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 meeting, please click below:

• Regular Meeting Agenda

The meeting was recorded and that recording can be viewed via the link below:

• www.sd25.org/1209FullMeeting

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

No one spoke on the tax levy during the public hearing. To watch this portion of the meeting, click here.

Levy Timeline

• Presentation of Tentative Levy - November 11, 2021 (DONE)
• Publication of Hearing Notice - November 30, 2021 (DONE)
• Public Hearing & Levy Adoption - December 9, 2021 (THIS MEETING)
• Levy Filed prior to December 28, 2021

For a PDF of the levy presentation from the November 11 meeting, click here.

To watch the levy presentation from the November 11 meeting, click here.

To watch the Board discuss this item at the November 11 meeting, click here.

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE NSSEO/D25 SHINING STARS

The following students were recognized at a recent North Suburban Special Education Organization (NSSEO) Board meeting as being four of their shining stars! The District 25 Board of Education wanted to recognize them as well:

Vivaan Kanoi

Yaashika Karvannan Rajesh

Anastasia Marinos

Louise Morrison

To watch the recognition, click here. To view a PDF of the presentation, click here.

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SCHOOL RECOGNITIONS

At each meeting over the next few months, the Board of Education has invited principals from each school to come and share some highlights and things they are looking forward to and want to celebrate for this year.

At this meeting, Erin Davis, Olive-Mary Stitt Elementary School Principal, and Lindsay Anastacio, Windsor Elementary School Principal, presented.

For a PDF of their presentations, click below.

• Olive-Mary Stitt Elementary
• Windsor Elementary

To watch this portion of the meeting, click here.

Community members addressed 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. At this meeting, the public comments begin at the 23:57 mark of the meeting and can be viewed by clicking here.

Public comments were also submitted via an online Google form prior to the meeting. Submitted public comments were read aloud at the meeting until the 30 minute mark was reached.

Any public comments submitted prior to the start of the meeting at 7:30 pm on Thursday, December 9, 2021, are available in full and can be read by visiting www.sd25.org/1209Comments.

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 Reports (C) Invoices; (D) Regular and Closed Session Meeting minutes of November 11, 2021; (E) Superintendent Professional Organizations and Professional Development Leave.

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

This portion of the meeting can be viewed by clicking here.

In this portion of the meeting, Board Members appointed to each respective committee deliver oral presentations. The Board representative attends meetings on behalf of the District 25 Board of Education and conveys relative information to the entire Board at the monthly meeting.

• NSSEO
• Illinois Association of School Boards (IASB)
• ED-RED Education Research Development
  
• A Board Governance Framework
• Other Board Communication

This portion of the meeting can be viewed by clicking here.

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

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

This portion of the meeting can be viewed by clicking here.

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

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

MOTION: APPROVED

Adoption of the 2021 Tax Levy

Adopting a levy on an annual basis is one of the major functions of our Board of Education. Revenues from local property taxes generate approximately 83% of all revenues for this School District.

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

To watch this portion of the meeting including the Board vote, click here.

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MOTION: APPROVED

Extension of the BinaxNOW™ COVID-19 Antigen Test Agreement

The motion was as follows: That the Board of Education approve the "Memorandum of Agreement with Cook County Department of Public Health for Conducting and Interpreting BinaxNOW™ COVID-19 Antigen Testing Through Standing Order and/or Extended CLIA Waiver"

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

To watch this portion of the meeting, including the Board vote, click here.

PA102-0519 PROPERTY TAX REFUND RECAPTURE

This law requires that "On or before November 15 of each year, the county treasurer will be required to certify the aggregate amount of refunds paid by each taxing district during that 12-month period." The amount certified by the Cook County Treasurer for District 25 for the 2021 tax year is $940,584, which would cost the average owner of a $400,000 home approximately $49 in additional property taxes on the 2021 property tax bill (paid in 2022). The board may choose to accept this refund, or to forego all or any portion of the refund amount by passing an abatement resolution prior to April of 2022.

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

To watch this portion of the meeting, click here.

To watch the Board discuss this item, click here.

MOTION: APPROVED

2022 Facilities Capital Improvement Projects Approval

The Five-Year plan was presented to the Board at the November 2021 meeting (click here to watch that presentation). This was the meeting where the final recommendation for the 2022 projects was presented and voted on.

Director of Facilities Management, Ryan Schulz, presented this plan (scenario 2) conscious of the potential impact of the results of the kindergarten programming discussion the Board is set to have.

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

To watch this portion of the meeting, click here.

To watch the Board discuss this item, click here.

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

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

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT REPORT

Superintendent, Dr. Lori Bein, updated the Board on some Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests from the public. Those include:

• Gosia Olszanski requested information on positive COVID cases in District 25; a response was provided on November 18, 2021.
• Diane Kramer requested the Attorney General determination letter regarding an OMA request for review; a response was provided on November 18, 2021.
• Agnes Zapart requested information on vaccinated people and quarantine; a response was provided on November 18, 2021.
• Angelika Babich requested information on Board voting on IASB Resolutions; a response was provided on November 22, 2021.
• Agnes Piersa requested information on mask use in school; a response was provided on December 2, 2021.
• Jeff Van Buren requested information on the current policy and procedures in regard to vaccine clinics at school; a response was provided on December 2, 2021.
• Ewa Wojcik requested information on the RULER Social Emotional Learning program; a response was provided on December 2, 2021.
• Karen Garcia/Smart Procure requested information on current employees; a response was provided on December 2, 2021.

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

To watch this portion of the meeting, click here.

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STRATEGIC PLAN | STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT GOAL UPDATE

Assistant Superintendent of Student Learning, Dr. Becky FitzPatrick, updated the Board on what the 20 Student Achievement Goal Action Team members have been up to.

The group met twice, on Monday, September 13, and again on Wednesday, October 27. Structured activities were provided to the group to guide member engagement and positive dialogue. Through focused discussion, the group brainstormed and decided on four objectives aligned with the Student Achievement Goal.

1. Increase inclusive practices
2. Develop an assessment plan that encompasses qualitative and quantitative data/information
3. Increase teacher competencies to meet the needs of all learners
4. Implement consistent intervention and support across all district schools

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

To watch this portion of the meeting, click here.

To watch the Board discuss this item, click here.

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FULL DAY KINDERGARTEN UPDATE

The Board of Education decided to table this item and schedule a Special Committee of the Whole meeting for Thursday, December 16, 2021 where the Board would see the presentation and then discuss.

To watch this portion of the meeting, click here.

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LETTER FROM THE BOARD

In a previous Board of Education meeting, Board members mentioned an interest in crafting a letter to the Governor's office, Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH), and/or the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE). The intent of the letter would be to describe the challenges District 25 has faced during the pandemic, including a response to the related Executive Orders.

During this portion of the Board meeting, the Board further discussed their interest in this letter and the content.

To watch this portion of the meeting, click here.

MOTION: APPROVED

Board Meeting Times

Approved motion: That the Board of Education change the start time of all remaining 2021-2022 scheduled Board meetings to 7:00 p.m.

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

To watch this portion of the meeting, click here.

To watch the Board vote on 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.

To watch this portion of the meeting, click here.

REMOTE ACADEMY AND HOW IT IS PROGRESSING

To watch this portion of the meeting, click here.