January 20, 2026 Board Briefs

The Community Consolidated School District 62 Board of Education meeting was held on January 20, 2026. The full meeting agenda can be found on BoardDocs, while a livestream of the meeting can be viewed on our YouTube channel.

Principal Jennifer Bautista shared an update from Orchard Place Elementary School while Principal Alexandra Jonynas shared an update from Plainfield Elementary School.

Both presentations centered on how the schools are focused on all five goals of the District 62 Strategic Plan. A copy of the Orchard Place presentation can be accessed here. A copy of the Plainfield presentation can be accessed here.

The Board of Education approved a resolution that will be sent to elected leaders in Cook County regarding the challenges the district has faced with Cook County's delay in collecting and distributing its tax payments. A copy of the resolution can be accessed here.

As discussed over the last few months, Cook County has been very late in collecting and distributing 2024 second tax installment property tax payments to all taxing bodies in Cook County. Cook County school districts have created a group called the Cook County Tax Coalition to lobby the county to ensuring that this length of delay doesn’t happen again, and to finally get all the tax dollars distributed to taxing bodies. It is also the position of the coalition that Cook County should seek damages from Tyler Technologies from lost interest income and any fees incurred by school districts.

Since 2021, state law has required counties to return to taxing bodies the dollars refunded to taxpayers—refunds that are almost exclusively issued to large commercial and industrial property owners. Because these refunds benefit commercial and industrial taxpayers while the recapture levy is paid by all taxpayers, retaining these funds acts as a shift of the tax burden from commercial and industrial property owners to homeowners. In prior years, District 62 has chosen to abate the recapture levy. For the current year, the recapture levy totals $2,429,217. At the same time, school districts are facing significant financial challenges related to both state and federal funding, and District 62 is in the process of implementing Full Day Kindergarten.

No action was taken. The Board of Education will vote on the recapturing of levy funds at the February meeting.

The Board approved the 2026 Summer School programs.

Title I Summer School

Title I Summer School will be offered to students entering grades 1-8 who are most in need of additional academic support, including students who are new to the country. The program will emphasize remediation in reading and math while also providing opportunities for students to engage in critical thinking, collaboration, and problem-solving through STEM programming. This year’s Title I Summer School program will be held at Cumberland Elementary School and Chippewa Middle School beginning Thursday, June 11 through Tuesday, June 30, with no classes on Friday, June 19, in observance of Juneteenth. Students will attend Monday through Friday from 8:30 am to 12:00 pm, for a total of 13 instructional days.

Title III Parent University

District 62 will offer a Parent University program to support Multilingual students and their parents with extended learning opportunities beyond the school day. This summer, Parent University will be held at Forest School from June 15 to June 26, 2026. There will not be any program offerings on June 19th. Parents will attend informational sessions Monday to Thursday, from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm, while their children participate in activities led by D62 teachers. On Friday, June 26th, families will attend from 8:00 am to 3:00 pm for a field trip. This program is funded through the Title III-LIEP grant.

Extended School Year (ESY)

District 62 will offer Extended School Year (ESY) services as required under state and federal special education law for students who are determined eligible through their Individualized Education Programs (IEPs). ESY services will be provided at Cumberland Elementary School and Chippewa Middle School for students entering grades 1-8 and at the Westerhold Early Learning Center for preschool-aged and rising kindergarten students. The program will operate for three weeks, from June 11 through June 30, 2026 with no programming scheduled on June 19th. Daily program hours for rising 1st-8th grade students will be from 8:30 am to 12:00 pm. Preschool and rising kindergarten students will attend from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm.

SPARK Summer Camp

In order to provide District 62 early childhood students with an opportunity to attend a summer program, SPARK Summer Enrichment Program will be held at the Westerhold Early Learning Center. This program provides preschoolers with engaging hands-on activities that focus on math, literacy and social emotional skills. The program will run two weeks, from June 11 through June 26, 2026 with no programming scheduled on June 19th. The hours of programming will be from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm. This is a parent paid program.

The Board reviewed the proposal for the FY27 school calendar for the 10-month schools and Iroquois Community School.

The Board will take action on the proposed FY27 calendar in February.

Below are key proposed dates for the 2026-2027 school year.

10-month schools

• August 25, 2026: First day of student attendance (grades K-8)
• August 26, 2026: First day of Pre-K
• December 21, 2026 - January 1, 2027: Winter Break
• March 22, 2027 - March 26, 2027: Spring Break
• June 4, 2027: Last day of student attendance

Iroquois Community School

• July 16, 2026: First day of student attendance (grades K-8)
• December 14, 2026 - January 1, 2027: Winter Break
• March 15, 2027 - April 2, 2027: Spring Break
• June 3, 2027: Last day of student attendance

Emergency Days:

• January 4, 2027
• April 30, 2027
• June 7, 2027
• June 8, 2027

Board President Liz Massa announced that ED-RED will hold its Legislative Dinner on January 26. March 3 marks the North Cook Division meeting.

Board Member Morley shared that the 62 Foundation met a few weeks ago. The Foundation is looking into holding a Family Bingo Night this spring which will be a key fundraiser for the year. More to come.

Board Member Garrett attended an ambassador meeting for the Illinois School Board Association. Member Garrett thanked those who attended the vigil that was held earlier this month.

Member Haring announced that there is a new Executive Director, Outreach Coordinator and an Associate Curator for Exhibits at the Des Plaines History Center. The History Center is looking forward to having programs back into the classrooms.

Superintendent of Schools Dr. Michael Amadei announced that the Des Plaines History Center Meet and Greet is at 4:30 p.m. on January 29. Dr. Amadei will be meeting with the Executive Director of the Des Plaines History Center and new staff later this month. Dr. Amadei noted the great work of the History Center.

Dr. Amadei shared this month's 62Stories video that highlights Forest Elementary School's efforts to build involvement and participation within its learning community.

Assistant Superintendent for Business Services Mark Bertolozzi noted an update to the Iroquois Community School transportation policies for the upcoming school year. Beginning in July of 2026, those families who live less than 1.5 miles from their neighborhood home school will be charged for transportation. This change will be communicated to affected families.