SE Illinois News

Community Unit School District 200 Board of Education met Aug. 14.

Here are the minutes provided by the board:

The first regular meeting of the month of August of the Board of Education of Community Unit School District 200, DuPage County, Illinois, was called to order at the School Service Center, 130 W. Park Ave., Wheaton, IL, by Board President Rob Hanlon, on Wednesday, August 14, 2024, at 7:00 PM. Signage directed people to the Whittier Elementary gymnasium due to space considerations.

ROLL CALL

Upon the roll being called, the following were present:

Board Members: Mr. Rob Hanlon

Ms. Julie Kulovits

Mr. Dave Long

Ms. Angela Blatner

Mr. Erik Hjerpe

Mr. Brad Paulsen

Mr. John Rutledge

Also in Attendance: Dr. Jeff Schuler, Superintendent

Ms. Alyssa Barry

Mr. Matt Biscan

Ms. Melissa Murphy

Dr. Brian O’Keeffe

Dr. Chris Silagi

Mr. Jason Spencer

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

Board Vice President Julie Kulovits led the Board in the Pledge of Allegiance.

PUBLIC HEARING

Approval to Open the Public Hearing on the FY25 Budget

The Board of Education must hold a Public Hearing on the FY25 Budget.

MOTION

Member Hjerpe moved, Member Long seconded to open the Public Hearing on the FY25 Budget. Upon a roll call being taken, the vote was: AYE 7, NAY 0. The motion carried 7-0.

PUBLIC COMMENTS ON HEARING

None

Approval to Close the Public Hearing on the FY25 Budget

The Board of Education must approve closing the Public Hearing at the conclusion of comments. MOTION

Member Rutledge moved, Member Kulovits seconded to close the Public Hearing on the FY25 Budget. Upon a roll call being taken, the vote was: AYE 7, NAY 0. The motion carried 7-0. MODIFICATIONS TO THE AGENDA

A closed session was added to the end of the meeting pursuant to 5 ILCS 120/2 (c) (10). No action was expected following the closed session.

PUBLIC COMMENTS – Agenda Items & Non-Agenda Items

None

SUPERINTENDENT REPORT

Dr. Schuler provided the following updates:

● Dr. Schuler, members of the Senior Leadership Team, and the High School Student Ambassadors shared highlights from the first day of school, noting it takes a lot of people to get ready and make it work.

● New staff orientation took place last week. The student ambassadors joined in the effort to welcome the new staff. Many new staff commented on student connections and the importance of relationships in our district's culture.

● Thank you to our community partners, the Outreach Center in Carol Stream and Warrenville/Johnson. A generous donation initiated the tutoring support service for Johnson students and families.

● Carol Stream Park District is working to improve the park behind Pleasant Hill Elementary School. They are preparing for a renovation and seeing input, and are partnering with our District to secure a grant to support that work. This is another great example of a community partner.

CONSENT AGENDA

1. Acceptance of Gifts from Franklin Middle School PTA – Recommend acceptance of gifts as presented.

2. Acceptance of Gifts from Hubble Middle School PTA – Recommend acceptance of gifts as presented.

3. Acceptance of Gifts from Wheaton Warrenville South Tiger PAWS - Recommend acceptance of gifts as presented.

4. Approval of Statements of Completion from the Regional Office of Education for Pleasant Hill Elementary School and Edison Middle School – Recommend approval of the statements of completion as presented.

5. Approval of Occupancy Permit for the DuPage County Regional Office of Education for Wheaton North High School – Recommend approval of the occupancy permit as presented.

6. Approval of Resolution Approving Travel, Meal, and Lodging Expenses – Recommend approval of resolution approving travel, meal, and lodging expenses as presented.

7. Approval of Resolution Authorizing Intervention in Property Tax Appeals – Recommend approval of resolution authorizing intervention in property tax appeals as presented.

8. Approval to Purchase High School Fitness Equipment from LifeFitness – Recommend approval to purchase HS fitness equipment as presented.

9. Approval of Master Tax-Exempt Lease/Purchase Agreement with American Capital Financial Services, Inc. for the Purpose of Purchasing High School Fitness Equipment from LifeFitness through Sourcewell – Recommend approval of lease/purchase agreement as presented.

10. Approval of Commercial Lease Agreement with DuPage Technology Center, LLC for Transition Program at 100 Bridge Street, Wheaton, IL – Recommend approval of lease agreement with DuPage Technology Center, LLC as presented.

11. Approval to Declare Surplus Assets and Lease of Driver Education Vehicles – Recommend approval to declare surplus assets and lease driver education vehicles as presented.

