School Board Niles Township District 219, Cook County, Illinois AMENDED MINUTES Monday, November 18, 2013

The meeting was held in the Board Room of the District Office located at 7700 Gross Point Road, Skokie, Illinois. I. Call to Order and Roll Call Board President Robert Silverman called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. Board Members present at roll call: Sheri Doniger, Carlton Evans, Jeffrey Greenspan, Ruth Klint, David Ko, Robert Silverman Absent: Eileen Valfer II. Closed Session It was moved by GREENSPAN and seconded by KLINT to recess into closed session to discuss the appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance, or dismissal of employees, collective bargaining, purchase of property, security procedures, student disciplinary cases, the placement of individual students in special education programs and other matters related to individual students and pending litigation. A roll call vote was taken. Voting Aye: Doniger, Evans, Greenspan, Klint, Ko, Silverman. The motion carried. The Board recessed into closed session at 6:45 p.m. III. Open Session It was moved by DONIGER and seconded by KLINT to return to open session at 8:00 p.m. A roll call vote was taken. Voting Aye: Doniger, Evans, Greenspan, Klint, Ko, Silverman. The motion carried. IV. Recall to Order Mr. Silverman recalled the meeting to order at 8:09 p.m. and the Pledge was recited. V. Changes / Additions to the Agenda The green personnel handout was added to the Consent Agenda The resolution of the three student disciplinary cases with the recommendations of the Administration is being added to the Consent Agenda. VI. Audience to Visitors (on agenda items only) Dr. Raymond Pollak, 8852 N. Kostner, Skokie, voiced his concerns with regard to District 219’s ACT scores and that he would like to see the scores raised to a higher level. Pankaj Sharma, President of the Niles Township Federation of Teachers Union, Steve Grossman, teacher at Niles West and Cameron Sweeney, President of the NTSS, stated that the Union supports the idea of a school based health clinic, but has concerns about bringing in outside providers to give services to students which are already given by the school nurses, social workers and psychologists. He discussed concerns of bringing in outside providers and asked that the Board pass an amendment to the resolution to take out the outside personnel that already provide services at District 219 and bring in services that students do not currently receive. VII. Student Representative Comments Niles North – Maggi Kreisheh commented that the Dance Marathon raised $2,418 for the Child Restoration Outreach Organization. Dance Marathon, in conjunction Hip Hop Club, Chinese Club and Pilipino Club, will host a bake sale to raise funds for the tragedy in the Philippines. They will also be hosting a dance off this Friday. All proceeds will go to Direct Relief, which is an organization directly related to the Philippines. The Annual Winter party will be held on December 10 at 4:00 p.m.

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Niles West – Stephanie Knoor This week is National Stand Up to Bullying Week. Senior tutors presented their research entitled, “Lost in Translation, the Interpretation Disconnect for the National Conference in Tampa for the National Conference for Peer Tutoring. Niles West Theatre Coffee House Cabaret is this Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. The Niles West Symphonic Orchestra will perform with the Skokie Valley Symphony Orchestra this Sunday, November 24 at the NorthShore Center for the Performing Arts. VIII. Community Representative Comments There were no community representative comments. IX. Approval of Consent Agenda It was moved by DONIGER and seconded by EVANS to approve the Consent Agenda as amended. A roll call vote was taken. Voting Aye: Doniger, Evans, Greenspan, Klint, Ko, Silverman. The motion carried. Included in the Consent Agenda: Monthly Bills and Payroll totaling $8,740,077.79 Personnel Approved the resignation of the following certified staff: NAME Corrigan, Charles

POSITION/LOCATION Special Education / West

EFFECTIVE DATE October 31, 2013

− Approved the employment of the following part-time/temporary staff for and 2013-14 School year: NAME Belcher, Jennifer Byers, Benita Dufour, Mackay Dzelilovic, Sabina Hurtenbach, Cheryl Pera, Arbella Yun, Lucas

POSITION / LOCATION Job Coach / West

RATE $14.00/Hr.

EFFECTIVE DATE November 18, 2013

Main Office < 600/hours / North Auditorium Manager / West

$14.00/Hr. $37.45/Hr.

November 4, 2013 November 18, 2013

IRC Circulation Desk / North

$8.25/Hr.

November 18, 2013

Job Coach / West

$14.00/Hr.

November 18, 2013

Student Science Lab Assistant / West Student Film Maker / West

$8025/Hr.

November 18, 2013

$8.25/Hr.

