Government Center

719 S. Batavia Ave., Bldg. A

Geneva, IL 60134

Kane County

KC Committee of the Whole

Meeting Minutes

Tuesday, June 25, 2024

4:00 PM

County Board Room

Call To Order

Chairman Pierog called the meeting to order at 4:04 PM.

Roll Call

After Roll Call, an in-person quorum was not established. This meeting was for

informational purposes only. (Committee Member Gumz arrived at 4:06 p.m.)

Board Member Dale Berman

Board Member Michelle Gumz

Board Member Mo Iqbal

PRESENT

Board Member Leslie Juby

Board Member Michael Kenyon

Board Member Chris Kious

Board Member Anita Lewis

Board Member Bill Roth

Board Member Cherryl Strathmann

Board Member Bill Tarver

Board Member Vern Tepe

Chairman Corinne M. Pierog

Board Member Deborah Allan

Board Member Gary Daugherty

Board Member Michael Linder

Board Member Myrna Molina

Board Member Monica Silva

Board Member Clifford Surges

Board Member Rick Williams

Board Member Mavis Bates

Board Member Mark Davoust

Board Member Ron Ford

REMOTE

ABSENT

Board Member Bill Lenert

Board Member Jarett Sanchez

Board Member David Young

Also present: ITD staff Kash; KCROE Superintendent Pat Dal Santo & Asst.

Superintendent Deanna Oliver; State's Attorney staff Cermak, Shepro, Hunt*; and

members of the press and public including Elgin Community College President Dr.

David Sam & Dean of Sustainability Dr. Cathy Taylor, ECC Board of Trustees Shane

Nowak, Jennifer Rakow, and Waubonsee Community College President Dr. Brian

Knetl.

Remote Attendance Requests

Chairman Pierog announced the remote attendance requests for today's informational

meeting. She asked the Committee Members present if there were any objections to

County Board Members Allan, Daugherty, Linder, Molina, Silva, Surges, and Williams

attending today's meeting remotely. There were no objections.

Pledge of Allegiance

Chairman Pierog asked Committee Member Allan to lead the Pledge of Allegiance.

Approval of Minutes: September 26, 2023, January 10, 2024, February 8, 2024,

March 26, 2024, April 23, 2024, and May 28, 2024

An in-person quorum was not established for today's meeting. All meeting minutes will

be held until next month's Committee of the Whole meeting for approval.

Public Comment (Agenda Items)

None.

Public Comment (Non-Agenda Items)

None.

Presentations/Discussion

Manufacturing and Technology Center (Dr. David Sam, President, & Dr. Cathy

Taylor, Dean of Sustainability, Elgin Community College)

Chairman Pierog stated that the upcoming presentation will share the innovative ways

local community colleges are training the next generation to build Kane County's

workforce.

Elgin Community College (ECC) President, Dr. David Sam, introduced his team; Board

of Trustees' Vice Chairman Jennifer Rakow and the Board of Trustees' Secretary

Shane Nowak. Sam shared the lessons learned thru the COVID-19 pandemic, such as

the disruptions within the supply chain. He spoke on the trending history of enrollees to

ECC. He stated that before the pandemic, they were able to predict the amount of

enrollees based on the economy. Presently, they are seeing enrollment decrease but

have numerous students that are on waiting lists to learn a trade. This new trend

brought ECC to the realization of the need for a new Manufacturing and Technology

Center. Dr. Sam introduced ECC's Dean of Sustainability, Dr. Cathy Taylor.

Dr. Taylor provided a presentation on the new ECC Manufacturing and Technology

Center. She spoke on the ECC Facility Master Plan and how the need for this center

was addressed. She reviewed the characteristics of the new Manufacturing and

Technology Center, such as being a 150K square foot building and expansion of

programs. She shared the two-story building floor plan. (Committee Member Iqbal

arrived at 4:19 p.m.) Taylor presented numerous photos depicting the exterior facade,

lobby and common space, and classrooms and instructional lab space of the facility.

The groundbreaking of this new facility is scheduled for September 2024, with an

anticipated occupancy of August 2026.

Dr. Sam reviewed the goals of the Manufacturing and Technology Center. He shared

the funding of the new center. He spoke on the demand for these types of trainings and

the lack of space and technology that ECC currently has. The overall project will cost

approximately $80M, with an excess amount of $27M earmarked with ECC funds,

$28M appropriated in the FY25 State of Illinois budget, and $55M in Alternative

Revenue Source Bonds that are anticipated to conduct bond offerings in September

2024. Dr. Sam and Dr. Taylor addressed questions and comments from the

Committee. Discussion ensued.

