Glenbard News for August 12, 2025

In this issue:

• GPS speaker spotlight: Jeff Selingo
• Highlights of August 11 board meeting

GPS speaker spotlight: Jeff Selingo
Glenbard West junior Noah Sietsema is reading “Who Gets in And Why” by Jeff Selingo. Selingo returns to the GPS Parent Series on Dec. 10 to discuss his soon-to-be released book, “Dream School: Finding the College That is Right For You”. The book is a guide to connect students and parents with quality, affordable college choices.

View a one-minute preview of Selingo’s remarks, and check out the Q&A with Selingo from a recent GPS program titled “Who Gets In And Why: A Year Inside College Admissions“.

 

Highlights of August 11 board meeting
Board Highlights feature a brief description of the action items and discussion items on the meeting agenda. Board Highlights do not replace minutes. The minutes are approved by the board and posted after the next regularly scheduled board meeting. Present: Jay Bastian, Margaret DeLaRosa, Hetal Lee and Pete Nolan. Absent: Kermit Eby and Jim Shannon.

SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT:

1. The District received the following donation: The Blackbaud Giving Fund in care of Casey Gas, $250.00 to the Robotics team at South.
2. We were pleased to welcome and meet with approximately 25 new faculty members during the new faculty induction last week. We are eager to welcome students back to school on August 14. Many thanks to our administrators, instructional tech specialists, IT department, faculty, staff and buildings and grounds crews for their significant work to prepare for the first day of classes.
3. We were excited to welcome faculty and staff today. We appreciate the good work of everyone involved in preparing for the new school year.
4. Walk-throughs by the Regional Office of Education (ROE) were held on August 4th in all four buildings. Our summer construction is wrapping and all spaces are being finalized for students in the last final days. We are preparing for next stages of construction across the district.
5. We encourage community members to attend the following GPS Parent Series webinars. The link to each event is available at gpsparentseries.org.

• August 21 at noon and 7 p.m. – Start the Year with Organizational Skills for School Success
• August 26 at noon and 7 p.m. – How Parents Can Support Students to Aim High, Dream Big and Succeed

6. On June 30, 2025, the district received a Freedom of Information Act request from Formeller & Formeller LLP, Christina M. Formeller, requesting: 

• All proposals and executed contracts relating to Construction Management Services from January 1, 2023, to the present. 
• All proposals and executed contracts associated with Guaranteed Energy Savings Contracts from January 1, 2023, to the present. 
• All proposals and executed contracts for Design-Build projects from January 1, 2023.
• All proposals and executed contracts related to General Contracting for projects exceeding $2,000,000 in value from January 1, 2023, to the present.
• Any additional procurement models utilized for design and construction from January 1, 2023, to the present,
• The final pay application submitted by the Construction Manager, General Contractor, and Energy Services Company for projects exceeding $2,000,000 in value, from January 1, 2023, to the present.

       The district has responded to this request.

7. Between July 21 and July 23, 2025, the district received 7 Freedom of Information Act requests from Marty Boyd, requesting:

• All executed contracts for the years 2020 through 2025, along with an invoice ledger for that time period for the following vendors: 
• Safeway Transportation Services, Prudential Defense Solutions, OrganicLife LLC, Performance Services Inc., ABM Industries, Pekron Consulting, and Warehouse Direct.

       The district has responded to these requests.

8. On July 24, 2025, the district received a Freedom of Information Act request from Teen Parent Connection, Becky Beilfuss, requesting:

• The number of District 87 freshman and sophomore students who reside within Milton Township, and how many D87 students are Milton Township residents and were enrolled in Health Education classes.

       The district has responded to this request.

 

THE BOARD APPROVED:

– the July 21, 2025 regular meeting minutes and closed session minutes.

– invoices for payment.
August 11, 2025
Education Fund                                        $900,189.25
Operations & Maintenance Fund     $6,216,442.92
Debt Service                                              $0.00
Transportation                                          $12,200.64
Capital Projects Fund                           $135,531.72
Interim – Checks                                     $647,610.16
Interim – Wire Transfers                       $4,938,772.24
TOTAL                                                          $12,850,746.93 

– July 5, 2025, and the July 20, 2025 gross payrolls.          

