Council members discussed education strategy and directed staff on July 17 to send two questionnaires — one to local school principals and one to the Education Advisory Board — intended to gather specific ideas about what the village can do to support schools.

Mayor and council members cited recent school-grade improvements — "4 A's and 2 B's" across six local schools — and said the questionnaires should ask recipients to describe, concretely, how they envision the village supporting schools rather than providing general suggestions. One council member urged the questions be phrased to ask principals and board members to outline what they envision the village doing and what that support would look like in practice.

Why it matters: council members said targeted feedback will help avoid echo-chamber discussions and produce implementable actions to support schools, civic engagement and student civics programs. Council members also discussed encouraging youth participation in local advisory roles so younger residents gain experience with civic processes.

What the council directed: staff was authorized to incorporate council feedback and distribute the final questionnaires to the two target groups; members asked for wording changes to emphasize the village’s distinct role versus the school district’s responsibilities. Council members also noted one existing request from principals about allowing outside advertising on school property as a revenue source and flagged the need to define permissible activities given village codes.

Next steps: staff will revise the questionnaires to reflect council input and submit them to principals and the Education Advisory Board for responses to inform the council’s strategic planning.