Batavia Illinois – The 5th Ward

Bulldog Award & Girls Flag Football Recognition

The board formally recognized the community and administrative efforts required to build the girls’ flag football program from a middle school concept into a fully sanctioned high school sport.

• Coach Annie Frico was presented with the Bulldog Award for single-handedly creating the middle school program from scratch and fiercely advocating for its expansion.
• Jeff Thomas, a veteran Rotolo Middle School teacher and coach, was praised for bringing forward the idea for the recognition and for his volunteer support on the field.
• Mary Bruno, a parent and volunteer coach, was recognized by Coach Frico as the “other driving force” who helped navigate administrative red tape from her kitchen island.
• Student-athletes from Rotolo Middle School and Batavia High School provided public comment, praising Coach Frico for building confidence, fostering belonging, and providing high support alongside high standards.
• Other contributors were recognized, including parent volunteer Julia Gray, student coaches Aiden Bolin and Draven Frico, and RMS teacher/coach Mary Chivari.

Public Comment (Bullying, Technology, and Insurance)

The public comment period was exceptionally tense. The board faced intense scrutiny from students and residents demanding concrete action against racist threats, stricter guidelines on classroom technology, and more equitable staff compensation.

• A High School Sophomore delivered a detailed account of receiving threats of lynching and a burning cross. The student criticized administrators for citing a lack of evidence despite the student providing screenshots with names.
• The student demanded the district publicly release a bullying action plan, improve the safety of reporting, and actively educate students on why hate speech is traumatic rather than asking harmed students to fix the issue.
• A Former Board Member and a Community Member corroborated the student’s testimony, citing past rallies in May 2022 and May 2023 regarding racism, and criticized the current board for failing to implement measurable equity goals, deadlines, or a promised tracking dashboard.
• A Resident heavily criticized two Board Members for typing during the students’ speeches, and noted that racist language is actively being used at Louise White.
• A Local Marketing Agency Owner (Gary Ricke) advocated for integrating AI into the curriculum, noting that a high school intern (Lexi) successfully used AI to build a website for the Batavia Foundation for Education Excellence.
• A Co-founder of Distraction-Free Batavia presented a Change.org petition with over 730 signatures demanding explicit limits on technology. The speaker criticized the board for joining a class-action lawsuit against social media companies while still allowing older students to access platforms like YouTube on school devices, and demanded parent authorization limits via Light Speed.
• An Elementary School Custodian from Hoover Woods voiced concerns over a 17.18% increase in medical insurance premiums—costing them an additional $468 annually, or roughly 9.9% of their net earnings. The custodian questioned why the district’s $250,000 healthcare surplus was not used to subsidize lower-earning staff members represented by BESPA.

Consent Agenda & Routine Approvals

The board efficiently approved a package of routine financial, personnel, and administrative items to ensure standard district operations continue without interruption.

• The board unanimously approved the consent agenda, which included payroll, bills, and the destruction of expired closed session recordings.
• Approval was granted for vision and life insurance plan renewals, as well as a new student services contract necessitated by the recent resignation of a school psychologist at Alice Gustafson.
• The board formally accepted several donations from local charities, athletic boosters, and retail businesses to support theater arts and youth athletics.
• Donors formally thanked included Lynn Johnson and Michael Steele (though Steele’s name appears to originate from an earlier meeting’s consent agenda mentioned in the sources).

School Report Card Changes

District administrators briefed the board on the state’s newly overhauled school accountability system, preparing them for the public release of the annual school report cards later in the month.

• A District Administrator explained that the state has moved away from a weighted index—which artificially capped “exemplary” designations at 10%—in favor of a “profiles of performance” model.
• The new system evaluates schools based on core academic outcomes like proficiency, growth, and graduation rates, alongside “elevating indicators” like consistent attendance and English learner progress.
• The district successfully petitioned the state to use its own preferred Panorama climate survey rather than the state default.
• Board Members questioned how they will track historical trends, with administrators confirming that most longitudinal data will remain accessible through Northern Illinois University’s state reporting dashboard despite the new overarching metrics.

Project Warm, Safe, Dry (Health Life Safety Bond Planning)

Following consecutive failed referenda, the board grappled with escalating infrastructure costs, extensively debating the issuance of non-referendum bonds to replace failing mechanical and fire systems across multiple aging campuses.

