News

A recording of tonight’s meeting will be available on the District 54 YouTube Channel once it has finished processing.

Call to Order 

The Board meeting was called to order at 7 p.m.

recognition

The District 54 School Board recognized the following students.

• Henry Muranaka, an Addams eighth-grader, who received an Above and Beyond Award after being nominated by Schaumburg Township for his support of their food pantry.
• Naysa Pinyani, Aarush Dheepak, Nivedth Ravuri and Reya Nash from Dirksen for being second runners-up in the National Youth Entrepreneur of the Year contest for their Lemonade Day stand.
• Three Addams teams who were recognized for their performance in the District 54 Fluid Power Challenge. A list of their names can be found on this website.

Public Comment

• A District 54 parent thanked everyone who listened to his request to join the Illinois Elementary School Association (IESA) for cross country and encouraged the School Board to approve that recommendation tonight.
• A Keller parent also voiced his support for joining IESA.
• A Hale parent asked the School Board to reconsider the staffing reductions proposed for the 2026-27 school year, as outlined below.

ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT – Staffing and Operational Reductions

To ensure financial stability and protect the integrity of District 54’s instructional programs, the administration recommends targeted staffing and operational reductions for the 2026-2027 school year. These recommendations reflect careful analysis of enrollment trends, instructional needs, program sustainability, capital spend and technology needs and would result in over $17 million in savings. While the reductions are significant, District 54 will continue to maintain high-quality learning environments, appropriate class sizes and strong student supports. No programs are being eliminated and instructional models will remain fully supported.

Tonight’s presentation explained how District 54 finances have been adversely impacted by state and federal funding, rising costs and the significant delay in Cook County property taxes. District 54 has been actively working to address these challenges, through staffing reductions last summer and the issuance of debt in the fall.

Additional staffing and operational reductions would occur in the 2026-27 school year, which are outlined in the staffing and operational reductions memo. A large number of reductions are due to a projected 232 fewer students next year and 295 fewer students who need English language support.

The plan also includes a recommendation to reinstate a consumable materials fee and adopt an athletics participation fee, which would require Board approval.

Freedom of Information Act Requests
District 54 received and replied to 15 Freedom of Information Act requests since the last report to the Board, related to contracts, bids, purchases, employee contact information, purchasing policies, the Erin’s Law curriculum and legal bills.

Consent Agenda

The Board approved the following items on the Consent Agenda.

• Minutes of the regular and closed-session Board of Education meetings on January 15, 2026
• Minutes of the special open and closed-session Board of Education meetings on January 29 and February 9, 2026
• Resignations, leaves, employment, salary adjustments and retirement of personnel
• Checks dated January 9 and 23, 2026
• The treasurer’s report on cash and investments for December 2025
• The monthly update of revenues and expenditures for December 2025
• A deficit reduction plan
• The purchase of technology licensing and support
• The destruction of the verbatim record of the closed-session meeting on August 8, 2024, for which approved minutes already exist
• The release of minutes from closed-session meetings held on July 16, August 7, September 11, October 9 and November 13, 2025

President’s Report

Board President Nick Scipione thanked the 22 applicants who applied for the board vacancy, as well as the board members for their time in reviewing the applications.

District citizen’s advisory committee report

Board Member Bob Kaplan reported that DCAC heard a presentation about the programs and supports for students who have visual impairments and those who are deaf and hard of hearing.

ED-RED report

Board Secretary Mary Kay Prusnick shared that Governor Pritzker presented his budget this week, which asks for an additional $305 million for evidence-based funding for schools, which is still not enough to close the adequacy gap for education.

New Business

• The Board had a first reading of the following policies:
  • 2:120(a) – Board Member Orientation (revised)
  • 2:140(a) – Communications To and From Board (revised)
  • 2:140(b) – Board Member Use of Electronic Mail (revised)
  • 2:150 – Board Committees (revised)
  • 2:220 – School Board Meeting Procedure (revised)
  • 2:250 – Public Access to District Records (revised)
  • 6:270 – Guidance and Counseling Program (new)
  • 6:360 – Behavior Interventions for Students with Disabilities (revised)
  • 7:150 – Agency and Law Enforcement Requests (new)
  • 7:250 – Student Support Services (new)
• The Board approved District 54’s participation in the Illinois Elementary School Association (IESA) for cross country and track starting in the fall of 2026.
• The Board appointed a new representative to the District Citizens’ Advisory Committee.
• The Board approved a 5-year extension of the intergovernmental agreement with the Hoffman Estates Park District related to seven playgrounds adjacent to District 54 schools and the use of schools for the park district’s programs.
• The Board approved upgrades to the district’s video surveillance systems.
• The Board approved a resolution calling on Cook County officials responsible for the issuance of property tax bills to resolve the computer system issues and administrative failures that resulted in property tax bills being issued more than 4 months late. This delay significantly impacted District 54’s finances. In addition, school districts were frustrated by the lack of information from the county, forcing them to turn to local newspapers for updates. The resolution also urged Cook County to seek recompense from Tyler Technologies for its failure to implement the new system and to reimburse the Board for expenses incurred by the district for this failure. More details about the impact are shared in the Board Memo.

appointment of new school board member

The School Board voted to appoint Sri Rajaram to the Board and administered the oath of office. She will serve until the next School Board election in April 2027.  A vacancy on the Board was created by the resignation of Barb Hengels on Jan. 7. 

Announcements

• Board members shared highlights from throughout the district including the Blackwell Science Fair, the Mead History Fair, the Eisenhower Career Fair and the Campanelli Lunar New Year celebration.
• The PTA Auction, which raises money to fund high school scholarships, will be held on March 13 at The Belvedere.

Adjournment

The Board adjourned at 8:42 p.m. to closed session for employment/appointment matters.