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Board of Education Meeting Minutes

Date: July 20, 2018

Time: 9:38 a.m.

Place: Aftercare Conference Room, Chicago, IL

APPROVED: September 14, 2018

IO 1.0 CALL TO ORDER by Member Tresa Dunbar Garrett at 9:38 a.m.

1. Roll Call

1.2. Board Members Present: Heidi Mueller (Phone), David Green, Jennifer Vidis,

and Dr. Heather Dalmage

Board Members Absent: Patrick Griffin

1.3. Others present: Dr. Sophia Jones-Redmond, Superintendent of Schools; Esther Yahnig, Acting Chief Legal Counsel, Ricardo Johnson, Director of Career and Technical; Dr. Bambi Bethel-Leitschuh, Director of Special Education; and Maurice McAllister, Recorder

AI 2.0 CONSENT AGENDA

2.1 Approval of Agenda

Member Dunbar Garrett motioned to move the approval of the July 20, 2018 agenda. Member Green motioned to approve the agenda and Member Vidis seconded.

Voice Vote

Aye: Unanimous

Nay: None

Motion Carries

2.2 Approval of Minutes

Member Dunbar Garrett motioned to move the approval of the minutes for May 18, 2018. Member Dalmage motioned to approve the minutes for May 18, 2018 and Member Green seconded.

Voice Vote

Aye: Unanimous

Nay: None

Motion Carries

IO 3.0 Public Participation

No public comments.

IO 4.0 PRESIDENT’S REPORT

President Mueller mentioned that the Court Monitors visited Illinois Youth Centers Warrenville and St. Charles on an annual follow-up; both facilities are under the Consent Decree for conditions of confinement and education.

• The two facilities Warrenville and Pere Marquette are currently in substantial compliance. The Chicago facility is moving closer to substantial compliance. We will have a complete report by Dr. Peter Leone the Court Monitor later this fall after he visits all the facilities and schools. The presiding Judge over the Consent Decree wants to see status reports more frequently this year with progress and benchmarks noted in the report.

• The Department launched partnership with VERA Institute. VERA Institute will do an analysis of staff and youth training and provide recommendations to the Department on their analysis as it relates to increasing family engagements. We have found that advocacy is better when the family is engaged. As a Department, we will keep you updated on the project’s progress.

Superintendent Jones-Redmond mentioned that Dr. Leone visited both Samuel Sublett and Maya Angelou High Schools and provided a post briefing on things that he saw; lots of information was gathered from this meeting. Ricardo Johnson will be joining Dr. Leone at Booker T. Washington, Harrisburg and Dr. Bambi Bethel-Leitschuh will be joining Dr. Leone at Glencliffe Academy, Pere Marquette in the Superintendent’s absence. Thurgood Marshall’s visit is still undetermined at this time.

IO 5.0 SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT

Superintendent Jones-Redmond welcomed everyone since she was not in attendance at the last meeting. Thank you all for your continual support on the Board and the youth welcomes your visits as the School Ambassador. Thank you Subcommittee Members, Jennifer Vidis and Dr. Heather Dalmage and Assist Chief Legal Counsel Esther Yahnig for your deep dive and support to the Board of Education Policy Manual. I thank you all for the final copy and assisting in gaining traction. Dr. Leone is aware and happy that we have policies.

AI 5.1 School board Policy Review/Approval

Esther Yahnig mentioned that the cross-references and footnotes were corrected as the last entries to the policies and no substances to the policies were changed. She further mentioned that it was a rewarding experience to be a part of the Subcommittee, listening too, and to take note of the changes that were presented to the Department.

Member Tresa Dunbar Garrett motioned to move IDJJ Board of Education Policies as written and presented in hard copy to the board. Member Dalmage moved to approve the IDJJ Board of Education Policies as written and presented in hard copy for approval to this board and Member Vidis seconded to approve IDJJ Board of Education Polices as written and presented in hard copy.

Voice Vote

Aye: Unanimous

Nay: None

Motion Carries

Superintendent Jones-Redmond mentioned that all school Principals at IDJJ will receive a hard copy of the new policies. A complete copy will be available on the Department’s website and training will be provided around the new board policies. As changes are made to the policies, a request to adopt those changes will be submitted to this board for approval.

President Mueller mentioned that she is proud of the product that the Board of Education approved and the extra time devoted to accomplishing this, thank you for all your hard work.