• A District Administrator reported that construction inflation and reduced state funding have derailed previous plans to fund $50 million in vital facility upgrades using only cash reserves and operating revenues.
• The district is pursuing $12.6 million in state-approved Health Life Safety bonds to immediately replace 60-year-old galvanized pipes and 33-year-old unit ventilators, primarily at JB Nelson and Batavia High School.
• Other critical projects include a complete fire alarm replacement and control panel upgrades at Grace McWane and Hoover Woods, alongside track repairs at Rotolo Middle School.
• A Financial Consultant presented three repayment scenarios, noting that the district’s previous referendum bonds matured last year, meaning this new issuance will introduce a property tax increase.
• The board unanimously passed a motion directing administration to proceed with planning a bond sale, targeting a December execution to lock in summer construction schedules.

Board Policy Updates & Intergovernmental Agreements

The board advanced several policy updates to align with state guidelines and formalized a community partnership to expand student access to educational resources.

• The board unanimously placed several updated policies on first reading, primarily driven by mandatory five-year reviews and legislative alignment.
• An intergovernmental agreement was unanimously approved with the Batavia Public Library District to streamline the issuance of library cards for students residing outside the immediate library tax boundaries.

Career and Technical Education Equipment Purchase

The board approved a significant capital purchase to modernize the high school’s broadcast journalism program, utilizing state grant funds to maintain industry-standard learning environments.

• The board unanimously authorized the purchase of a new broadcast news desk from TV Set Designs LLC for $33,878 to replace an over 30-year-old set.
• The purchase is fully funded by the state’s Career and Technical Education Improvement (CTEI) grant.
• The equipment will directly support over 130 students annually enrolled in video production classes and related extracurricular clubs.

Superintendent and Student Board Member Comments

District leadership closed the meeting by addressing earlier public comments regarding technology, celebrating student achievements, and highlighting new student-led feedback initiatives.

• The Superintendent committed to presenting district-wide screen time data at upcoming December and May board meetings to continue the dialogue on instructional technology.
• The Superintendent congratulated the Rotolo Middle School girls cross country team on winning the IESA state championship.
• The Superintendent specifically thanked high school student Aaron Kernler for his work gathering models to help construct a student advisory group.
• The Student Board Members (Arno was specifically praised by the board for his engagement) detailed their new feedback initiative, deploying tailored QR-code surveys for 6th-12th graders and 3rd-5th graders to gauge student sentiment on school culture.
• High school music teacher Chris Owen was congratulated by a board member for being named the ILMEA district president.
• Mr. Cotero was thanked for his work managing the live streaming of a Hispanic Heritage Month performance and giving students real-world experience running broadcasting equipment.
• Alex Angeloff was given a shout-out for qualifying for the state tennis tournament as part of a doubles team.

Entities Mentioned

Type	Name
Educational Institutions	Batavia Public School District 101, Rotolo Middle School, Batavia High School, Louise White, Hoover Woods, Alice Gustafson, JB Nelson, Grace McWane, Geneva High School, Northern Illinois University
Private Companies & Platforms	TV Set Designs LLC, Dollar General, Panorama, YouTube, Light Speed, Area Code Batavia, Change.org
Government & Regulatory Entities	Regional Office of Education, Illinois Elementary School Association (IESA), State of Illinois
Community Organizations, Unions, & Non-Profits	Kate’s Care, Collier Community Foundation, the Buffs, the Boosters, Batavia Youth Athletics, Batavia Public Library District, Batavia Foundation for Education Excellence, Distraction-Free Batavia, Batavia Education Association (BEA), Batavia Educational Support Personnel Association (BESPA), Bilingual Parent Advisory Committee (BPAC), Resource Responsibility Advisory Council (RAC), Illinois Music Education Association (ILMEA)

BPS 101 Bullying Policy: https://www.bps101.net/policy/s7/p7180/

BPS 101 Harrasment Policy: https://www.bps101.net/policy/s7/p7020/

Agenda: https://bps-101.community.diligentoneplatform.com/Portal/MeetingInformation.aspx?Org=Cal&Id=389

Author: Jim Fahrenbach

Batavia School Board: School Construction Updates, Budget & Tech