Recap of September 28 Board Meeting

Recap of September 28 Board Meeting
Posted on 09/29/2021

Special Presentations

Board President Ewing presented Board Members with their newest recognitions from the Illinois Association of School Boards.



Action Items

The Board of Education voted to approve the Scribbles contract for October 1, 2021 through September 30, 2022 at no direct cost to the district. Waukegan Public Schools has been using Scribbles, Inc. since 2014 to manage a website which allows former students to request transcripts and education verifications.  This site can be found at wps60il.scriborder.com.

The Board of Education voted to approve the Training Agreement between Crisis, Prevention and Intervention (CPI) and Nonviolent Crisis Intervention (NCI) and WPS60. The training agreement provides Train the Trainer certifications to twelve(12) new instructors and renewals for three (3). The total cost for the agreement is $47,985.

The Board of Education voted to approve the recommendation to update the and approve a contribution agreement using the revised impact fee table. The District's impact fee schedule needs to be updated. The update is driven by the change in the per capita tuition charge from FY 2013 to FY 2021 and the percentage of revenue received from property taxes.  The change in dollar amounts range between $1.00 and approximately $550.  This schedule facilitates the District and local developers of new subdivisions in reaching an agreement on cash contribution amounts in lieu of land donations otherwise required under the Waukegan New Subdivision Ordinance.  These funds are to assist in offsetting the impact on the schools serving the area in which the new development is built.

The Board of Education voted to approve the payment of invoice from Adlai Stevenson High School. The invoice covers the Reimbursable Expense Item: Lake County Schools COVID Vaccine Reimbursement; Waukegan 60 portion which totals $91,506.19. This is the District's share of the Lake County Vaccine Clinic hosted by Stevenson High School and Round Lake High School that was open approximately Feb-April 2021. 

The Board of Education voted to approve the renewal of Elevate K-12 for the 2021-2022 SY in the amount not to exceed $1,079,000. The Academics Support and Programs team is requesting a renewal of services with Elevate K-12 to fill our hard to staff middle school and high school vacancies.  The agreement allows WPS60 to reserve a minimum number of classes as well as a maximum threshold to be utilized based on need as vacancies occur throughout the course of the 2021-2022 SY.  

The Board of Education voted to approve the School Mint Renewal for HERO Software. The cost for the renewal is $39,524.25. Use of the HERO platform to support school/classroom attendance management system for the 2021-2022 school year at the following school sites: WHS-BC, .WHS-WC, MJuarez MS, JLewis MS, ESmith MS. JBenny MS, Clearview ES, Carman-Buckner ES, Washington ES and Glenwood ES.

The Board of Education voted to approve the purchase of the Palo Alto Firewall Cortex XDR (anti-virus) license renewal.  This license is for anti-virus protection for the staff laptops.  The total cost is $40,000 for 1 year licensing renewal.

The Board of Education voted to approve the purchase, Ekahau wireless equipment for troubleshooting, building design, testing, and analysis.  This equipment will assist the network team with analyzing wireless access points, when troubleshooting noise, bandwidth, and signal strength or interference. This equipment will also help with determining wireless dead spots, meaning areas that have no signal coverage in support to direct student chromebooks connectivity for locations of learning. The total cost is $27,195 for 3 years licensing and service support.  The 3-year support option reduced cost by more than 40%, from the 1-year cost.  

The Board of Education voted to approve the purchase of the DocuSign e-Signature and Contract Management System. This system will help to digitize all district's paper forms that require a signature. In addition, DocuSign contract management system will assist our Legal Department to streamline the contract's lifecycle from end-to-end. Contracts will be stored in a central repository system that will facilitate the management of all contracts. The estimated cost for this project is $135,733.60.

The Board of Education voted to approve the Information Technology department to renew the yearly agreement for Thermflo on-site preventative maintenance and service contract for generators and air conditioners. Thermflo is the district provider for all emergency generator locations (Lincoln Center, WHS Brookside, Glen Flora Armory) and provides bi-monthly preventative maintenance to all generator units. Thermflo is also the district provider for enterprise air conditioner units at both WHS Brookside and Lincoln Center server rooms. Total renewal costs for the year is $27,173.