November 18, 2013

− Approved the employment of the following staff for the EXPLORE Test, November 2, 2013 at the flat rate listed: SUPERVISORS - $107 Donnelly, Erin Ramirez, Mario Tinsley, Alana − Approved the employment of the following staff for the EXPLORE Make-up Test, November 10, 2013 at the flat rate listed: SUPERVISORS - $107 Feldman, Linda Persaud, Stephanie Pickett, Kia Salem, Omar

PROCTORS - $86 Coleman, Phyllis Kastrinakis, Christina

Meeting Minutes of November 18, 2013

EXTENDED TIME, SUPERVISOR - $185 Deligianis, Anastasia French, Denise Joffe, Matthew Kakares, Irene Litberg, Lisa

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Ranft, Susan − Approved the employment of the following stipend positions for the 2013-2014 school year: NILES NORTH Boys Outdoor Track, Assistant Boys Indoor Track, Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coordinator Boys Basketball, Assistant Steel Drum Girls, Gymnastics, Assistant Softball, Assistant

NAME Shafron, David (.5) Shafron, David (.5) Garoppolo, Michael (.25) Elkins, Paul *Moelmann, Michael *Coletti, Teresa (.5) *Gourdier, Jessica

NILES WEST Play 3, Assistant Play 4, Assistant Play 5, Assistant Other Assistant, Play 2 German National Honor Society, Sponsor Softball, Assistant Wrestling, Assistant

NAME *Dufour, Mackay *Dufour, Mackay *Dufour, Mackay *Shapiro, Aaron Neal, Thomas

NILES CENTRAL Student Activity Sponsor *Indicates not a District 219 employee

NAME Clarke, Karen

*Stein, Thomas *Piasecki, Nathan (.5)

− Approved the employment of the following clerical substitutes for the 2013-2014 school year: Kukalj, Sabina Rodriguez, Nancy − Approved the employment of the following certified substitute for the 2013-2014 school year: Morse, Matthew − Approved the associate contract for the 2013-2014 school year: NAME Lopez, Alfredo

POSITION Director of Security, 260 day calendar

SALARY $70,000.00

EFFECTIVE DATE December 11, 2013 – June 30, 2014

− Approved the resignation of the following administrator: NAME Maniscalco, Dominick Rosengard, David

POSITION/LOCATION Senior HR Generalist / District

EFFECTIVE DATE December 1, 2013

Athletic Director / West

June 30, 2014

− Approved the transfer of the following administrative positions for the 2013-2014 school year: NAME Griffin, Kendall Rigby, Mark

FROM Assistant Principal for Operations / West Dean of Students / West

TO Athletic Director / West

EFFECTIVE DATE December 2, 2013

Assistant Principal for Operations / West

December 2, 2013

− Approved the employment of the following support staff for the 2013-2014 school year:

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NAME Ralfs, Jessica

POSITION Paraprofessional, English P1 / Step 1, 186 days − Approved the resignation of the following support staff: NAME Mendenhall, Walter

POSITION/LOCATION Paraprofessional, Special Education / North

FTE 1.0

EFFECTIVE DATE November 18, 2013

EFFECTIVE DATE December 1, 2013

− Approved the employment of the following stipend positions for the 2013-2014 school year: NILES NORTH Chess Team, Assistant

NAME Weiss, Aaron

NILES WEST Poms, Assistant Girls Gymnastics, Assistant

NAME *Hano, Deanna *Owusu, Eric

− Approved the employment of the following certified substitute for the 2013-2014 school year: Beaver, Steven − Approved the Minutes of the Open and Closed Session of the October 21, 2013 Board of Education Meeting. − Approved the Collateral Agreement with Chase Bank. −

Approved the bid for site utilities and plumbing for the Niles North IRC Stormwater Drainage Emergency work to be awarded to Sheridan Plumbing & Sewer in the amount of $198,475.00.

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Approved the purchase of technology equipment for the Niles North and Niles West Digital Media Labs, at a cost not to exceed $50,799.50.

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Approved the FY2014 School District Library Grant from the State of Illinois.

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Approved the proposal from Canon Solutions America, Inc. to enter into a 36 month lease agreement for nine new high volume networked digital copiers at a guaranteed minimum cost of $121.468 per year. Canon Financial Services will coordinate the lease on behalf of Canon Solutions America, Inc. Also approve the contract for the purchase of the uniFLOW software and prox card readers to Cannon Solutions America, Inc. for $21,076.

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Approved the contract for the purchase of a Hitachi TM3000 Tabletop Microscope to Angstrom Scientific, Inc. the lowest responsible bidder meeting specifications, in the amount of $67,485.

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Approved the five year service agreement with Siemens Industry, Inc. beginning January 1, 2014 through December 31, 2018 with payments paid quarterly.

