Board of Education — June 22, 2026

Secretary Eisenthal moved for the acceptance of both the standard Board meeting minutes and the Budget Workshop minutes from June 8th.

Both sets of minutes were approved unanimously.

The Superintendent reviewed literacy data (using IXL, DIBELS, and ERLA) and math data, noting positive growth in grades 5-8 but a need for more consistency in earlier grades. He also discussed district demographics, noting an increase in the special education population and the implementation of the ARC reading curriculum. Board members queried the triangulation of data, the distinction between phonics and comprehension in testing, and concerns regarding the discipline of special education students.

The data was presented for informational purposes; no formal vote was taken on the data itself.

The district will release and tie this data to the embargoed Smarter Balanced (SBAC) results in the fall.

Chronic absenteeism remained largely flat at approximately 21%, though specific areas like the high school saw improvements. Regarding discipline, the number of students receiving suspensions decreased, but discussions continued regarding disproportionality in how Hispanic and special education students are disciplined.

The board noted the trends and identified areas for continued focus.

The district will continue to monitor disciplinary disproportionality and investigate strategies for supporting special education students.

The items included legislative-driven changes (paid sick leave, child abuse reporting), an update to the animals in schools policy, and a wellness policy update to better reflect practical school celebrations.

Multiple policies were approved through individual motions.

The final local budget was set at $127,522,231, which is flat compared to the previous year. The Superintendent explained that to meet this target, certain positions (including a student engagement specialist and various teaching/administrative roles) would not be replaced, and the district would utilize one-time state aid. Discussion touched on the difficulty of the seven-month budget process and the impact of state aid on the total operational budget. Board members expressed frustration that $5.2 million in one-time state supplemental aid was used to cover operational costs rather than being banked for future fiscal cliffs, noting that this budget requires reducing staffing through attrition and vacancies to meet the target.

The Board unanimously approved the budget in the amount of $127,522,231.

The next meeting is scheduled for July 27th to provide an update on summer programming.

The Superintendent noted that $350,000 in state bond funding is coming for the high school track, and approximately $350,000 is secured for the Highland Park playscape. There is also a potential $1 million project for pool boilers funded by the state, which prevents these specific capital needs from impacting the current school operating budget. The administration clarified that while these projects are funded by state aid, the district continues to face historical underfunding for general capital improvements.