Rockford Sun

Rockford Public School District 205 Board of Education met March 14.

Here are the minutes provided by the board:

President Jude Makulec called the meeting to order at 5:00 p.m.

Present: President Jude Makulec, Vice President Tim Rollins, Secretary June Stanford, Ms. Denise Pearson, Ms. Kimberly Haley (arr. 5:18 p.m.), Ms. Tiana McCall (arr. 5:30 p.m.), Mr. David Seigel

Absent: None

Motion by Mr. Seigel seconded by Ms. Stanford that the Board hold an executive session to consider the appointment, compensation, discipline, performance or dismissal of specific employees; student disciplinary cases; the placement of individual students in special education programs and other matters relating to individual students; collective bargaining matters; security procedures, school building safety and security; the purchase, sale or lease of real property; or other matters provided for pursuant to §2(c) of the Open Meetings Act.

Approved: 5-0-2

The Board was in executive session from 5:02 p.m. to 7:05 p.m.

1. Call to Order – President Jude Makulec called the regular meeting of the Board of Education to order at 7:17 p.m.

A. Roll Call

Present: President Jude Makulec, Vice President Tim Rollins, Secretary June Stanford, Ms. Denise Pearson, Ms. Kimberly Haley, Ms. McCall, Mr. David Seigel

Absent: None

Mrs. Makulec thanked Cathy Bayer-Eberle who produces the Board’s broadcast on Channel 20, and YouTube Live. Mr. Rollins welcomed Superintendent’s Student Advisory Representative Ayesha Nizamuddin from Auburn High School.

B. Pledge of Allegiance

C. Recitation of Mission Statement: The Mission of Rockford Public School is to collaboratively engage all students in a first-class education for a changing world.

2. Celebrating RPS205

A. Whitehead Elementary – Whitehead Nurtures

Whitehead Principal Paula Randall, Assistant Principal Julie Skaggs, Instructional Coach Renee Guse, Title 1 teacher Anita Hughes, and third grade teacher Mallori Sage, presented their multi-tiered approach to social/emotional learning and trauma intervention. This began with reviewing Tier 1 which included Trauma Informed Professional Development for staff, SEL programming and resources for all classrooms, asset framing language school wide, calm corners/cool down zones, and SEL focused books for classroom libraries. Tier 2 includes group counseling, training/professional development for school BIS, and consultation for teachers in need of SEL/trauma support. Tier 3 is individual counseling. The role of the counselor is meeting with small groups twice a week and providing in class support to students identified. To view the presentation, please click on this link: Whitehead Nurtures.

3. Petitions & Communications

Mrs. Makulec read the guidelines.

• Nina Giannangeli in support of Dr. Reed’s work on equity and inclusion and attracting teachers of color to the District.

• Ricky Naylor spoke of changes needed in the District.

• Ann Rundall spoke of the upcoming Rockford Summit on Racism and invited RPS staff, students, administrators, and board members to attend. She also thanked the District for being a co-sponsor.

• John Tac Brantley spoke of the walking school bus and RPS 205 transportation grant.

4. Report and *Action on Items that Proceeded through the Performance and Monitoring Committee

A. *2023-2024 Student Code of Conduct – Jennifer Lawrence

Motion by Mr. Seigel seconded by Mr. Rollins to approve item 4A, 2023-2024 Student Code of Conduct.

Approved: Unanimously

5. Report and *Action on items that Proceeded through the Planning Committee

A. *Increase in Continuous Public Office Bond and Payment of Premium – Greg Brown, ED.D., Chief Financial Officer

Motion by Mr. Rollins seconded by Ms. Pearson to approve item 5A, Increase in Continuous Public Office Bond and Payment of Premium