July 5, 2025                                               Gross Payroll            Net Payroll   
Education Fund                                        $4,162,495.12          $2,437,324.67         
Operations & Maintenance Fund     $       43,158.20          $     26,030.77         
Transportation Fund                               $         5,633.38          $       3,378.11 

July 20, 2025                                             Gross Payroll            Net Payroll   
Education Fund                                        $4,210,789.76          $2,490,098.02
Operations & Maintenance Fund     $     48,945.93            $     31,049.34
Transportation Fund                               $       1,633.38            $             928.15
Total Payrolls                                            $8,472,655.77           $4,988,809.06

– the following personnel items:

LICENSED STAFF – EMPLOYMENT:
Name                                 School/Position                                             FTE        Effective Date
Krodel, Abigail             North / Art Teacher                                        25%             08/11/2025
Quentin, Brian             North / Science Teacher (overload)      10%              08/11/2025

ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF – EMPLOYMENT
Name                                  School/Position                                                          FTE                       Term
Babbitt, Melissa           DO / Exec. Director, Teaching & Learning     100%     07/01/26-06/30/27

SUPPORT STAFF – EMPLOYMENT:
Name                                          School/Position                                                        FTE         Effective Date
Cunningham, Kennedy    West / SpEd Assistant (FTE correction)      87.5%            08/11/2025
Gustello, Brittany                East / SpEd Assistant                                           87.5%            08/11/2025
Haller, Lian                             North / SpEd Assistant                                         87.5%            08/11/2025
Hengesh, Sarah                  West / SpEd Assistant                                          87.5%            08/11/2025
Ideler, John                            West / SpEd Assistant (FTE correction)      87.5%            08/11/2025
Jimenez, Julio                      East / Instructional Assist. Lunch Interv.      93.75%         08/11/2025
Paz, Jessica                          North / Admin. Assistant to SpEd                   100%             08/04/2025
Petrine, Jennifer                  Transitions / SpEd Assistant                             81.25%         08/11/2025
Rodriguez, Ellen                 South/ Admin. Assistant to Activities            100%             08/04/2025
Starkey, Daniel                    South / SpEd Assistant                                        87.5%            08/11/2025
Vazquez, Licette                 South / Admin. Assistant to APSS                 100%             08/11/2025

SUPPORT STAFF – POSITION CHANGE:
Name                                 School/Position                                                               FTE       Effective Date
Bucio, Dayanara         North / Admin. Assist. to Dean                               100%           08/04/2025
Haslam, Corina           DO/ District Bookkeeper                                           100%           08/07/2025
Smalley, Kristie           DO / Admin. Assist. to Teaching & Learning     100%           08/11/2025 

SUPPORT STAFF – RESIGNATION/TERMINATIONS:
Name                                                    School/Position                                                           Effective Date
Abraham, Asha                             South / SpEd Assistant                                                  08/06/2025
Gough, Daniel                               Transitions / SpEd Assistant                                         08/08/2025
Hatzos-Skintges, Catherine   East / SpEd Assistant                                                       08/01/2025
Richardson, Abigail                    South / Admin. Asst. to Librarian                                 08/15/2025
Smith, Cynthia                              DO / District Accounting (date correction)              09/30/2025
Townsend, Nora                           North / Science Lab Assistant                                      08/06/2025

SUPPORT STAFF – RETIREMENTS:
Name                                  School/Position                                                              Effective Date
Bronson, Donna          East / Admin. Asst. to School Counseling                12/31/2025
Martenson, Ann           DO / District Accounting (date correction)               10/03/2025
Nuti, Cindy                      East / SpEd Assistant                                                        12/31/2025

– accepting the following donation: Anonymous, in memory of Kevin P. Carpenter, $5,000.00 to the Improv Group (TOG) at West.

– one excursion.

– furniture products and services contract. The district is scheduled to make significant investment though construction projects over the next several years. All new spaces and most renovated spaces will receive new furniture. Recognizing that this is also a significant investment, administration evaluated several furniture vendors which we have worked with over the past several years. 

Warehouse Direct has demonstrated the ability to deliver high-quality furniture at a competitive price. They also are providing the district with additional savings based on the volume of furniture that will be purchased over the next few years. This agreement will allow the district to maintain a consistent discount over the next four years and benefit from reduced and fixed cost increases on all products.

