Kendall County Times

Oswego Community Unit School District 308 Board of Education met July 1.

Here are the minutes provided by the board:

The Board of Education of Community Unit School District 308, Kendall, Kane and Will Counties, Illinois, met in a regular session in the Community Room at Oswego East High School.

Note for file: All roll call votes are shown in alphabetical order in these minutes; however, during the Board Meeting votes are called out in accordance with Board Policy 2:220

1. Call to Order – Executive Session (9:00 a.m.)

The meeting was called to order at 9:08 a.m. by President LaTonya Simelton

1.1 Roll Call:

Upon Roll Call the following members answered present:

Dominick Cirone, Eugene Gatewood, Jennifer Johnson, Dr. Amy Murillo, Jared Ploger, LaTonya Simelton, Mary Jo Wenmouth

Members Absent (at roll call):

None

2. Closed Session

2.1 Enter Closed Session under statute(s): 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(1) The appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance or dismissal of certain employees and individuals

A motion was made by Mr. Jared Ploger, second by Mr. Eugene Gatewood, to enter Closed Session under statute(s); 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(1) The appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance or dismissal of certain

Final Resolution: Motion Carried 7-0

Aye: Mr. Dominick Cirone, Mr. Eugene Gatewood, Ms. Jennifer Johnson, Dr. Amy Murillo Mr. Jared Ploger, Ms. LaTonya Simelton, Ms. Mary Jo Wenmouth

The Board of Education entered closed session at 9:09 a.m.

2.2 Return to Open Session

A motion was made by Mr. Jared Ploger, second by Mr. Eugene Gatewood, to return to Open session

Final Resolution: Motion Carried 7-0

Aye: Mr. Dominick Cirone, Mr. Eugene Gatewood, Ms. Jennifer Johnson, Dr. Amy Murillo, Mr. Ploger, Ms. LaTonya Simelton, Ms. Mary Jo Wenmouth

The Board of Education returned to open session at 10:18 a.m.

3. Call to Order – Public Session (10:00 a.m.)

The meeting was called to order at 10:28 a.m. by President LaTonya Simelton

3.1 Roll Call:

Upon Roll Call the following members answered present:

Dominick Cirone, Eugene Gatewood, Jennifer Johnson, Dr. Amy Murillo, Jared Ploger, LaTonya Simelton, Mary Jo Wenmouth

Members Absent (at roll call):

None

Administration Present:

Superintendent, Dr. Andalib Khelghati

Associate Superintendent of Educational Services, Faith Dahlquist

Assistant Superintendent for Student & Staff Services, Dr. Heather Kincaid

Assistant Superintendent for Operations, Dr. John Petzke

Recording Secretary:

Ursula Studer

3.2 Pledge of Allegiance

Pledge of Allegiance was led by Board President LaTonya Simelton

4. Public Comment

4.1 Opportunity for the Public to address the Board of Education

There was no public comment

5. Work Session

5.1 Review Board Agreements

The Board members reviewed that Board Agreements with the recent changes that were made on June 14, 2023 during the Board’s Self Evaluation with an IASB Team member. Ms. Simelton asked if there were any additional comments/changes. Ms. Johnson was not able to attend the meeting on June 14 and she asked to incorporate some additional changes. She would like to change “Board members” in each section to “we agree” to make it a more “active voice”.

She would like to have a “Unity of Purpose” at the beginning of the document. Ms. Johnson felt that 3 things were missing from the document:

• Engaging the Community

• Self-Monitoring and Assessment

• Assigning Schools to each Board Member

The title of agreement # 6 will be changed to “Engaging the Community and Staff”. The results of the self monitoring and assessment that is turned in after every Board meeting could be shared in a weekly update.

Add #14 Board Self Monitoring and Evaluation

• The Board will engage in continuous improvement and self-reflection

• Self-Assessment

• Assigning schools to Board members or Board Liaison’s is not considered to be a Board agreement

5.2 Team Building

The Board and cabinet members participated in a circle activity. Dr. Khelghati brought his drum and placed it in the middle of the circle. A pair of sunglasses were passed around and whoever what holding them, was able to speak. Speak from the heart, listen with your heart and trust that you will know what to say. Everyone got a turn to say a little bit about themselves.

