May 19, 2026 at 7:00 PM - Board of Education Meeting
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I. Welcome and Call to Order
Description:
Our Mission, Beliefs, and Values Board Agreements and Protocols Vision 2025 Strategic Plan IASB Code of Conduct |
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I.A. Pledge of Allegiance
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I.B. Roll Call
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I.C. Recognition of Audience, Announcements and Correspondence
Description:
This is an opportunity to welcome guests, make announcements, and share Board correspondence.
The Board received FOIA requests from Matt Cosenza, Owen Wang with Lake County Gazette and Karen Doyle with Teen Parent Connection. |
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I.D. Student and Staff Spotlight - Boys Soccer Team and Staff Service Recognition
Description:
It's going to be a packed house! We have invited our undefeated Cass Junior High boys soccer team and Coach Megan Newton to the meeting. This is perfect timing after the Warriors just wrapped up an incredible season with a perfect 13-0 record, culminating with winning the SDEAA Conference Tournament Championship.
Every May, we recognize employees who are completing their 10th and 25th years of service in the district, along with our retirees. We will also mention employees reaching other significant years of service. Included below is a complete list of the recognized staff. Over the past month, we have also recognized the following individuals:
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I.E. Public Comments
Description:
This is the first opportunity for any guests to comment, per Board Policy 2:230.
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II. Consent Agenda
Description:
The consent agenda allows for approval of routine action items together in one motion when discussion is typically unnecessary. Upon the request of any Board member, a consent agenda item can be withdrawn and placed on the regular agenda for independent consideration. Questions in advance of the meeting are appreciated in the event any background information needs to be obtained.
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II.A. Approval of the May 19, 2026 Regular Meeting Agenda
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II.B. Approval of the April 21, 2026 Regular Meeting Minutes
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II.C. Approval of Personnel Recommendations
Description:
We received one resignation from Concord special education teacher Jenny Kirkpatrick, who has accepted a position in a larger district where she hopes to have more opportunities to eventually fill a leadership position. Jenny will still be teaching the extended school year program at Concord this summer.
Additionally we have received FMLA leave requests from the following individuals: Caitlin Halleran, 1st Grade Teacher, from approximately September 20, 2026 to January 4, 2027 Megan Conlin, Concord Assistant Principal, from approximately October 26, 2026 to January 22, 2027 We are working on filling this position now and aside from this, we are currently fully staffed for the 2026-27 school year. Following are the individuals who will be working in varying capacities over the summer: Extended School Year Jennifer Kirkpatrick - Teacher and Coordinator - $3,902.60 Haneefah Cummings, Speech-Language Pathologist - $3,286.40 Sarah Leganski, Occupational Therapist - $3,286.40 Rebecca Greenberg, Shared Teacher Assistant- $25.72 Lauren Slomski, Shared Teacher Assistant- $20.00 Summer Custodians Jake Monaco - $18.00 Deysi Miranda - $18.00 Aaron Paszkowski - $18.00 Summer Tech Monique Bell - $20.45 Bus Route Coordinator Amy Perez - Overtime if/as Needed |
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II.D. Approval of Financial Reports
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II.E. Approval of the District Bills
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III. Reports, Updates, and Informational Items
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III.A. Administrative Reports
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III.B. First Reading of Recommended Board Policy Updates
Description:
This is the first reading of this round of recommended policy updates. There are the usual nonsubstantive updates, but there are several to bring to the Board's attention, as well as one that will be corrected prior to Tuesday.
2:200 - Even though they are almost always the same location, our practice has been to post the meeting agenda both at the district office, as well as where the meeting will be held, if it is another location. 2:220 - IASB has provided options for maintaining the current practice that does not allow for district residents to request that discussion items be added to the meeting agenda, that the Board can add discussion items at the request of a resident, or that discussion items can be added at the request of a resident with a unanimous Board vote. I will share thoughts on this at the meeting, but this is obviously something that the Board needs to determine, so we will need direction on how the Board would like to proceed prior to adoption in June. In terms of the other questions related to roll call voting, this is up to the Board but we currently allow for voice votes on certain topics and the Board can always turn an action item into a roll call vote. 2:250 - FOIA requests can be quite burdensome in terms of time and the Board sees both the requests and the results, so I thought the ISBE recommended changes were worth bringing to your attention. Much of this is to avoid being forced to open files or links that could be phishing or other spam, as well as addressing the potential concern with requests generated by artificial intelligence. 2:260, 5:10, 5:20, 7:20, 7:180, and 7:255 will all need to be updated to replace me with Dr. McGuire as a complaint manager on the noted policies. Dr. McGuire and I will discuss this prior to the meeting. Press Plus has a form that Gayle Wilson can submit that will change all of the noted policies at one time. Board approval for complaint manager name changes do not require individual board policy approval as long as nothing else within the policy has been updated. 4:165 - The removal of the parent notification requirement is a statutory change so that parents or guardians who could be the perpetrators of sexual abuse do not have the opportunity to remove their child from instruction on how to recognize and avoid sexual abuse. 5:330 - This is why periodic policy reviews are a good thing, because our policy language is outdated. In the most recent teacher contract, we changed from an allowance of up 12 sick days and 5 personal leave days to 13 sick days and 4 personal leave days. As our current practice, this is extended to most other employees, and we will get the policy recommendation updated to reflect the correct number of days. |
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III.C. Update Regarding Summer 2026 Phase III Facility Projects
Description:
This will be a brief update to share our progress with planning for the Phase III summer renovation work.