X. Superintendent’s Report Dr. Gatta mentioned that she had the opportunity to hear Dan Montgomery, President and Chief Operating Officer of the ITF (Illinois Federation of Teachers) speak at the City Club of Chicago. He talked about the value of a public education and its importance, and in particular, spoke about two District 219 students, who are both humanitarians; David Walton of Partners and Health and Mike Kim, who wrote the book, “Escaping from North Korea.” Mr. Montgomery discussed the importance of a public education and used these two alumni as an example of what happens when a community supports education and the system works like it does in District 219. He addressed scores and the PISA results which will come out on December 3. This is the Program for International Student Assessments. This is the best international comparison we have to other countries, where 15 year olds from 70 countries are tested. He discussed equity, how public schools are funded and the challenges with regard to finance, early childhood, government, reform and poverty. Mr. Montgomery emphasized the importance of high standards, which will reform school districts around the country. He feels that there should be a continual push on legislative and international issues that are important. He stated that we can continue to educate the top of the top and continue to have Nobel laureates and affect the

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way people live around the globe if we keep our eye on the prize, keep our eye on every child and keep trying to be better than we have done in the past. Dr. Gatta stated that she read every comment that was submitted with regard to the Annual Review and the Strategic Plan. The Strategic Plan comments are online under the various categories. This information validates the work the Board has taken for the District over the last 5 years. It is also important to realize that there are conflicting ideas about what will make a school great and what we should do to make it better. We have the kind of school system where everyone comes together for the benefit of the students. XI. Principals’ Report North - Dr. Ness congratulated the Niles West football team for their appearance at the state playoffs. He also congratulated the girls’ varsity volleyball, who were regional champs. Olivia Rusek, one of our seniors, was the first Niles West volleyball player in the history of the school to earn a Division I Scholarship. Winter sports are in full swing and on Saturday, December 7, Niles West will be host the Annual Basketball Jamboree. This features all levels of basketball from North and West in conjunction with Breast Cancer Awareness. On December 17 at 6:30 in the South Lobby, Niles West is hosting a program called Cyber Smarts “Parenting Children in a Digital Age.” The program will be focusing on skills and strategies for parents working with their children, setting expectations and making sure there is an awareness of how to use social media in a responsible way and that includes consequences of not using it properly, legal issues, admission to college, etc. Dinner with the Principal will be held on Wednesday, December 4. West – Dr. McTague passed out a summary sheet of activities that will be held at Niles North. He highlighted stand up to bullying and cyber bulling. Niles North will focus on the cyber bullying which will feature week long programs, teaching our students to be good digital citizens and engaging them in good activities that promote anti-bullying. Safety workshops will be held throughout the day. Our PAC group will sponsor a guest speaker who will also run a workshop with the parents to help them engage their child and strategies they can use with regard to social media. The dance off will be held on Friday. In conjunction with the Winter Pizza Party there will be a Winter Idol Contest. The winter play “All My Sons,” will be held November 21, 22 and 23. Hot chocolate with the Principal is every Friday at 7:15 a.m. – 8:00 a.m. XII. Board Member Comments Mr. Silverman stated that he attended the Niles West Breakfast with Student Government and that the student leaders in our schools are tremendous, asked very incisive questions and were very well prepared. He attended the Variety Show at Niles North and thought the talent was tremendous and the respect of the students toward their classmates’ talent was great. He also attended Garba Night at Niles North, a celebration of dance from the IndoPak Club for both high schools, which was a tremendous evening of culture and learning. Sheri Doniger attended the first bowling match and thought they did a great job. There are 8 matches left. Carlton Evans stated that he had the opportunity to go to St. Louis for Beyond Diversity training and spent time with some very talented teachers. He supports training this type of training because it helps to challenge us and allows us to confront our fears. If we are going to become the district we want to become, we have to tackle those issues. This will allow us to become a better person, a better teacher and the outcome is that we have better students. He also spent time at our Physical Welfare Department at Niles West and had an chance to see the high tech equipment that is being used. He also attended Institute Day and the Niles North football banquet, which was really exciting. XIII. Board Committee Reports Facilities meeting will be held on November 26 at 7:30 a.m. They received a grant from the State of Illinois to do some co-generator work at West. Business − New Courses There are a number of new courses that are being proposed tonight. There was a Special Board meeting two weeks ago to finalize the requests. From the AS&T, there is a request for automotive and broadcasting sequences and changes in child development course names. We are working toward more dual credits and industry certifications. Fine Arts has a request for a new course in Advanced 2-D digital design followed by an A/P 2-D digital design portfolio the following school year. In an effort to respond to the needs of our growth, we helping prepare students for A/P opportunities. Both of these were unanimously approved by CSSI. There are some changes in math course titles, which were reported at the last Board meeting. The science requests of replacing Honors Physics with A/P Physics I, is a change in structure. The request to change the science course sequence,

