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City of Chicago School District 299 board meeting, Jul 30, 2026

6 h 22 min · 32 public speakers

This board doesn’t post agenda times. Click a board member to jump to where they first speak; we list only members whose voice our check named. Video length 6 h 22 min.

  1. Who spoke · first speaks at
What happened

What happened at this meeting

Chicago board amends and adopts fiscal 2027 budget on 11⁠-⁠7 vote 4:58:08

  • The superintendent asked the board to pass the budget as recommended, and the acting chief budget officer said a budget with the added state revenue would not be considered balanced. 27:33
  • Speakers at public comment addressed the budget, with some asking the board to pass it as written and others asking the board to amend or reject it. 1:10:02
  • The board voted 11⁠-⁠7 with 1 abstention to add amended language to the fiscal year 2027 budget raising the state funding assumption by $150 million, then adopted the amended budget by the same count. ~4:58:08
  • The board adopted RS3, a resolution on property taxes for fiscal year 2027, 19⁠-⁠0, and voted 18⁠-⁠0 with 1 abstention to postpone RS6 to August 27th, 2026. ~5:54:18
Item by item (13)
  1. Opening and roll call 0:00
    • An announcement said the next board meeting was scheduled for Thursday, August 27th, 2026 at 10:30 AM. 1:08
    • The roll call showed 16 members present and a quorum. 3:07
  2. Student voice recognition 4:12
    • The presenter of the honoring excellence segment spotlighted student voice and leadership and said the district would work with schools to expand and strengthen school-level student voice committees this year. 4:12
    • Students described work on mental health roundtables, a budget roundtable and student voice committee convenings. 4:17
    • Board members thanked the students and offered to work with them on student voice efforts. 17:44
  3. Superintendent remarks on summer and budget 27:28
    • The superintendent said the district needed an approved budget to secure short-term financing for payroll and asked the board to pass the budget as recommended. 32:38
    • The superintendent said the budget increases funding for schools by $143 million over last year and adds over 1,000 positions to support students with disabilities. 34:15
    • The superintendent said the budget was revised to eliminate 5 furlough days and raise the TIF surplus estimate to $285 million. 39:56
  4. Public participation 55:17
    • Union representatives and other speakers addressed the budget, with some asking the board to vote yes on the revised budget and others asking it to amend the budget to reduce cuts to schools. 1:06:17
    • Several speakers at public comment asked the board to vote yes on a resolution for Chi Arts. 1:07:40
    • Elected officials, including a state senator and a Cook County commissioner, spoke about state funding for schools. 2:42:42
  5. Recess motion 3:01:42
    • A board member moved to take a 2-hour recess. 3:01:42
  6. Whole school safety update 3:03:30
    • The chief of safety and security said the whole school safety framework is built on physical safety, emotional safety and relational trust. 3:04:05
    • The chief of safety and security said that by the school year 2030, whole school safety planning will be fully integrated into each school's continuous improvement work plan. 3:04:05
    • A parent and a youth member of the steering committee spoke about the work. 3:14:57
  7. Fiscal 2027 budget presentation and questions 3:21:33
    • The acting chief budget officer said the proposed FY27 budget totals $9.96 billion and was revised on July 28th to eliminate furloughs and raise the TIF surplus assumption to $285 million. 3:23:00
    • Asked whether a budget with the proposed state revenue amendment would be balanced, the acting chief budget officer said no. 3:23:00
    • The board's general counsel said the school code requires a balanced budget and lists sanctions for willful violation of its budget provisions. 3:56:52
  8. Second recess motion 4:43:54
    • A board member moved to take a 20-minute recess to read an updated legal brief. 4:43:56
  9. Minutes and routine agenda items 4:47:20
    • The record of proceedings passed 17⁠-⁠0; RS5, PO1, PO2, EX1, EX2 and PR1 through PR6 passed 18⁠-⁠0; and PR7 passed 17⁠-⁠0 with 1 abstention. ~4:48:01
  10. Budget amendment and adoption 4:57:25
    • A board member moved to amend the budget by increasing anticipated state revenue by $150 million to avoid making recent layoffs permanent. 4:58:08
    • One board member said they would vote yes on the amendment, and another asked the board to reject it and pass the budget as proposed. 5:30:45
    • The amended language would add back $100 million in funding to rescind layoffs and maintain staffing across schools. 5:41:45
    • The amendment passed 11⁠-⁠7 with 1 abstention, and the budget with the amended language was adopted by the same count. ~5:48:54
  11. Capital plan, levy and borrowing 5:50:41
    • The board voted separately on the capital improvement plan, the property tax levy and tax anticipation notes not to exceed $1,650,000,000. 5:50:41
    • Each item was adopted 19⁠-⁠0. ~5:54:18
  12. Chicago High School for the Arts resolution 5:57:05
    • A board member asked how the board could vote on a resolution costing $5.5 million that was not in the budget. 5:58:10
    • A speaker responding to the question said the Illinois School Code requires an associated appropriation in the budget for the board to commit to any liabilities or expenditures. 5:58:32
    • The board voted 18⁠-⁠0 with 1 abstention to postpone the resolution to August 27th, 2026. ~6:19:45
  13. Closed session and adjournment 6:20:05
    • The board secretary said there were no items to vote on from executive session. 6:21:28
    • The motion to go into closed session passed 18⁠-⁠0. ~6:20:58

Written by software from the meeting's transcript and checked sentence by sentence against it.

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Video: posted by the district as “Chicago Board of Education July 30, 2026 (Board Meeting)”