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III.D. Preview of Potential Changes to SASED Articles of Joint Agreement
Description:
This is a preview to action that will likely be recommended at the June 16 Board meeting, subject to action that would need to come first from the SASED Board of Directors and Governing Board. This is somewhat complicated, which is part of why I am sharing it now, but it is related to the facility planning and eventual funding discussion that is underway for our special education cooperative.
The facility planning is something I have been pretty involved with as the Facilities Committee Chair, but anything the cooperative does in this regard has financial implications for member school districts. It is too early to say for certain, but I am of the belief along with the majority of the SASED Board of Directors that having the cooperative move away from high lease payments and being largely decentralized will actually result in reduced costs over the long run if we acquire our own facilities and are able to centralize some services and improve efficiencies with staff. That is still to be determined, but basically the change in bylaws clarifies how those future payments would be made, and also clarifies the opt-out process should districts decide to go that route and leave the cooperative entirely. SASED has been going through a large-scale transformation that I think will be highly beneficial in the long-run to member school districts, and most importantly the students the programs serve. The hard part is getting there with 18 school districts of various sizes, interests, and frankly, leadership styles. Dr. McGuire and I are meeting with our SASED executive director and assistant director as part of the transition, since he will obviously be just as engaged as a Board member going forward. I'm happy to answer any questions on this, but expect a recommendation and action in June to approve the changes to the by-laws. |
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IV. Recommended Action Items
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IV.A. Approval of 2026-27 Teacher Evaluation Plan
Description:
Our dedicated committee of teachers and administrators took on the task of completely revamping and updating our new Teacher Evaluation Plan. Every detail is under the link and on behalf of this team, I am happy to recommend the new plan to the Board for approval. While technically a subject of bargaining that the committee legally determines in final form, I think it's important for the Board to formally approve and validate this plan and process.
Our committee has raised the bar for what it takes for a teacher to achieve both a Proficient or Excellent rating. Our goal was also to make this a growth-orientated process and as stated, we wanted a plan that "aligns with research-based practices, allows for a coaching model, meets the professional growth needs of our teachers, and ultimately improves learning outcomes for our students." Our committee had some very deep and thoughtful discussions, and I could not be more proud of how our teachers and administrators collaborated and worked so proactively. This will support teacher growth, and hopefully student growth as well, for years to come. Any questions are very welcome, but I am very pleased to have this accomplished and recommend to the Board on behalf of our committee. Following are some key highlights:
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IV.B. Authorization of the Superintendent to Approve Summer 2026 Phase III Project Change Orders Made in Writing, Per the Requirements of 720 ILCS 5/33E-9
Description:
The Board has taken this action in the previous two years of construction and renovation work to formalize and legally provide the superintendent allowance to make day to day decisions that come up in a job of this nature, which happens with just about any renovation project. The superintendent reference covers me through June 30, and Dr. McGuire when he takes over July 1. All change orders eventually come before the Board for final approval.
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IV.C. Approval of Date, Time, and Location for the eLearning Plan Public Hearing
Description:
Our eLearning plan that we implement for extreme weather or other issues that could cause a pivot from in person learning has to be reviewed and renewed every three years, if we want to maintain this as an option. We technically have to provide public notice and hold a hearing to do this, just as we did three years ago. As a result, we would like to establish the hearing as part of our regular Board meeting scheduled for Tuesday, June 16, at 7:00 p.m.
Coinciding with the hopefully brief hearing and potential action to approve the eLearning plan next month will be a corresponding memorandum of understanding with the teacher association. It is not our intention to recommend any substantive changes. Aside from clarifying some of our schedules and expectations, we believe that overall the plan and agreements we've had in place have worked well for our purposes. |
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IV.D. Adoption of Resolution for Appointment of SASED Governing Board Membership
Description:
We periodically appoint by resolution our SASED Governing Board representative and alternate, and now the by-laws allow for an alternate appointee to the Board of Directors is the superintendent cannot attend. The superintendent is automatically the Board of Directors representative, so Travis automatically replaces me on July 1. |
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V. Conclusion
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V.A. Public Comments
Description:
This is the second opportunity for any guests in the audience to share public comments, per Board Policy 2:230.
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V.B. Board Member Comments
Description:
This is the opportunity for Board members to share any comments, as well as to announce the next meeting date, time, and location.
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V.C. Adjournment
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