Approved: Unanimously

B. 2024 Budget Requests: Financial Services, Superintendent/Board, Legal, Technology, Operations Dr. Brown presented Financial Services. Highlights include Certificate of Excellence in Financial Reporting for eleven of the last twelve years from ASBO International, GFOA Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting for six consecutive years and maintained the ISBE financial profile score of 3.8 (recognition). Auditors noted no material findings or internal control deficiencies for the past five consecutive years, the District maintained a credit rating of AA minus with stable outlook, closed bond refunding in November saving taxpayers $6.1M and garnering $550,000 arbitrage income to use in capital projects, continued collaboration with other departments to establish and manage internal procedures to ensure compliance with ESSER, ESSER II, and ARP EESER, provided support as to ensure grants, amendments, and expenditure reports were approved the ISBE, distributed more than 12,900 $50 gift cards from ARP ESSER Federal funding for student COVID vaccinations, added Gameworkers to Arbiterpay, implemented a “Budget Roadshow” to meet with principals to have a better understanding of budget gas, including follow up meetings for strategic budgeting, $125M in goods and services procured, revised accounting for field trips, built a strategic investment ladder that should produce approximately $10M of revenue annually for the next four-five years, and challenged TRS and IMRF penalty calculations resulting in $241,000 savings to the District. The FY24 budget summary is $3,184,016 a variance of ($3,582). Detail of contracts for software is $90,611 a variance of ($8,290). Detail of contracts for Audits is $102,400 a variance of $3,420. Return on investment is effective internal controls, gain efficiencies, retain quality staff, reliable financials, excellent steward of taxpayer dollars, and capture as many grant dollars as possible.

Dr. Jarrett presented for Superintendent/Board. Highlights include Board governance, PDSA and Academic ROI support, scorecard support, lobbying, and community partnerships. The FY24 budget summary is $958,348 a variance of $12,326. Contract detail is $345,218, a variance of $1,538. Return on investment is oversee and support high governance to ensure success for all District goals and strategies.

Attorney Goldsmith presented for the Legal Department. Highlights include collaborate to ensure success and accountability by access to programming for students residing within District boundaries, and recovery of tuition from non-residents when necessary. Outside counsel services are student, employment, and business matters. The FY24 budget summary is $1,713,013 a variance of $19,638. Contract detail is $10,000 with a variance of $0.00. Return on investment includes control risk exposure, enforcement of District policy and procedure, management of the Legal business of the District, and ongoing investigation activity.

Mr. Barthel presented for Information and Technology. highlights are avoided 161 hours of internet downtime and district interruption by implementing internet resiliency, upgraded, and replaced over 50% of school network Equipment, replaced/refreshed student classroom technology - 5,500 Chromebooks, 2,300 iPads, and 425 SMARTboards, refreshed the district copier fleet -193 copiers, developed 30+ relevant and user friendly Cognos reports, facilitated development of teacher resources for the implementation of digital literacy skills, and expanded curriculum aligned coding experiences K-12 including screen free coding options through collaborative problem solving and debugging. The FY24 budget summary is $15,513,967 a variance of $469,033. Contract details for IT Security/Backup is $1,755,628 a variance of $166,903. Contract detail for student resources/remote is $215,422 a variance of ($139,863). Contract detail for business ops is $998,164 a variance of ($61,870). Contract detail for Tech/Development is $570,000 a variance of ($40,000). Contract detail for telephony/communication is $446,641 a variance of $4,500. Contract detail for compliance/reporting is $347,461 a variance of ($38,014). Detail of miscellaneous is $4,366,466 a variance ($83,944). Contract detail District wide is $590,000 a variance of ($93,000). Return on investment includes secure and available technology access, application support and training for District educators to enrich education, and dashboards and reports development for data-driver decision making.

Mr. Phillips presented for Operations. Distribution and Print Services highlights includes Distribution removing/recycling 34,579 pounds of obsolete electronics and 94,915 pounds of paper/cardboard, Mailroom mailing 11,421 pieces of mail per month, and Print Shop an average of 264,269 impressions per month. Facilities and Operations highlights are continue to build upon preventative maintenance best practices, implementing Master Library schedules to improve internal and external stakeholder facilities requests and rental process, and eighty-two percent success rate to date for Annual Life Safety remediation timeline goals. Design and Construction highlights are successfully designed, bid, and awarded all three phases of ESSER-II and ARP-ESSER HVAC replacement and upgrade project, designed, bid and awarded the remaining thirteen secure vestibule projects, and electronic message boards install at all RPS schools. Budget summary excluding Capital project and Life Safety is $33,089,819 a variance of $602,726. The contract detail is $15,600,735 a variance of ($2,410,113). Capital projects budget summary is $9,755,138 a variance of ($10,518,480). The capital projects budget summary, ESSER grants for HVAC upgrades is $83,887,146. The budget summary for Life and Safety is $14,072,881 a variance of $12,282,809. Contract detail is $347,355 a variance of ($25,791). Return on investment includes creating spaces that promote learning, collaboration, and social health, control exposure to risk, and provide support to all schools and departments. To view the presentation please click on this link: FY24 Budget Requests.