IO 5.2 School District Staffing at a Glance

Superintendent Jones-Redmond mentioned that as of July 11, 2018, Glencliffe Academy was fully staff. The school initially had only one Teacher and the Principal, now they have all staff in place. This is an example of what could happen, our goal is to have all our schools fully staffed this school year. Booker T. Washington will possibly be fully staff soon as they fill the last two teacher positions. Thurgood Marshall has a new CTE Teacher starting August 1 and their candidate is coming with great experience. In addition, St. Charles has a Personal Service Contract worker starting August 1 and a recent Music Teacher position was added to St. Charles staffing totals. Delta T. Group Contract is executed to start interviewing and placing temporary teachers in St. Charles and Chicago until staffing level are met. The interviews for the Assistant Superintendent for the School District were scheduled and we will possibly have that individual in place by the end of August.

Superintendent Jones-Redmond mentioned that the Special Education Teacher and School Counselors were invited to attend a 4-day Restorative Justice Circle Facilitators Training in Chicago. Fourteen individuals from all five schools in addition to some Administrative Staff were invited to attend. We look forward to inviting an additional 18 School District and Security staff at the next training session August 2018. Plans are around presenting the information at the Intern Academy in Springfield as part of the curriculum for new Juvenile Justice Security staff.

IO 5.3 Vocational and Post-Secondary Programming across the School District Update

Ricardo Johnson mentioned that St. Charles recently hired two Career and Technical Teachers to work with the Technology Program at the school. These candidates come with a strong background in Information Technology, Management, and Business.

The Department has entered in partnership with Larry’s Barber College and Beauty School. The College will provide a Barber program at Thurgood Marshall, Chicago and the Cosmetology program at Maya Angelou, Warrenville. There is no financial obligation for this Partnership; all services are free as the vendor is doing the underwriting to include no tuition fee for the youth. The Department through the CTEI Grant will provide equipment to build out the classrooms. Maya Angelou currently has a full salon in the mobile unit and a licensed Cosmetologist. The plan is to use the licensed Cosmetologist as an instructor at the school. At Thurgood Marshall, all graduates and high school youth will be able to take advantage of the Barber program, in addition to the youth in Aftercare. This will help youth complete mandatory hours of instruction, clinical labs, and other requirements for State License. The dual credit at Booker T. Washington, Harrisburg will be starting up soon.

IO 5.4 May – June 2018 Special Education Reports

Dr. Bethel-Leitschuh mentioned that mental health works collaboratively with all Departments at IDJJ. We are currently piloting at St. Charles having youth receive their IEP during the regular school day. The Substance Abuse program is being piloted during the sixth hour of the school day. This approach has allowed more youth on the priority list to have the services needed for substance abuse requirements. Four of the five schools are in compliance as it relates both to their annual and the reevaluation of the IEP. Four of the five Special Education Coordinator’s positions are filled in the School District. The Special Education Resource Coordinator and one Special Education teacher from each school are scheduled to attend the annual ISBE/IAASE Special Education Director’s Conference in Springfield, July 31 to August 2, 2018. This training is both timely and informative as it relates to providing legal, programmatic, and evidence-based curricular updates. The Curriculum Council will resume their meeting in September. Samuel Sublett, St. Charles is utilizing Literacy Volunteers of Illinois (LVI) as tutors and their focus is to increase minutes with volunteer usage as it relates to the special education youth. A few updates:

• Nurses have been trained with the vision and hearing equipment for new youth coming in IDJJ;

• The text-to-speech program in Connexus has been requested to resume in the program. A discussion with Information Technology was conducted and the paperwork was submitted to start the process; and the

• Deputy Director of Operations Robert Vickery and Dr. Bethel-Leitschuh are having youth and family specialist work together to assist with family engagements.

IO 5.5 May – June 2018 Principal Data and Education Reports

Superintendent Jones-Redmond mentioned that as we look at the total number of diplomas awarded since August of last year there were 176 diplomas awarded. Seventy-two of those awarded were High School Diplomas; 85 were GED; and the remaining awarded were Eighth Grade Diplomas. Our goal and initiative at the School District is to ensure that our youth attend school and are awarded a High School diploma; this is our priority. In some cases where the GED is recommended, we are looking closely at our process for testing but again our goal is for the youth to receive a high school diploma.

IO 6.0 BOARD DISCUSSION ITEMS

Nothing to discuss.

AI 7.0 ADJOURNMENT

Member Dunbar Garrett motioned to close the Board of Education meeting. Member Green motioned to approve to close the Board of Education meeting and Member Dalmage seconded.

Voice Vote

Aye: Unanimous

Nay: None

Motion Carries

Meeting adjourned at 11:32 a.m.

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Bruce Rauner

Governor

Heidi Mueller

DIRECTOR

1112 South Wabash Avenue, 2nd Floor

Chicago, Illinois 60605

Telephone: (312) 814-3848 / TDD: (800) 526-0844

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