Dr. Khelghati shared the traditional greeting among the Masai; “And how are the children?” with the response being “All the children are well”. This means that peace and safety prevail and that life is good. Each member in the circle was then asked to share two pictures with children, either their own or not, and speak to those pictures. It was special to learn something new about each other.

5.3 Vision, Mission and Core Values

Ms. Dahlquist started with the Core Values, due to time. The Board members received a list of values. They were asked to pick two and add them each to an index card. One is who we are and the other is aspirational. The statement below is what came out of that discussion and the collection of values from all Board members:

"If we are to be a highly functional, equity-driven, collaborative, and dynamic Board of Education, we must wholeheartedly commit to the following values, which represent the bedrock of our collective mission and vision: At the heart of our board's core values lies unwavering faith, commitment, trust, and optimism. We foster a culture of collaboration, inquisitiveness, and independence, ensuring equity, safety, and opportunities for excellence. Our connectedness strengthens us as a team. As we aspire to grow, we embrace family, perseverance, understanding, and fulfillment, approaching challenges with grace, courage, and a determination to make a positive difference. We value time, balance, and adaptability, continually evolving to achieve our shared vision and purpose.

5.3 Culture and Climate

a. Circles of Influence

b. Communication

Building a positive culture starts at the top. Our roles and systems must be designed to value people.

• Saying Thank You

• Being clear with expectations

• Provide support and coaching

• Hold people accountable

Today we will explore how to build a system that values people. We will work within the Circles of Influence. Ms. Dahlquist shared a presentation with different scenarios and how to best re-direct people to connect with someone that can help them resolve the issue and what to do if it is not resolved. Provide the resources to connect them.

The Board members made some suggestions on making the website easier to navigate to parents. The cabinet members provided a few scenarios and the board members discussed on how to best answer in each situation. When we use circles to enhance communications, to grow confidence and to problem solve, we find solutions more efficiently and effectively. Jumping across the circles can cause problems. A specific situation was talked through and how it possibly could have been handled differently. Dr. Khelghati encouraged everyone to take the time to read the “Eight Characteristics of an Effective School Board.” Hopefully at the next retreat we can find some time to discuss further. Ms. Dahlquist shared The Ladder: A Model for Thinking and Civil Discourse. Statement below:

In SD308, we believe it is our collective duty to model civil discourse for our students. We believe that discussions from diverse perspectives are an important part of collaboration. We expect SD308 staff, students, and community members to be respectful of one another in their tone, words, and actions. Disagreement is acceptable. Disrespect is not. By working together and hearing one another, we can unite around the goal of improving our school district.

Some draft statements for Social Media and a response for Face to Face Dialogue were included as well. 

5.4 Re-Envisioning Envision 308

a. Review Activity with Data

b. Prioritizing Activity

Ms. Dahlquist gave the Board a brief overview of the history of Envision 308. The work began in 2019, pre-pandemic.

• Establish why we want a strategic plan - What are the goals of the process and product?

• Determine timeline and groups to involve

• Build strategic plan

• Build a dashboard/monitoring tool

• Build detailed plans to accomplish the strategic plan

• Align Board goals/priorities and school improvement plans to the strategic plan Since then we have created our new vision statement and created a climate & culture statement.

The Board and cabinet members now broke into small groups, one for each of the four sections of Envision 308.

Student Learning – Faith Dahlquist, Eugene Gatewood, Dr. Murillo

Support for Student Learning – Dr. Kincaid, Jared Ploger, LaTonya Simelton

Finance & Facilities – Dr. Petzke, Dominick Cirone, Mary Jo Wenmouth

Community Partnerships – Dr. Khelghati and Jen Johnson

Dr. Khelghati shared that after this activity, we will have a deeper sense of the key priorities. The cabinet can use that as we launch the new school year around Envision 308. What are the things we want to analyze and understand better. Collectively we will better understand what is currently there, and what we are committed to, as well as what aspects to dive into.

Each group should be prepared to read to the other groups about their section:

What is included in the work?

What are the success indicators for 2026?

