 2025; (E) Board bills.

With the approval of the consent agenda and the personnel reports, the Board approved the next Associate Principal for South Middle School: Aubrey DeMuth.

Both will replace Associate Principal Steve Prorok who was approved as Principal of South at the January 2025 Board meeting.

To watch this portion of the meeting, click here.

The consent agenda documents can be seen by clicking here to visit BoardDocs.

A. Professional Learning

District 25's Assistant Superintendent of Student Learning, Dr. Becky FitzPatrick, and Director of Student Learning, Andrea Luessow presented on the District's Professional Development Plan, its impact on the staff, and the plan's Program Review Process.

For a PDF of this presentation, click here.

To watch this portion of the meeting, click here.

To view this in BoardDocs, including any documents associated with this item, click here.

To watch the Board discuss this item, click here.

There were no items presented by the Department of Student Services.

*ITEM PULLED FROM THIS MEETING*

A. Music for Youth Contract

This item was pulled from this meeting and will be on a future meeting's agenda.

To watch this portion of the meeting, click here.

To view this in BoardDocs, including any documents associated with this item, click here.

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MOTION: APPROVED

B. 2025-26 NSSEO Budget

That the Board of Education approve the NSSEO Amended Budget for 2024-25 and the NSSEO Budget for 2025-26.

Assistant Superintendent of Business/CSBO, Stacey Mallek, proposed the NSSEO Amended Budget for the 2024-25 school year and the NSSEO Budget for the 2025-26 school year. NSSEO is District 25's special education cooperative.

To watch this portion of the meeting, click here.

To view this in BoardDocs, including any documents associated with this item, click here.

To watch the Board discuss and vote on this item, click here.

C. 2024-25 Amended Budget

Assistant Superintendent of Business/CSBO, Stacey Mallek, presented an amended 2024-25 budget. The following adjustments were reasons for the update:

• The updated capital asset threshold required reallocations across accounts
• Utilities expenditure account adjustments were needed to account for increased costs and prior year amounts not paid during provider conversion.
• The sales of the remaining referendum bonds at a premium required different general ledger entries than budgeted.

An amended budget must follow the same process and legal requirements (105 ILCS 5/17-1) as the original budget.

The schedule will be as follows:

• April 22, 2025 | Present 2024-25 tentative amended budget
• Prior to May 12, 2025 | Publish notice for public hearing
• June 10, 2025 | Public Hearing
• June 10, 2025 | Adoption of final amended budget

To watch this portion of the meeting, click here.

To view this in BoardDocs, including any documents associated with this item, click here.

To watch the Board discuss and vote on this item, click here.

There were no items presented by the Department of Student Services.

There were no items presented by the Department of Personnel and Planning.

A. Superintendent Update

Due to time constraints and the prioritization of other topics this topic was skipped.

To watch this portion of the meeting, click here.

To view this in BoardDocs, including any documents associated with this item, click here.

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B. Freedom of Information Act Report

Superintendent, Dr. Brian Kaye, updates the Board on Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests from the public. The following were the FOIA requests:

• Kalah Love, First Impression Officer of Postal Source, requested information on mailing equipment; a response was provided on March 14, 2025.
• Gerardo Mendez, Construction Analyst for Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa Foundation for Fair Contracting, requested information on capital improvement bid tabulations; a response was provided on March 17, 2025.
• William Boodro requested information on utility bills and architect invoices; a response was provided on March 20 2025.

• ad.cuius.bonum@proton.me requested information on financial records; a response was provided on March 25, 2025.

• ad.cuius.bonum@proton.me requested information on financial records; a response was provided on March 25, 2025.

• ad.cuius.bonum@proton.me requested information on financial records; a response was provided on March 25, 2025.

• ad.cuius.bonum@proton.me requested information on financial records; a response was provided on March 25, 2025.

• ad.cuius.bonum@proton.me requested information on financial records; a response was provided on March 31, 2025.
• ad.cuius.bonum@proton.me requested information on financial records; a response was provided on March 31, 2025.
• ad.cuius.bonum@proton.me requested information on financial records; a response was provided on March 31, 2025.
• ad.cuius.bonum@proton.me requested information on financial records; a response was provided on March 31, 2025.
• ad.cuius.bonum@proton.me requested information on financial records; a response was provided on March 31, 2025.
• ad.cuius.bonum@proton.me requested information on financial records; a response was provided on March 31, 2025.
• Anges Czarnik requested information on DEI and environmental justice; a response was provided on March 31, 2025.
• Lori Demko, Sr. Content Specialist at ConstructConnect, requested information on bid results; a response was provided on April 16, 2025.

