Board of Education Highlights

• The BOE Accepts Stormwater Bid to Repair LMS Field
• The BOE Receives Update on Washington School - Will Receive Keys February 25

Consent Agenda Approved.

Diana Caffero, Resident: Mrs. Caffero saw the notice that went out that the District is alleviating some of the COVID mitigations. She offered her appreciation to the Board and administration for the last two years of tension and nervousness surrounding COVID, for how they handled everything and all that they have done. She stated that she is with all of them, as a community, and thanks each and every one of them.

President Desecki responded that it is been a very divisive issue, and that they have been working since the beginning of the pandemic to make sure the District's children, staff, and community are safe. She stated that it is unfortunate that during some conversations, respect was not shown to the administration, and she wants everyone to know it has been a hard two years. She can understand the frustration, but not the disrespect. Tomorrow the District will begin the mask optional phase, and she thanked everyone for showing respect to District 81 staff.

No questions about the enrollment reports.

None

Washington School:

Dr. Boryszewski commented that the school is beautiful, with impeccable craftsmanship.

The project is on schedule and the District will receive keys on Feb 25th.

The plan is to bring the students into the school on March 14, by neighborhoods.

The administrative team, videographer and professional photographer will capture the kids' reaction and share the excitement of the day.

A larger open house will take place for the community in August, since it will still be a construction site. Bus lanes and parking lots will still need to be finished.

The students will show us how the spaces should be used. Depend on our students to use the space as they wish - let them guide us and lead us. We think that the kids are going to surprise us and use the space as it was intended to use. Dr. Boryszewski stated that the Board gave then administrative team the opportunity to attend the Harvard symposium (on designing learning spaces) to learn about light and shape and space, as seen in Washington School.

Lincoln Middle School Stormwater Bid:

Dr. Boryszewski commented that the District plans to use ESSER funds to address the LMS filed with turf and water storage underground and so it can be an active, usable field for the students and community to use.

DLA Architect Erick Sickbert expressed his gratitude to be part of all the excitement going on in the District.

- The underground detention tanks are very successful al Kennedy and will be at Lincoln too.

- Since they are tearing up field, they looked at pricing for an artificial filed, and the project came in under budget. The bid numbers were competitive and tight, which means that the drawings were right on.

-Schwartz was the qualified company that met qualifications and was the lowest bid at $2,625,000. DLA did interviews with them and work through the drawings with them.

-The field will be raised by 3 - 4 feet and level with where the parking lot is.

-Schiller Park needs help with retention and this will help the village.

-Construction is to start March 21st and hope to finish by August.

-Member Laura Lukasik commented that Many of the soccer games were cancelled because the field was a mudslide, to which Mr. Sickbert assured that would no longer be a problem.

- It was Mr. Sickbert's recommendation that the BOE accepts the bid.

School Bus Lease Extension:

Business Manager, Pasquale Maranto explained that the bus leases are due to expire at the end of school year. Due to the market right now, quotes for new buses came in high. Because there were few mechanicals and repairs, and significantly fewer bus runs and field trips due to COVID, (stay at home order), the buses are running more like they are 4 years old.

The best option is to extend a 2-year lease with warranties for a significant savings.

• Approved personnel report for month of February.

None

The Board of Education approved:

• Approval of 2022-2023 School Year Calendar
• Approval of Lincoln Middle School Stormwater Bid

Board members from Left to Right:

Front: Laura Lukasik, Tina Ewanio, Dr. Kimberly Boryszewski (Superintendent), Ana Ultreras

Back: Maryann Desecki, Andrea Del Zotti, Allison Downs, Enas Saada