What are some of the highlights of the work so far?

Student Learning:

o 10% increase in literacy and math

o Establish SEL Curriculum

o Implement Literacy and Math Framework

o Curriculum Improvements for Financial and Digital Literacy

o Support for creativity and problem solving

o Annual Reports with demographic group data

Support for Student Learning:

o Included: DEI, HR, Student Services, Safety, Technology, SPED, EL, Gifted, connection to Student Learning, extracurricular activities, how students learn and what experiences they have

o Success indicators: system feedback and data review from staff, students, and community, reduction of turnover and demographics of hiring (recruitment and retention), commitment to equity, professional learning (SEL, equity, trauma informed, student & staff focused), shared vision for instruction, increasing strengths and opportunities for students (IEP/504/EL/Gifted) through input and feedback from all stakeholders

o Student ambassadors and student voice, director of equity, increased representation, 1:1, increase safety measures and training

Finance and Facilities:

o Accountability and process for ALL Budget and Grant Managers.

o Review of policies that are in place to guide our operations

o Implement/training a new Finance system.

o Budget Reporting

o Deferred maintenance plan to Comprehensive Schedule

o Focus on EBF and LEVY

o Instructional Priorities!

Community Partnerships:

o Building relationships - including alumni and community members to come back to our community. The goal is to create a way to celebrate successes of our community - Community members of all backgrounds in our events.

o Annual dinner

o Create parent resources - where parents have resources to support their learning. - publication published 2X per year (completed)

o Beneficial partnership with universities - mental health providers, charity organizations that can benefit our families. List of current partners, and resources district wide website (completed)

o Elicits internal and external feedback about our programs.

o Communicate progress about envision 308 (completed through dashboard)

1. At this time, each of the Board members received yellow and blue dots.

2. Blue is a priority and yellow indicates more diagnosis or inquiries are needed.

3. Only 10 dots can be placed in total.

4. If it is both, then a blue and yellow dot can be placed.

5. If it is missing, it will go to the parking lot

The Board Priorities for each section will be discussed in more detail at a future Board of Education meeting.

5.5 Questions and Wonderings

I notice……

• Student learning has the most blue and yellow dots

• The most blue dots - SEL & Behavior

• Emphasis between results and supports

• Blue dots - results oriented

• Yellow dots - more supporting the results

• A balanced budget is a priority, but this is required

• Focus on Student achievement and outcomes

• We cannot lose sight to our purpose is to prepare our students to leave

• Significant focus on SEL

I wonder…..

• If there an opportunity in the re-envisioning process - can we consider POWER goals with specific measurable goals

• Why the Community had the least number of dots

• About the focus on the maintenance of our buildings

• What is a standard practice vs what is a goal

• The connection of the priorities and having a deficit budget. Wanting to have more transparency with financial reports and documentation including the audit.

• About the concerns related to the elimination of programs strictly to get to a balanced budget

• Without the financial information and accuracy, difficult to accomplish other objectives

• How we have planned & accomplished community partnerships?

• What is the benefit is (what are we getting) from the program/resource?

• What we are “getting” vs what is added/subtracted…how are the funds being spent and how have this changed over the years

• What happens if the State does not fund EBF fully? Impact on short term vs long term impact on students.

• AI - impact

• Technology cost - revision cost and envisioning tech changes for the future

• How are we measuring student achievement, and how we can have a more robust lens for measuring student achievement

• Understanding our district policies and procedures for the behavior matrix

• How we are going to increase the students and teachers feeling of psychologically and physically safety

6. Adjournment

6.1 Adjourn

A motion was made by Mr. Jared Ploger, second by Mr. Eugene Gatewood, to adjourn. All were in favor unanimously to adjourn.

Final Resolution: Motion Carried 7-0

Aye: Mr. Dominick Cirone, Mr. Eugene Gatewood, Ms. Jennifer Johnson, Dr. Amy Murillo, Mr. Jared Ploger, Ms. LaTonya Simelton, Ms. Mary Jo Wenmouth

Meeting Adjourned at 3:35 p.m.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/15DsKgigS8sgwt3pVxiKZ9j2K1EP2TuJq/view