Board Briefs

The Community Consolidated School District 21 Board of Education meeting was held on Thursday, October 16, 2025. The full meeting agenda can be found on BoardDocs, while a livestream of the meeting can be viewed on our YouTube channel.

The Board voted to appoint Angelika Husmann to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Dagmara Kalinowski. Husmann will serve the remainder of the term, which expires in April 2027.

She will also be appointed to the community engagement-focused committee, a role previously occupied by Kalinowski. Board President Jessica Riddick also appointed her to shadow Board member Bill Harrison as the champion for the Strategic Plan section on "Securing the Future."

October is National Principals Month, and Riddick took time to recognize the 13 leaders for being "the backbone of our schools and captains of the ship for all of our students and families."

Superintendent Dr. Michael Connolly announced that Holmes received a $20,000 creative learning grant from the Illinois Arts Council to launch a new mariachi band program. The funds will cover instruments, materials, and expert instruction. This program will serve as a feeder into Wheeling High School’s acclaimed mariachi program, and said the district is hopeful to expand similar opportunities to Cooper and London in the future.

Sherri Massa, director of student services, offered an overview of district efforts to address bullying and enhance responsiveness to student behavioral concerns, aligning with the district's Strategic Plan goals.

Dr. Beatrice Reyes Childress, deputy superintendent, offered an overview of the School Improvement Plan (SIP) process. The board will have the opportunity to review each school’s plan, which will be presented for full approval in November. She also discussed updates to the Professional Learning Communities (PLC) model, in collaboration with the DEA, highlighting the changes being implemented this year.

Riddick called on board members to review the Illinois Association of School Boards' committee report over the next few weeks before they attend the IASB/Illinois Association of School Administrators/Illinois Association of School Business Officials Joint Annual Conference in November. The report includes several amendments to the organization's constitution, as well as one resolution.

• 7.12: Approval of Delegate at the 2025 IASB Delegate Assembly and Authority to Vote on Proposed IASB Resolutions and Constitutional Amendment - APPROVED
• 7.13: Approval of Memorandum of Understanding between the Board of Education and the District 21 Education Association - APPROVED
• 8.2: Approval of Transfer of Funds from Education Fund to Debt Service Fund in the amount of $845,100 - APPROVED
• 8.3: Approval of Interfund Transfer from Education Fund to Debt Service Fund in the amount of $1,010,457 - APPROVED

Michael Zagar, director of finance/treasurer, discussed the 2025 tentative property tax levy, the final version of which will be presented to the Board for approval in November.

Riddick outlined the Finance & Operations Committee meeting held right before the regular Board meeting, during which Zagar discussed the understanding of the process for issuing tax anticipation warrants and his tax levy strategy for this year, while Director of Operations Glen Michelini outlined his proposed schedule for the 2026 summer construction that will be done around the district.

Vice President Debbi McAtee said the organization is working on updating its articles of agreement, which will be reviewed later this month.

Harrison highlighted ED-RED's kickoff luncheon, and previewed the organization's first member meeting of the school year on November 6. He added that ED-RED currently has openings on its executive board and is currently accepting applications.

Harrison previewed the IASB North Cook fall division meeting, which will be held on October 22. He also mentioned the Joint Annual Conference will be taking place November 21-23 in downtown Chicago.

Board member Arlen S. Gould said he had no new updates on the organization's decision to move to a new center, but he was hopeful to share it at either the November or December meeting.

The student representatives to the Board of Education shared updates from their schools and recapped a behavior-focused activity they led during the October Superintendent's Student Advisory Council meeting.

The next regular meeting of the Board of Education will be held at 7 p.m. on Thursday, November 13, at the Community Service Center and Administrative Office, 959 W. Dundee Rd., Wheeling.