March 12, 2026 at 8:30 AM - Board of Education Regular Meeting

The ELC is currently under contract with Waste Management for two dumpsters: one located at 990 whose contract expires in August 2028 and the other at 960 which expires in September 2027. Unfortunately, the current contracts include annual price increases capped at up to 20% per year and impose a significant early cancellation fee of $350 per dumpster, per month remaining on the agreement.

In an effort to reduce the overall cost to the District, we reached out to Waste Management to explore potential alternatives. As a result of those discussions, Waste Management has proposed replacing the existing agreements with a new three-year proposal.

Under the proposed agreement, the new pricing would take effect immediately and apply to both locations. Annual price increases would be capped at 12%, providing greater cost predictability compared to the current contracts. At the conclusion of the three-year term, the ELC would have the opportunity to conduct a formal RFP process for waste removal services.

• • New proposal: $708/month (Annualized savings $2,928)

• • New proposal: $708/month  (Annualized savings $3,600)

-Staffing Update: 

• We are working through the staffing process and shifts, because of the reduction in FTE this year. The reduction is definitely causing a more significant shift in personnel in D125 and West.

• ELC Administration continues to celebrate our amazing ELC staff. This month's staff that were recognized are the following: 
  • Jordan DeBoy - BCBA West
  • Erik Fries - Case Manager West
  • Lori Sandler - Psychologist ECAT and D41
  • Mila Mendez-Vargas Paraprofesional West

-Professional Development Update: 

• Last Monday, the AI Committee discussed some draft outcomes as a result of their work this year. This group has met multiple times this year and members have held 1:1 discussions with Joe Fatheree, our consultant. The scope of their work has included: text leveling and translation, development of student materials, song generation, visual simulations, and the creation of a live, voice-activated, interactive Avatar. An overview of this will be provided to the Board next month, as the meeting was not held in time for this agenda. We will continue the work with Joe next year as a second 'pilot group' will be formed to broaden the scope of this work.

• On February 20, 2026, we hosted a Guardianship Workshop in partnership with Clancy & Associates.  We welcomed more than 40 families, educators, and school leaders from districts across Lake and Cook County.  The strong turnout made it clear that families are eager for clear, trustworthy information as their children approach adulthood and important legal decisions.

• Attached is the current list of students for West by district.
• ELC West is in the process of planning exciting end-of-year events for our students. This year, we have one student graduating from eighth grade, five students graduating from high school and five students aging out of transition services. Each group will be part of an ELC graduation ceremony with guests invited from the ELC, home districts, family and friends.
• In addition, we are planning the first ELC West Prom, which will take place later in the spring with families attending the event here in our building.
• Several of our transition students are currently helping staff work on a yearbook for us, as well. While we work hard every day to make sure our students have ongoing instruction and practice to prepare for adulthood, it is also important to stop and enjoy this time of their lives and celebrate these big milestones.

• Last spring, the Director of Technology began working with Apple to enroll the ELC in Apple’s Self Service repair program. Although Apple typically requires organizations to manage more than 1,000 devices to qualify, ELC requested an exception and has now been approved. This no-cost program allows us to send devices directly to Apple for repair and provides repair training for technology staff. Currently, we rely on Stevenson’s program for training and repair processing. As a result, repaired devices are returned to Stevenson rather than directly to the ELC, creating avoidable delays in returning them to service. We're pleased this will get devices back into the hands of our staff and students in a more timely manner.

• We've been in close contact Van Vlissingen regarding the continued roofing repair project. We are in the process of looking at general maintenance needs that will take place this summer both at ELC and West. 

• We are working on the first draft of the budget. We are continuing to look at all places that we can trim to reduce the expenses for our member districts. 
• The business and human resources teams continue to meet weekly and are developing some good workflow systems.