12. Approval of Capital Projects Summer 2025– Recommend approval of capital projects for summer 2025 as presented.

13. Approval of DarkTrace Cyber Security Monitoring Software - Recommend approval of the VMWare support renewals as presented.3

14. Approval of Bills Payable and Payroll – Recommend approval of bills payable and payroll as presented.

15. Approval of Minutes – July 10, 2024, Regular Meeting, Open, and Approval to Destroy Recordings of Closed Sessions Prior to March 2023 As Allowable by Law – Recommend approval of the minutes as presented and approve the destruction of recordings of closed sessions prior to March 2023 as allowable by law.

16. Approval of Personnel Report to Include Employment, Resignation, Retirement, and Leave of Absence of Administrative, Certified, Classified, and Non-Union Staff – Recommend approval of the personnel report as presented.

There were comments and/or questions on the following:

● #1-3 Thank you for the generous gifts from the PTA groups and Tiger PAWS

● The Board Finance and/or Facilities Committees reviewed several consent agenda items in detail.

● #4 Statements of Completion are for the summer construction work done at the two buildings. Future agendas will include additional ones for other summer work.

● #8-9 Fitness equipment purchase for the two high schools - North vs. South pieces of equipment; feedback/requests from school department chairs; age of equipment; lease vs. buying equipment outright; interest in getting advanced visibility to future purchases that fall below the level of Sherman Dergis work but are significant expenditures.

● #12 Summer capital projects - also took a preliminary look at the summers of 2026 and 2027; interested in looking at a site master plan.

MOTION

Member Paulsen moved, Member Kulovits seconded to approve the Consent Agenda as presented. Upon a roll call vote being taken, the vote was: AYE 7, NAY 0. The motion carried 7-0.

POLICY POSTING CONSENT AGENDA

1. Approval to Post Revised Policy 4:70 Resource Conservation for Public Review and Comment – Recommend approval to post revised policy 4:70 as presented.

2. Approval to Post Revised Policy 5:130 Responsibilities Concerning Internal Information for Public Review and Comment – Recommend approval to post revised policy 5:130 as presented.

3. Approval to Post Revised Policy 5:200 Terms and Conditions of Employment and Dismissal for Public Review and Comment – Recommend approval to post revised policy 5:130 as presented.

4. Approval to Post Revised Policy 6:140 Education of Homeless Children for Public Review and Comment – Recommend approval to post revised policy 6:140 as presented.

There were comments and/or questions on the following:

● The policies being approved for posting came from PRESS (Issue 115) and were reviewed by the HR/Policy Committee at their last meeting.

MOTION

Member Paulsen moved, Member Long, seconded to approve the Policy Posting Consent Agenda as presented. Upon a roll call vote being taken, the vote was: AYE 7, NAY 0.

The motion carried 7-0.

ACTION ITEMS

Resolution providing for and requiring the submission of the proposition of issuing $151,500,000 School Building Bonds to the voters of Community Unit School District 200, DuPage County, IL, at the general election to be held on the 5th day of November, 2024

The Board has identified several middle school capital projects to be undertaken and paid with the proceeds of school building bonds, which require referendum approval.

The resolution authorizes the District to put the question of issuing bonds for the project on the ballot to be presented to the voters of the District at the election to be held on November 5, 2024. The resolution describes the project and the dollar amount of the proposed bonds of $151,500,000.

Dr. Schuler provided context and history leading up to the proposed resolution/referendum question, which included information on the following:

● The culmination of a lot of work which began with the 2016-17 master facility plan.

● The $7 million-plus annual investment in facilities the District has made since 2017 - including elementary and high school buildings, safety & security improvements, and a new early childhood center.

● The need to address the significant needs at three of the four middle schools - Franklin, Monroe, and Edison including sightline challenges, out-of-date camera and door entry systems, music spaces, locker rooms and bathrooms, mechanical systems, flooring, accessibility issues, and science labs.

● Community engagement began in the fall of 2023 with community support to address all of the needs identified in the project buckets.

● The District’s fiscal responsibility (approaching the last year with bond/debt payment) and the opportunity to modernize the middle schools while giving taxpayers property tax relief in the bond and interest portion of the tax levy frame the conversation for reinvesting in our buildings.

● Worked with architects, teachers, and support staff to finalize a middle school facilities plan (based on community feedback).

● The $151.5 million final plan - common elements addressed include music spaces, science labs, and classroom spaces.

● New/added features in the plan, as well as improvements in the existing spaces in the three buildings.

● The final plan has three main anchors - improves the safety & security in our middle schools, ensures healthy & accessible buildings for all students, and provides our middle school students with 21st-century learning environments.

● The funding plan was worked on with the Finance Committee - recommending the option of two 15-year debt issuances. This option significantly saves taxpayers interest costs and aligns with the projected implementation timeline.