C. *IB Curriculum Resources – Reading (Amplify Learning) – Heather Psaltis and Sarah Brenner Motion by Mr. Rollins seconded by Mr. Seigel to approve item 5C IB Curriculum Resources – Reading (Amplify Learning).

Approved: Unanimously

6. Board President’s Announcements and Report and *Action on items that Proceeded through Governance Committee

A. *Gifting Agreement Between Sunil Puri, 2-18DT Rockford, L.L.C. and Rockford Public Schools District 205 – Michael Phillips, Chief Operations Officer

Motion by Mr. Seigel seconded by Ms. McCall to approve item 6A Gifting Agreement Between Sunil Puri, 2-18DT Rockford, L.L.C. and Rockford Public Schools District.

Yeas: Mrs. Makulec, Mr. Seigel, Ms. Stanford, Ms. Pearson, Ms. McCall

Nays: Mr. Rollins

Approved: 6-0-1

B. *Board Policy 6.180 Extended Instructional Programs

Motion by Mr. Seigel seconded by Mr. Rollins to approve item Board Policy 6.180 Extended Instructional Programs

Approved: Unanimously

7. *Consent Agenda – Performance and Monitoring Committee

A. Payroll

B. Accounts Payable

C. Purchase Orders

D. Construction Pay Request Log

E. Air Travel

F. RFP 23-30 Wellness Center

G. IFB 23-31 Grounds & Lawn Mowing Services

H. IFB 23-38 Exterior Door Replacement at Bloom E.S. – pulled by Administration

I. Fiscal Year (FY)2024 Student Fees – Ms. Jamie Murray, CPA, Executive Director of Finance

J. CEANCI IGA Resolution and Addendum

K. Recurring Contract – Constellation NewEnergy Utilities Contract – Michael Phillips, Chief Operations Officer

L. Instruction Resources – Co:Writer and Snap & Read – pulled by Mrs. Makulec

M. Instructional Resource: OpenSciEd for Science 6-8

N. Learning partners – IL-EMPOWER fund – Morgan Gallagher, Chief of Schools

O. Oconomowoc/Genesee Lake Residential Facility

P. Power School Training for Benefits – Matthew Zediker, Chief Human Resources Officer

Q. Purchase of Three (3) Used School Buses from Harlem School District 122 – pulled by Mr. Rollins R. The Valbrun Consulting Group

8. *Consent Items – Governance Committee

A. Meeting Minutes: 02-14-23 – Corrected, 02-28-23

B. Contract Purchase Orders

C. Settlement Agreement – Cannon Design Inc.

D. Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) – REA Self-Contained Premium Pay

E. Workers’ Compensation Settlement Agreement - DT

F. Freedom of Information Log

Motion by Mr. Rollins seconded by Ms. McCall to approve Consent items not pulled.

Approved: Unanimously

Motion by Mr. Rollins seconded by Ms. McCall to approve Consent item pulled 7L Instructional Resources – Co:Writer Snap & Read.

Atty. Goldsmith reviewed with Board members the history and purpose of the SOPPA (Student Online Personal Protection Act) and why it was attached to the item. Mrs. Makulec called for the vote.

Approved: Unanimously

Motion by Mr. Rollins seconded by Mr. Seigel to approve Consent item pulled 7Q, Purchase of Three (3) Used School Buses from Harlem School District 122.

The used school buses can be included in the Transportation claim. Mrs. Makulec called for the vote.

Approved: Unanimously

9. *Closed Session Consent Items

A. Residency Hearing Officer Report Re: Student X’s Family Residency Dispute

B. Compensation Adjustment for Non-Bargaining Employees

C. HR Organization Report & Addendum

10. *Closed Session Consent Items Student Discipline – Suspension Appeals and Expulsions

A. H0062X-23 – expelled for two calendar years with alternative placement, through March 13, 2025 – pulled by Ms. Pearson

B. H0063X-23 – expelled for the remainder of the 2022-2023 school year through the entire 202-2024 school year.

C. H0064X-23 – expelled for the remainder of the 2022-2023 school year through the entire 202-2024 school year.

D. H0065X-23 – expelled for the remainder of the 2022-2023 school year through the entire 202-2024 school year.

E. H0066X-23 – expelled for two calendar years, through March 13, 2025.

F. H0067X-23 – expelled for the remainder of the 2022-2023 school year through the entire 202-2024 school year.

G. H0068X-23 – expelled for the remainder of the 2022-2023 school year through the entire 2023-2024 school year.

H. H0069X-23 – the expulsion is held in abeyance contingent upon an Expulsion in Abeyance Agreement for the remainder of the 2022-2023 school year through the entire 2023-2024 school year.