Auto Tech and New Technical Education Center (Dr. Brian Knetl, President,

Waubonsee Community College)

Waubonsee Community College (WCC) President, Dr. Brian Knetl, spoke on Auto

Tech and the new Technical Education Center. He recalled a book from 2023 called,

America's Hidden Economic Engines: How Community Colleges Can Drive Shared

Prosperity. The book is a case study of five community colleges and how they can

contribute to the regional economy by responding to local workforce needs. At WCC,

they prioritize playing an essential role in strengthening and expanding pathways to

economic mobility through developing an educated workforce, such as transfer and

workforce development programs. Knetl stated that WCC's ability to offer state of the

art workforce education is linked to having resources, capacity, up-to-date facilities and

equipment, and educational resources. Due to a rapidly changing workforce, there has

been an increase and ongoing need for modernization to stay relevant in WCC's

programs. Knetl shared his excitement for the development of the new WCC Technical

Education Center, opening in Fall 2025 at the Sugar Grove Campus. The addition of

this new center will position WCC to meet the ongoing and evolving challenges of

educating future students in various workforce programs. Knetl stated that the new

center is a 100K square-foot, $60M facility, that will house the Auto Technician

Program, Auto Collision and Refinishing Program, and the Welding Program.

Additionally, it will have general classroom spaces, offices, and a common space that

can serve as a gathering place for hosting industry partners, high school students,

advisory committees. The new facility will allow WCC to offer more cohorts of the

programs and the size of each to serve more students and meeting workforce needs.

Knetl explained that the new spaces are designed to allow for experiential learning,

mirroring what graduates will experience in the workforce. He reviewed the

circumstances on which this new facility came to be. He spoke on the increased

enrollment and lack of space for students. He shared the future projections of these

trade careers and the need for the new space. He reviewed the characteristics and

new innovative classes of this new Technical Education Center. Knetl spoke on the

Auto Technician Program and the national recognition it has received. He stated that

WCC will continue to look for new opportunities and potential uses of the empty space

within the new building, such as expanding or modernizing existing programs. WCC will

continue to listen to the community and the workforce to expand their program areas.

The key for WCC and other colleges is to stay connected, stay informed, and

collaborate with partners to develop, respond to, and validate more workforce programs

that are tailored to meet the specific needs of the regional economy. Dr. Knetl

addressed questions and comments from the Committee. Much discussion ensued.

Kane County Schools - Job Training Offerings (Superintendent Pat Dal Santo &

Asst. Superintendent Deanna Oliver, Regional Office of Education)

Kane County's Regional Office of Education (KCROE) Superintendent, Pat Dal Santo

spoke on the recent trend of schools offering vocation-lead classes versus the

four-year college route, due to high tuition costs. There are many vocations that

students can train for and could make a higher salary than those that went to a

four-year university. Dal Santo introduced KCROE's Asst. Superintendent, Deanna

Oliver.

Oliver provided a presentation on Kane County's Career & Technical Education

Programs. She listed the four types of career/job training programs that are available in

Kane County schools: Illinois School Board of Education (ISBE) Education for

Employment Service Region Programs, Kane County School District Based Career &

Technical Education Courses and Programs, Regional Work Experience Cooperative

Education Program, and Special Education Transition Programs. She stated that the

ISBE divides the state amongst 46 service regions. These divisions are based on

serving local community colleges. Kane County's Education for Employment (EFE)

Service Regions are Valley Education for Employment System and Northern Kane

County Regional Vocational System. The Valley Education for Employment System

(VALEES) is a regional delivery system which serves 17 school districts, two area

career/vocational centers, one special education cooperative, and Waubonsee

Community College, covering a five-county area. VALEES provides technical support

and coordinates events for school programs and career center. Oliver reviewed the

numerous districts VALEES serves. She shared the number of programs supported by

the Fox Valley Career Center, such as automotive technology, cosmetology, fire

science, and welding. She stated the Northern Kane EFE is a collaboration of regional

school districts for the administration and coordination of K-12 Career and Technical

Education (CTE) and Exploration programs. Oliver reviewed the numerous districts and

programs the Northern Kane EFE supports. She reviewed the school based career and

technical education programs that are offered throughout the county. She shared

tables depicting the Kane County Career and Technical Education Programs and the

schools offering the programs throughout the County. Oliver reviewed the Regional

Work Experience Cooperative Education Program (RWECEP). The RWECEP is

designed for those students who are enrolled in a Regional Safe School Program that

elect to participate in the work program. It entails courses to develop soft and job

search skills and provides teachers who support new job experiences, job shadowing,

and internships. Oliver provided information on the Special Education Transition

Programs. Illinois state law requires schools to begin transition planning for students

with an Individual Education Programs (IEPs at age 14.5. She listed the numerous

ways Kane County's ROE is connected to CTE, such as work permits, Institute Day

offerings related to CTE for educators, and culinary arts and DJ classes at the Juvenile

Justice Center (JJC). She provided several websites to learn more information about

these programs. Oliver addressed questions and comments from the Committee.

Discussion ensued.