The Board of Education voted to approve the purchase of individual sand/water materials (to mitigate COVID-19 contamination) and other teacher-requested materials to enhance the learning of our 3-5 year old population from Lakeshore Learning Materials. The cost associated is approximately $37,466.01.

The Board of Education voted to approve the Facility Rental Waiver Request for Urban Edge Entertainment. Urban Edge has requested to use our facilities for their Thanksgiving Turkey Tournament, scheduled for November 26, 2021. Facility rental fees for this event total $1,400. Urban Edge Entertainment has submitted a Facility Rental Waiver Request for their Thanksgiving Turkey Tournament, scheduled for November 26, 2021. The event will consist of a youth basketball game followed by two high school alumni basketball games at the Washington Campus gym.  The total amount billed for the event is $4,654.00; Urban Edge has agreed to pay personnel and equipment fees and is solely requesting a fee waiver for the gym charge. Board Action is being requested at this evening's Board Meeting. 

The Board of Education voted to  approve the School Cash Contribution Agreement with Over the Rainbow, developer of Kirwan Apartments, in the form presented by the General Counsel and authorize the Superintendent to sign the same. Kirwan Apartments is a new development located at 2801 Sunset Avenue being built by Over the Rainbow Association, a not-for-profit organization. There will be 24 one-bedroom apartment units designed specifically for the needs of individuals with disabilities.  This cash contribution agreement is in lieu of land donations otherwise required under the Waukegan City Ordinances.  

The Board of Education voted to approve a premium increase of 9.8% to the PPO and high-deductible plans, a 0% increase to the HMO and Blue Advantage plans, and a decrease of 3.5% to the Dental plan and related contractual documents. The increase is estimated to be $450,151.98, for an estimated total of $27,170,580.98. The plan year is January to December. Overall, the PPO plan fixed costs decreased by 24% for the 2022 plan year. In addition, the HMO plans experienced another 0% change which saved the district $60,225. Lastly, the district chose to opt-out of the mandatory mail-order pharmacy which is cost-saving to both the employee and the district.

The Board of Education voted to approve the purchase of Varsity Tutors in the amount of $3,240,000 to support students with tutoring and quarantine supports. Schools will use a combination of benchmark data, classroom level data, and student work to identify students who would benefit from small-group tutoring provided online through Varsity Tutors.  

The Board of Education voted to approve the purchase of PAPER in the amount of $259,759.50 to support students in grades 6-12 with tutoring and quarantine supports. PAPER will be utilized to support students in grades 6-12.  It is an on-line on demand platform that provides students with homework and skill supports.    


Personnel Items

The Board of Education voted to approve the appointments, resignations and retirements of 30 employees. 

The Board of Education voted to approve amendment 10 to the Superintendent's contract, setting forth her performance goals for the 2021-2022 school year. The Board of Education and the Superintendent have conferred and developed Performance Goals for the 2021-2022 School Year, pursuant to the requirements of her contract.  The proposed action formally adopts the agreed goals as an amendment to her contract.

The Board of Education voted to approve the attendance of Mr. Clarence Berry, Ms. Sandi Johnson, Ms. Carol May, Mr. Issac Kirkwood, and Ms. Cheryl Caesar at the the National Alliance of Black School Educators' 49th Annual Conferences in Los Angeles, on November 10-14, 2021. The estimated cost is $2,500 per person, for a total estimated cost of $12,500, which includes: Registration, Travel, Hotel Accommodations, and Per Diem.

The Board of Education voted to approve the Consulting Services agreement with Monika Schwander, related to the alignment and implementation of state and local mandates, in support of attendance and truancy functions within the Office of Student Outreach . The Services shall commence on the date of October 1, 2021, and end on the date of August 31, 2022 with the option to renew the contract. The Consultant is to be paid the following: $200.00 hourly basis, not to exceed $25,000.00, to be paid out monthly for the duration of the contract. Consultant will also charge for monthly planning time. The liability insurance requirement will be waived due to the nature of the services.

The Board of Education voted to The Board of Education voted to approve Information Technology network team professional development training for Aruba Wireless ClearPass policy manager. This will be for two network technicians, Pablo Almanza and Bradley Haas at a cost of $4,500 each. This training will help the network technicians in supporting the new Aruba Wireless infrastructure in which all students and staff connect to, the total cost is $9,000.

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