– appointment of community member to 2025-27 board of education committee. The Board had solicited names of community members who would be willing to serve on Board committees until the term expires on April 30, 2027. From those community committee members appointed in May, one member of the Finance and Facility Committee has since resigned. The Board formally appointed the following community member to the Finance and Facility Committee:

Committee                                               Citizen                           Administration Liaison
Finance & Facility Committee        Tod Altenburg            Seth Chapman

– paramedic services for Glenbard football games. The district is engaging in three intergovernmental agreements for paramedic services at Glenbard football games. The paramedics will be parked at the schools during the football games for rapid response in the event of an emergency medical situation. 

INTERGOVERNMENTAL PARTIES/LOCATIONS                          RATE
Carol Stream Fire Protection District and Glenbard North           $160 per hour
Village of Lombard and Glenbard East                                                  $120 per hour
Lisle-Woodridge Fire Protection District and Glenbard South    $140 per hour

– board commitments. The Glenbard District 87 Board Commitments represent the foundation of all work we are collectively committed to supporting within the organization for our communities and all students. These commitments outline the specific details of our educational focus. They were created in a collaborative fashion with the entire Glenbard District 87 leadership team at both the building and district level, along with the Board of Education. The document represents an updated and modified version.

BOARD INFORMATION/DISCUSSION ITEMS INCLUDED:

– student spotlight. The following students were introduced as 2025-26 student liaisons to the Board of Education:

• Glenbard East – Sarah Choi (returning), Khloe Hickman (returning), Asma Hussaini (incoming), Sireen Hussaini (incoming), Ariadna Jimenez (incoming), Acai Jones (returning), Stephanie Nehra (returning) and Gabriel Polyak (returning).
• Glenbard North – Sarah Bilek (returning), Alexandra Boyle (returning), Darielle Dallas (incoming), Ethan Davis (returning), Ishanth Dontha (returning), Parker Dorr (incoming), Zaina Khan (returning) and DinaLee Murray (incoming).
• Glenbard South – Kate Bruhl (returning), Aman Buera (incoming), Corinne Conley (incoming), Breanne Crawford (returning), Leo OBrill (incoming), David Puchalski (returning) and Say Ray Shee (returning).
• Glenbard West – Madeleine Chiang (returning), Arianna Genc (incoming), Ilijana Marjanovic (returning), Mel Martinez (incoming), Elizabeth Moreno (incoming) and Lily Wiedholz (returning).

– safety and security update. Glenbard schools have engaged in review and evaluation of safety practices for several years. In 2022, an outside contractor, Guidepost, was hired to evaluate and provide feedback on the district’s work, culminating in recommendations sent in 2023. Guidepost returned in 2025 to review the more recent safety practices and improvements. Since the completion of that assessment, Glenbard has made significant strides in implementing security best practices across its campuses. Glenbard continues the annual reviews of the security and emergency management documentation.

– fiscal year 2025-2026 tentative budget. As part of the fiscal year 2026 tentative budget process, the district used this meeting to also review the unaudited year-end performance for fiscal year 2025. Below is a summary of how Glenbard performed in the three key goals for the district.

Review of 2024-2025 Fiscal Year Pre-Audit Actuals
Our preliminary, unaudited actuals indicate that Glenbard met its three primary financial objectives for fiscal year 2024-2025:
1)  Balanced budget in our operating funds – we will achieve a net operating surplus of $6.6 million, after permanent fund transfers are made to the Debt Service Fund.
2)  Tax anticipation warrants (TAWs) were not issued; sufficient dollars were on hand to meet our cash flow requirements.
3)  Solvency position was achieved for the 16th year in a row. We estimate that our days cash on hand at the end of the year is 197.5 days, which is higher than the Illinois State Board of Education’s (ISBE) target of 180 days cash on hand.

2025-2026 Tentative Budget Proposal
We have published our 2025-2026 budget calendar and are on track to review and approve the district budget consistent with our plan and timeline. We are presenting a budget that indicates a net operating surplus in our operating funds for the upcoming school year.

The budget funds all staff and program needs for the upcoming year. 

Operating budget: 

• Operating revenue = $194,896,132
• Operating expenditure = $191,960,281
• Gross operating surplus = $2,935,851
• Permanent O&M transfer to Debt Service Fund = $2,718,730
• Net operating surplus = $217,121 (Gross operating surplus less transfer to Debt Service)