I. H0070X-23 – the expulsion is held in abeyance contingent upon an Expulsion in Abeyance Agreement for the remainder of the 2022-2023 school year through the entire 2023-2024 school year which can be converted to a Zone School EIA upon the successful completion of the ReFresh program.

J. H0071X-23 – expelled for the remainder of the 2022-2023 school year through the entire 2023-2024 school year.

K. H0072X-23 – the expulsion is held in abeyance contingent upon an Expulsion in Abeyance Agreement for the remainder of the 2022-2023 school year through the entire 2023-2024 school year.

L. H0073X-23 – the expulsion is held in abeyance contingent upon an Expulsion in Abeyance Agreement for the remainder of the 2022-2023 school year through the entire 2023-2024 school year.

M. H0074X-23 – the expulsion is held in abeyance contingent upon an Expulsion in Abeyance Agreement for the remainder of the 2022-2023 school year through the entire 2023-2024 school year.

N. H0076X-23 – the expulsion is held in abeyance contingent upon an Expulsion in Abeyance Agreement for the remainder of the 2022-2023 school year through the entire 2023-2024 school year which can be converted to a Zone School EIA upon the successful completion of the ReFresh program.

O. H0077X-23 – expelled for the remainder of the 2022-2023 school year through the entire 2023-2024 school year. – Pulled Ms. Pearson

11. *Closed Session Consent Items Student Discipline – EIAs

A. B0013-23

Page 4 of 5

B. D0011-23

C. D0012-23

D. H0075-23

E. H0079-23

F. H0080-23

G. P0110-23

H. P0111-23

I. P0112-23

J. P0113-23

K. P0114-23

L. P0115-23

M. P0117-23

N. P0118-23

Motion by Mr. Rollins seconded by Mr. Seigel to approve Closed Session Consent items not pulled. Approved: Unanimously

Motion by Mr. Seigel seconded by Mr. Rollins to approve Closed Session Consent items pulled, 10A H0062X-23 and 10O H0077X-23

Yeas: Ms. McCall, Mrs. Makulec, Mr. Seigel, Ms. Stanford, Mr. Rollins

Nays: Ms. Haley, Ms. Pearson

Approved: 5-0-2

12. Superintendent’s Update

A. Superintendent’s Report – Dr. Jarrett

Dr. Jarrett spoke of celebrating Golden Apple Award winners and multiple Board members attending the process. This was a wonderful opportunity to celebrate success in the District’s classrooms. There are nine semifinalists. The Golden Apple Foundation does many good things to celebrate education.

13. Board Member Comments

A. Board Member Comments

• Mr. Seigel spoke of the three charter school presentations made at the March 7, 2023, Committee of the Whole meeting. He also spoke of Dr. Reed’s efforts with equity and diversity and the importance of diversified staff.

• Ms. Pearson expressed here appreciation of the charter schools, the importance of growth needed, and the need for more effort by everyone to improve and achieve growth.

B. Discussion: Superintendent’s Update

Year-Over Year of Freshman on Track was discussed with concerns raised to why greater strides are occurring with Hispanic students and not African Americans. Discussion also included viewing the Illinois State Report Card to view absentee and chronic truancy rates. Currently, Freshman on Track rate for first semester of the 2022-2023 school year is 81% District-wide, with 72% for African American up 4% from 2021-2022 school year. Discussion continued with the update.

14. Action Steps include:

• Secondary Grading Policy

There are no plans to return to Board for action on this subject.

15. Adjournment

Motion by Ms. Pearson second by Mr. Rollins to adjourn.

Adjournment: 8:52 p.m.

https://go.boarddocs.com/il/rps205/Board.nsf/files/CPYHXC4A41D6/$file/bm2023-03-14.pdf