● With current debt expiring, the bond and interest portion of the tax bill will still go down if the referendum passes; the approximate annual tax decrease is $71 (based on a median home value of $403,700 and two 15-year debt issuances).

● Ballot question: “Shall the Board of Education of Wheaton Warrenville Community Unit School District Number 200, DuPage County, Illinois, construct additions to, alter, repair, equip and improve the sites of the Franklin, Edison and Monroe middle school buildings, including constructing safety and security improvements, updating infrastructure and mechanical systems to improve efficiency, improving special education spaces and accessibility, updating science lab classrooms, improving music spaces, completing technology improvements and renovating instructional spaces, and issue bonds of said School District to the amount of $151,500,000 for the purpose of paying the costs thereof?”

● Next steps - if the Board approves the ballot question and resolution, the referendum question will appear on the November 5, 2024 ballot.

● Following the vote, the District will conduct an informational messaging program to educate the public on details of the referendum through a series of Town Hall/Tour Sessions.

● A QR code was provided to show where the information would be housed on the District 200 website.

Secretary Long read the resolution by title:

RESOLUTION providing for and requiring the submission of the proposition of issuing $151,500,000 School Building Bonds to the voters of Community Unit School District 200, DuPage County, Illinois, at the general election to be held on the 5th day of November, 2024

There were comments and/or questions on the following:

● Appreciation for the process and all of the work that went into this; thankful to the staff for all of their work.

● The community engagement portion of the process was highlighted.

● Responsible upkeep of assets, bolstering property assets, spreading investment cost over time, reinvesting for generations to come, the changing curriculum needs, changing demographics in D200, and criticality of school connectedness.

● Thank prior D200 Boards for working on rolling off the district debt.

● The need to keep these schools modern and up-to-date, attract teachers, and make D200 a destination district for staff and students.

● The way we are approaching this from a financing perspective.

● This is a lot of money, and not taking that flippantly; the community helped guide us where we landed, and it is up to them to decide what they want to do next.

● This is a strong, well-thought-out plan; substantial reinvestment in modernizing middle schools with a tax reduction.

It was recommended that the Board of Education adopt said resolution as presented and read by title.

MOTION

Member Hjerpe moved, Member Kulovits seconded that the Board adopt said resolution as presented. After a full discussion thereof, President Hanlon directed that the roll be called for a vote upon the motion to adopt said resolution. Upon a roll call vote being taken, the vote was AYE 7, NAY 0. The motion carried 7-0.

President Hanlon and Secretary Long signed the resolution document. President Hanlon directed the Board Secretary to record the same in the records of the Board of Education of Community Unit School District Number 200, DuPage County, Illinois.

Resolution expressing official intent regarding certain capital expenditures to be reimbursed from proceeds of an obligation to be issued by Community Unit School District Number 200, DuPage County, IL

The District will issue its building bonds if approved by the voters in November. The District may incur and pay costs related to the project prior to the issuance of the bonds. If that occurs, this resolution will permit the District to reimburse itself with the proceeds of the bonds when issued. The resolution identifies the project and authorizes the District to use bond proceeds, when issued, to reimburse for project expenditures incurred prior to the issuance of the bonds.

Dr. Schuler reminded the Board why this action item is on the agenda, which included information on the following:

● At a previous meeting, the Board authorized some early design schematic work. Passing this allows reimbursement with the proceeds of the bonds if the referendum passes.

● It was noted that this reimbursement is for project costs within sixty days before today’s meeting.

Secretary Long read the resolution by title:

RESOLUTION expressing official intent regarding certain capital expenditures to be reimbursed from proceeds of an obligation to be issued by Community Unit School District 200, DuPage County, Illinois

There were comments and/or questions on the following:

● The sixty-day time period is a statute; the District does not have control over this.

It was recommended that the Board of Education adopt said resolution as presented and read by title.

MOTION

Member Rutledge moved, Member Paulsen seconded that the Board adopt said resolution as presented. After a full discussion thereof, President Hanlon directed that the roll be called for a vote upon the motion to adopt said resolution. Upon a roll call vote being taken, the vote was AYE 7, NAY 0. The motion carried 7-0.

President Hanlon and Secretary Long signed the resolution document. President Hanlon directed the Board Secretary to record the same in the records of the Board of Education of Community Unit School District Number 200, DuPage County, Illinois.

Information was provided to the Board regarding Referendum Do’s and Don’ts guidance documents from both legal counsel and our communications partners.

