The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
It was another busy session at the May 4th regularly scheduled meeting of the West Central School District #235 Board of Education.
President Lonnie Brent called the board to order at approximately 6:00 p.m. with all board members present for roll call, except Brad Arnold. Mr. Arnold joined the meeting at approximately 6:20 p.m.
President Brent led the audience in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Under "good news" items, board member Richard Clifton complimented the Union Staff for the National Honor Society reunion held prior to this year's NHS Induction Ceremony held on April 10th.
Board President Brent mentioned there would be "good news" later in the agenda when the discussion of grants took place.
Principal Buss mentioned the success of the Southern's prom with attendance by several board members of the new district.
"Sporting Event Locations", was added to the agenda at the request of Mr. Grimm, W.C. Supt.
Board member Paul Anderson requested that Consent Agenda Item WCHS driver Ed/PE teacher and WCHS part time Science teacher be pulled from the consent agenda for action after the Executive Session. The following items were approved under the consent agenda:
- The minutes of the March 30, 2005, Regular Meeting, the March 30, 2005 and April 7,
2005, Executive Session and the Special Meeting of April 7, 2005.
- The District 235 School Calendar for 2005-2006
- Membership of the school board in the Illinois Association of School Boards for $2,657
- A listing of sports activities to offer students beginning in August of 2005 for District 235
The board approved a request by the West Central Association of Teachers to also be the official representative of the district support staff. The new association will be recognized as the West Central Association of Teachers and Staff (WCATS).
The artwork prepared by Jostens for the district logo was reviewed. From a list of approximately 18 choices, the board selected three that they would be comfortable with.
The final three selections will be presented to the students in this year's 5th through 11th grades to be voted on for district logo.
The choice selected will then be considered as the new district logo.
District administrators will conduct the election as soon as possible.
The final logo selected will be brought back to the board for approval at the May 18, 2005, board meeting.
A bid was approved from Dan and Lisa Ayers of La Harpe for the sanding, repainting, etc of the gym floors in the Biggsville and Stronghurst Campus in the amount of $9,780. This work will be scheduled to be completed over the summer.
A bid of $32,017.50 from Temple Sporting Goods was approved for the purchase of athletic uniforms for the 2005-2006 school year.
The board reviewed a total of three bids from three different vendors. District Athletic Director Jay Blender was thanked for his work on overseeing the process that resulted in these bids.
Under Current District Updates, the board heard a report from District 115 member Allaman regarding the recent board reorganization meeting.
They heard a similar report from District 120 board member Arnold concerning the recent reorganization of this board. Board member Arnold was congratulated on being elected President of the District 120 Board.
The board heard brief reports from each of the three building principals.
Dale Buss is working with the staff on the new handbook, by starting with combining both existing handbooks.
Jeff Nichols is working on the handbook, game schedules for next year, playground equipment to be added at Jr. High school with help from the PTC and class schedules.
Karen Rima reported the master schedule is nearly complete, student schedules and staffing are almost finalized. They are in the process of ordering textbooks and classroom supplies.
A Carl Sandburg representative is coming on May 17th to test students for admission into the dual credit program.
Upcoming dates include Homecoming, September 16th with Cambridge;
May 17th will be pom pon tryouts; the handbook draft is due by May 18th and the summer school classes will run from June 13-July 1 offering Math, English, Government, and Technology classes.
Under the Curriculum Director's Report the board was informed that District Curriculum Director Jeanne Serven would be overseeing the preparation of our State and Federal Grants for next year.
At this time, the total dollar value of the grants to be coordinated is approximately $475,000.
Also, as part of this report, the board was informed of the results of the recently completed staff development needs assessment as well as plans for providing staff professional development opportunities during the month of June.
A report from District 115 librarian, Linda Michael, was given on combining, the two district libraries. As part of her report, Mrs. Michael made four recommendations to the board regarding various issues related to combining the libraries.
Two of the recommendations concerning joining the Alliance Library System and some software purchases will be approved by the board at their May 18th meeting.
The other two proposals will require additional discussion.
Carl Sandburg College representative Sam Sudhaker reported on the proposed Wireless Wide Area Network.
After a discussion on the proposed network, it was the consensus of the board to enter into an intergovernmental agreement with the college that will allow District 235 to be a participant in this project.
The primary benefit of this project will be to provide the district with access to the World Wide Web with more band width than we currently receive for less money than we are currently paying.
The intergovernmental agreement will be voted on at the May 18th board meeting.
The board was polled to see how many would like to attend the annual school board conference held each year in November in Chicago.
All seven board members indicated an interest in attending this conference.
Board member Allman agreed to represent the board at the IASB Delegate Assembly also held during this conference.
The board heard a report from Superintendent Grimm that the first meeting to begin the bargaining process for the first District #235 contract will be held on Wednesday, May 18, 2005 at 3:45 p.m. on the Biggsville campus.
Federal mediator and an associate will meet with the bargaining committees from each side in an introductory meeting.
The primary purposes of this meeting will be to discuss the ground rules that will be followed during the process as well as to set dates for the training sessions, the communication lab and the actual bargaining sessions.
Mr. Grimm reported that a possible date for the training session would be Friday, June 3, in the afternoon and Saturday, June 4th. Board members Allaman and Arnold agreed to represent the board at this meeting.
Other board members indicated that they might attend if possible. All board members were encouraged to attend the training sessions.
The board heard a brief report on a meeting the superintendent had with the Pre-K staff and the Even Start staff.
The board was informed that an additional meeting will be scheduled in the near future to continue discussions with these two groups.
The board engaged in a discussion regarding dual participation in sports activities.
As part of this discussion, the board agreed that a Junior High boy may only play either baseball or football in the fall, but not both.
The board also agreed that sixth grade boys will be allowed to play on the fall baseball team.
In the area of dual participation in sporting activities at the high school level, the board was reluctant to come forth with a specific policy, instead choosing to leave this issue up to the coaches who might be involved.
The board was informed of and encouraged to attend a school funding rally to be held in Springfield on Wednesday, May 18, 2005.
The board was informed by the Superintendent that District #235 had been awarded a grant in the amount of approximately $52,000 by the Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation for the purposes of replacing the lighting in the Stronghurst facility and improving lighting in the parking lot at the Biggsville campus.
The board received a proposal from the auditing firm that is currently conducting the independent audit of district books for both districts for services for District #235 for FY 06.
Currently, the auditing firm is charging both districts a combined amount of $9,200. The proposal for District #235 is for an amount not to exceed $6,500.
The board will be asked to formally approve this proposal at the May 18, 2005, board meeting.
The board was next presented with a listing of proposed playing sites for district extracurricular activities.
The board was presented this document as an additional agenda item because there are some groups in town who wish to provide upgrades to these facilities and they needed to know where certain events were going to be played.
The list that was presented will be approved by the Board at their May 18, 2005, meeting.
The following items were presented to the Board as future agenda items:
A. District After School Program
B. District Advisory Council
C. First reading of Board Policies Sections 1, 2 and 8
26. The Board entered Executive Session to discuss matters pertaining to Personnel and Collective Bargaining at approximately 8:45 p.m.
Following the executive session, the board returned to open session and approved the employment of Steve Kemp as a Driver Ed/PE teacher for West Central High School and the employment of Larry Ives as a part time Science teacher for West Central High School.
The board adjourned their meeting at approximately 10:35 p.m.