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eliminating physical science and the next year eliminating ILS during the school year and then have two entry levels for freshmen, Biology and Honors Biology. There were concerns voiced about the lack of science teachers in the Lit Center. These concerns will be considered by the Board. Social studies had two requests – Modern World History replaces Global Studies and the request for the new A/P Government and Politics class. It was moved by DONIGER and seconded by EVANS to approve the new course and name changes. A roll call vote was taken. Voting Aye: Doniger, Evans, Greenspan, Klint, Ko, Silverman. The motion carried. − Policy and Procedures First Reading (Discussion Only) Dr. Doniger stated that many of the courses had name changes; however, in 6:40 there may be a change in policy. − Policy/Procedures Second Reading (Discussion and Action) There was a second reading of the eligibility with no further changes. It was moved by DONIGER and seconded by KLINT to approve the Policy/Procedures Second Reading. A roll call vote was taken. Voting Aye: Doniger, Evans, Greenspan, Klint, Ko, Silverman. The motion carried. − 2013 Estimated Tax Levy (Discussion and Action) The Board had a number of discussions on the levy. The recommendation being addressed tonight is to freeze the overall tax levy, for the second year in a row. Last year we froze the cap fund tax levy rate, which basically controls our operating fund and left the bonds and interest funds which is non-capped. This year we are discussing doing it in a different way, but maintaining the overall tax freeze to the individual homeowner. This will be an overall increase in the operating fund of the tax levy request of 4.9% which has two components, one is the CPI which has 1.7%, and the remainder of that is to capture any new property that comes into the district. It was moved by GREENSPAN and seconded by DONIGER to approve the 2013 Estimated Tax Levy and that we publish this Levy for adoption at the December meeting. A roll call vote was taken. Voting Aye: Doniger, Evans, Greenspan, Klint, Ko, Silverman. The motion carried In light of discussions on the levy, it was moved by GREENSPAN and seconded by DONIGER that the Finance Office be directed to prepare a resolution in February to abate the taxes to offset the bond and interest levy using our reserves. A roll call vote was taken. Voting Aye: Doniger, Evans, Greenspan, Klint, Ko, Silverman. The motion carried − School Day Committee Report (Discussion Only) The School Day Committee gave an update on what has been accomplished with regard to the focus groups and timeline. Under the Annual Review of Programs, the recommendation is to continue to follow the timeline with the NTFT, with the eventual recommendation coming to the Board in the summer of 2014 with a final recommendation in September of 2014. Mr. Silverman stated that the Board has not made a decision on changes to the school day. The Board is reviewing feedback from the community and Town Hall meetings and online surveys and will make their own determination after reviewing this information. − Annual Review of Programs and Personnel (Discussion Only) The Annual Review of Programs and Personnel will come before the Board again in December. In addition to being in the Board Book, the feedback is online. We have recommendations from the administration and if there are suggestions for additional changes, we should discuss that now so that the final recommendation can come before the Board next month. The recommendation is for the Board to review and adopt the proposal which allows for further refinement of the proposal.

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It was the suggestion of the Board that the recommendation be rewritten to read “to pursue school based health clinics and to prepare an RFP to meet that objective.” Ruth Klint – Pathway to College Readiness – Ruth Klint suggested that a change to the wording in the Strategic Plan to include other districts who would want to collaborate so that we can embrace everybody. − 2015 – 2019 Strategic Plan (Discussion Only) Dr. Gatta reminded the Board that we have accomplished a great deal. There was a discussion on the draft that Dr. Gatta presented to incorporate the past discussion and the constituent survey. There was a discussion and clarification of the goals. Dr. Gatta will provide two versions of the goals for the next Board meeting. XIV. Old Business There was no old business XV. New Business There was no new business XVI. Audience to Visitors (on items related to District business) There was no Audience to Visitors discussions XVII. Information Items − Monthly Financial Report – September 2013 − Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Requests Closed Session It was moved by EVANS and seconded by DONIGER to go into Closed Session for purpose of Potential Litigation and Actual Litigation and to adjourn therefrom with no action taken. A roll call vote was taken. Voting Aye: Doniger, Evans, Greenspan, Klint, Ko, Silverman. The motion carried. The meeting adjourned at 10:21 p.m.

____________________________ President

Meeting Minutes of November 18, 2013

____________________________ Secretary

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