Agenda
Minutes - not uploaded as of 8/16

Thrive65’s TL;DR

Top takeaways from this meeting, more detail below.

1. Board received presentations from the 3 firms bidding to do the superintendent search. 2 are similar in cost at ~80k, one is ~20k.
2. New CFO, Eric Miller, reports that our SY26 revenue was $6.8 million under projections. Expenses were $5.2 million under expected. This is a $1.6 million deficit under the former way we have seen financials, but a $3.4 million deficit excluding certain restricted funds.
   • His team has identified transportation route savings that should lead to $900k in savings in SY27.
   • Cash on Hand at end of SY26 is 95 days, which he noted leaves very low room for error.
   • CFO stated that substantial savings are needed immediately and school closures must be a part of the solution. Cash flow remains a concern. We need to realign resources to what we can afford, and build a smaller, more efficient cost structure prioritizing education.
3. Dr. Witherspoon noted that no budget ends to the dime, but his goal is for us to budget even more conservatively with the hopes of being pleasantly surprised by year end results, rather than seeing bigger deficits.
   • Dr. Witherspoon said that transportation and special education are priorities to look at for cost controls, while recognizing that we first must ensure special ed students are getting what they need.
4. Dr. Beardsley presented a Health Life Safety memo, which the board approved submission of its findings to the state board of education for its approval.
   • This will lead to the District securing life safety bonds to cover urgent maintenance needs. This will be a tax levy that does not require public vote.

The Details

Superintendent Search

Board received presentations from three firms:

• Alma Advisory Group (Proposal, Presentation) - Hyde Park
• Cost is $80,000 with a not to exceed total inclusive of marketing and travel of $95,000. This equals 32% of salary, which they have benchmarked at $250k
• We did not see any additional services offer at additional cost in the proposal.

• Conducted ETHS 202’s superintendent process in 2022

• HYA (Proposal, Presentation-not in board materials) - Arlington Heights
  • Cost is 25% of total compensation (as opposed to the other proposal which bases on salary, total compensation includes benefits, PTO, etc in the total), inclusive of costs like travel etc.
    • For comparison to the Alma’s proposal, HYA’s rate would be the same range of 80-95k if the total compensation of the new superintendent’s total salary and benefits totalled 320,000-380,000. (Dr. Turner’s total compensation was 324,000 in the most current info)
  • Provided an “Optional Services” section with items for added costs (page 39).
  • Conducted D65’s superintendent process in 2014

Thrive65 Note

The FOIA Gras blog reported that HYA facilitated a search for Benton Harbor, MI’s superintendent, where they selected a candidate who was formerly D65’s Director of Research, Accountability and Data from 2022-2023. The blog reports that this person left before the first year had completed, with some controversy explained in the blog.

• IASB (Proposal, Presentation) - Lombard
  • Cost is not to exceed $11,900, with optional add ons such as “Conduct Focus Groups” ($4,500), “Facilitate Stakeholder Group with Finalists” ($1,500), “Conduct Mock Interview” ($4,500).
  • Total with the above optional items is $21,900. IASB indicated in their presentation that their fees are lower since D65 is a member. (IASB is the Illinois Association of School Boards)
  • Conducted D65’s superintendent and CFO processes in 2023-2024.

Financial Report

• New CFO, Eric Miller, presented a SY26 year in review, supporting a memo on how SY26 ended.
  • Reports that our SY26 revenue was $6.8 million under projections. Expenses were $5.2 million under expected. This is a $1.6 million deficit under the former way we have seen financials.
  • CFO is now excluding certain restricted funds that he feels should not be included in operating. In that model, we have a $3.4 million deficit.
  • Revenue was hurt by lower state funding including a grant that is not renewable from SY25, lower federal Head Start revenues, and local revenues under by more than $2 million due to the delays in Cook County payments.
  • Expenses were lower than expected in purchased services and overall salaries and benefits. However, there were some significant increases in special education salaries based on their contract finalized last year. Additionally, outplacement of special ed students was $1.5 million over budget.
  • Cash on Hand at the end of SY26 is 95 days, which he noted leaves very low room for error.
  • CFO stated that His team has identified transportation route savings that should lead to $900k in savings in SY27.
  • He also said that substantial savings are needed immediately and school closures must be a part of the solution. Cash flow remains a concern. We need to realign resources to what we can afford, and build a smaller, more efficient cost structure prioritizing education.

Health/Life Safety (HLS)

• Dr. Beardsley reviewed the HLS Memo from the board packet. There is $128.8 million of maintenance that is considered a Health/Life Safety item. The memo explains this is a requirement from the state board of education, ISBE, to complete every 10 years. The memo presents this amount as the total 10 year items in categories A, B, and C.

Thrive65 Note

A, B, and C correlate to ISBE’s definitions of urgency. A is “Urgent” and requires repairs in 1 year. B is “Required” and requires repairs within 5 years. C is “Expedient” and requires repairs within 10 years. The discussion at the board meeting clarified that Urgent repairs total $1 million, Required repairs are $20.6 million, and the rest is in the Expedient category.

• The board approved submission to ISBE. When ISBE approves, the district will be able to issue Life Safety bonds without a referendum vote, per Illinois school code.

Thrive65 Note

The community may want to seek clarity and more proactive communications from the District on what that means for their taxes, especially as future operating and/or capital referendums are likely.

• Chris Van Nostrand asked Dr. Beardsley how we ensure we do not invest in buildings that will be closed. She noted that in board materials (not on their website), it is broken out by building. Beardsley also noted that her team is working on bundling work in the Urgent and Required categories with other repairs that would make sense to prioritize for cost and time efficiency, in collaboration with StudioGC.