Approval of Vision 2026 Work Plan Priorities for 2024-25

District 200 has utilized strategic planning as a tool to guide the work of the District and School Board. Our current strategic planning effort, Vision 2026, started with the development of our Portrait of a Graduate. That work involved two rounds of community input, and the work of a design team that developed the Portrait based on the input and community engagement sessions. The Portrait was presented to the Board of Education in January of 2022, and launched the development of our Vision 2026 Plan. Each school year, the metrics identified on the Vision 2026 Dashboard are monitored and results are reported to the Board of Education throughout the year at the Committee of the Whole and Regular Board of Education Meetings. Additionally, specific work plans or improvement strategies are identified each year to address the areas of priority in the Vision 2026 Plan or the results on the Vision 2026 Dashboard. Each summer, the Board of Education reviews and provides input on the Strategies for the upcoming school year. Once approved, the work plans support the development of School Improvement Plans and work plans for the upcoming school year.

The Vision 2026 Dashboard includes both the metrics monitored by the Board of Education each school year and specific strategies aligned to the areas of priority in the Vision 2026 Plan or the results on the Vision 2026 Dashboard. The Board reviewed the draft of the strategies for the 2024-2025 School Year via an oral report at the July meeting, with the goal of bringing the strategies to the August Board Meeting for proposed action and approval.

There was additional information on the following:

● Board members were encouraged to provide feedback to the administration on the strategies for 2024-25 that were presented at the July meeting.

● Adjustments were made to the strategies based on the feedback.

● The senior leadership team members highlighted any adjustments to the work plan strategies and/or provided additional information for clarification purposes. This included information on the following:

○ Program review of the Special Education Resource and PISA instructional programs.

○ ACCESS growth report for ML (multilingual learner) students.

○ AI (artificial intelligence) work plan goals and the focus on responsible student use, and formulating guidelines in writing on what responsible use looks like.

○ Maintaining competitive wages - The CEA contract expires at the end of the year.

○ Carrying out information messaging work - the meetings planned/scheduled to provide information on the middle school projects.

There were comments and/or questions on the following:

● Identified strategies based on conversations at the board table - appreciate those were incorporated into the work plans.

● The correlation between the indicators and the work plan - re-educating the Board on the indicators. Could this be a future agenda item?

● Cell phone usage in schools—could this be incorporated? It is noted that this would be a good CAC topic, especially considering the number of strategies on this year’s dashboard.

MOTION

Member Paulsen moved, Member Long seconded that the Board approve the Vision 2026 Work Plan Priorities for 2024-25 as presented. Upon a roll call vote being taken, the vote was AYE 7, NAY 0. The motion carried 7-0.

BOARD COMMITTEE REPORTS

Board Facilities Committee

The Board Facilities Committee met on August 1, 2024. The meeting notes were attached to the agenda item. There was additional information on the following:

● The discussion of the facilities committee meeting was reviewed during the consent and action items.

Board Finance Committee

The Board Finance Committee met on August 8, 2024. The meeting notes were attached to the agenda item. There was additional information on the following:

● Most of the finance meeting discussion was reviewed during the consent and action items discussion.

● Clarified the intervention in property tax appeals would be for commercial appeals and the District legal counsel would represent us.

● Transition program building lease - looking at how that building is utilized and the population growth.

● Monthly financial reports - new graphs are included to help the Board and community digest the information.

Board Human Resources/Policy Committee

The Board Human Resources/Policy Committee met on August 1, 2024. The meeting notes were attached to the agenda item. There was additional information on the following:

● Reviewed the policies included in PRESS Issue 115 and approved them for posting.

● Reviewed the social media guidelines document that was rolled out to staff.

OTHER REPORTS FROM BOARD MEMBERS

None

WRITTEN REPORTS

Monthly Financial Reports

FOIA Report

Board Communication Log

TOPICS FOR FUTURE DISCUSSION

FY25 Budget

Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC) Agenda Topics

● There was a request to discuss the monthly financial reports and include some type of executive summary.

● Cell phone discussion - Dr. Schuler would like this conversation to start with CAC.

NEXT REGULAR MEETING

September 11, 2024, 7:00 PM, Hawthorne Elementary School

CLOSED SESSION

The Placement of Individual Students in Special Education Programs and Other Matters Relating to Individual Students 5 ILCS 120/2 (c) (10)

MOTION

Member Paulsen moved, Member Blatner seconded to adjourn the meeting to closed session for the purpose of 5 ILCS 120/2 (c) (10). Upon a roll call vote being taken, the vote was AYE 7, NAY 0. The motion carried 7-0.

No action was expected following the closed session.

The meeting adjourned to Closed Session at 8:35 PM.

ADJOURNMENT

MOTION

There being no further business to come before the Board in Open Session, Member Paulsen moved, Member Rutledge seconded to adjourn the meeting. Upon a voice call being taken, all were in favor. The motion carried 7-0.

The meeting adjourned at 9:08 PM.

https://core-docs.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/documents/asset/uploaded_file/3696/CUSD200/4828604/Minutes_8.14.24.docx_rev.pdf