To watch this portion of the meeting, click here.

To view this in BoardDocs, including any documents associated with this item, click here.

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C. Strategic Plan Update

At the February 11, 2025 Board Meeting, Superintendent, Dr. Brian Kaye presented a plan to embark on the District's next Strategic Planning Process, lead by Perry D. Soldwedel, who facilitated the District's previous Strategic Plan that was adopted by the Board on April 8, 2021.

At this meeting, Mr. Soldwedel, presented more specifics to the Board about the process the District is beginning this Spring.

The goal is to have a final plan, ready for the Board's review and potential adoption by February 2026.

For a PDF of the presentation from the February 11, 2025 meeting, click here.

For a PDF of the presentation from this meeting, click here.

To watch this portion of the meeting, click here.

To view this in BoardDocs, including any documents associated with this item, click here.

To watch the Board discuss this item, click here.

The District 25 Board of Education offers a second opportunity for public comment at each Board Meeting that takes place once all the agenda items have been presented, discussed, or voted on.

Due to the length of the meeting to this point the Board was not able to offer the second opportunity for public comment at this meeting.

To watch this portion of the meeting, click here.

FUTURE TOPICS & TOPICS WITH DATES TO BE DETERMINED

• Combined Local Government Board Meetings | Date TBD
• Finance Committee | Date TBD

NEW TOPICS

• Update Board Committee Names | Date TBD

To watch this portion of the meeting, click here.

MOTION: APPROVED

A. Move into closed session

Motion to move into closed session for: The appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance, or dismissal of specific employees, specific individuals who serve as independent contractors, or specific volunteers of the District or legal counsel for the District, including hearing testimony on a complaint lodged against an employee, a specific individual who serves as an independent contractor, or a volunteer of the District or against legal counsel for the District to determine its validity, 5 ILCS 120/2 (c)(1); Discussion of minutes of meetings lawfully closed, whether for purposes of approval by the body of the minutes or semi-annual review of the minutes as mandated by Section 2.06, 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(21); Student disciplinary cases, 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(9); The placement of individual students in special education programs and other matters relating to individual students, 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(10); Litigation, when an action against, affecting or on behalf of the particular District has been filed and is pending before a court or administrative tribunal, or when the District finds that an action is probable or imminent, in which case the basis for the finding shall be recorded and entered into the closed meeting minutes, 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(11).

To watch this portion of the meeting, click here.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 7, 2025 4PM - 8PM 🔔

The AHSD25 Board of Education will hold a Special Board Meeting on May 7, 2025, from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. The meeting will focus on planning for the next Strategic Plan and is designated as a Special Board Meeting due to the attendance of more than two board members. The meeting will be held at the Dunton Administration Building, 1200 S. Dunton Avenue, Arlington Heights.

The link for the livestream can be found on the Board Agenda page (www.sd25.org/BoardAgenda) the week of the meeting.

Public Comments

Anyone who wishes to make a public comment can do so, in-person, at this Special Board of Education meeting.

Meeting Recordings

A video of the meeting will be livestreamed, recorded, and uploaded to our site on the 'Board Agenda' page and on our 'Catch up on Meetings' page.

TUESDAY, MAY 13, 2025 🔔 @ 5:15 PM at Thomas

*The meeting will begin at 5:15 p.m. at which time the Board will move into Closed Session. The regular meeting is anticipated to open back up at 7:00 p.m.*

This meeting will be held at the Thomas Middle School and broadcasted live and recorded. The link for the livestream can be found on the Board Agenda page (www.sd25.org/BoardAgenda) the week of the meeting.

Public Comments

Anyone who wishes to make a public comment can do so, in-person, at our Board of Education meetings. The Board hosts two public comment opportunities on their agenda: 1) at the beginning of the meeting, prior to any agenda items, 2) at the end of the meeting after the agenda items have been discussed/presented.

Meeting Recordings

A video of the meeting will be recorded and uploaded to our site on the 'Board Agenda' page and on our 'Catch up on Meetings' page.

In place of our previously scheduled Board of Education Community Coffee, we’re excited to announce a shift toward a broader opportunity for connection: the ​AHML Community Volunteer Fair.

​Come connect with us as you usually would, but at the Pioneer Park’s Gymnasium during the AHML’s Community Volunteer Fair. The details are below and the changes are highlighted in blue: