The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
Biggsville-At a special meeting of the West Central CUSD #235 Board of Education held on Tuesday, March 31, 2009 the following items took place in the Unit Office Conference Room at 5:00 p.m. called to order by President Lonnie Brent.
All members except Mr. Sams, Mr. Torrance and Mr. Clifton were present at roll call. The board conducted a student discipline hearing and took the following action:
Following a short recess, the board reconvened the meeting in the elementary cafeteria.
After a roll call, board members Clifton and Torrance were identified as being absent.
The board conducted a lengthy discussion regarding proposed changes to the 2009-2010 parent/student handbooks.
Following that discussion, it was the consensus of the board that the administrative team should bring back to the board at their April 15th regular meeting, the elementary and middle school 2009-2010 parent/student handbooks for approval.
The board directed Mr. Geiser and Mr. Grimm to bring proposed revisions to the proposed 2009-2010 high school parent/student handbook.
The issue of change was in the area of earning back demerits, adding a revision to the counseling portion to the extra curricular activity code, and examining an addition to the extracurricular policy that would require a student to spend so many minutes per night working with the teacher of any class in which they are receiving a failing grade on the weekly ineligibility list.
The board reviewed the February 21st board retreat that was held to discuss the district's athletic programs.
As part of that discussion, the board reviewed a couple of handouts that Board President Brent prepared.
As part of that discussion, President Brent suggested that a board sub-committee be formed to study several issues around our athletic programs in more detail.
It was the consensus of the board to have this on the April 15th board meeting agenda as a discussion item.
The board briefly discussed the concept of weighted grades for dual credit courses.
As part of this discussion, the board reviewed a handout prepared by Mr. Geiser which reviewed the history of weighted grades in the previous two school districts.
Also, as part of that handout, Mr. Geiser listed several items to consider when looking at adding weighted grades to certain courses.
Upon further discussion, this particular discussion item was clarified to reflect the need or purpose of weighting certain classes as well as identifying additional opportunities for our higher performing students to keep them challenged as they progress through West Central High School.
Again, this item will receive additional discussion at the April 15th board meeting.
The board reviewed a letter from County Clerk Marcella Cisna in which she indicated her opinion that the board did not have the legal authority to amend their 2008 tax levy certificate at this time.
The board entered closed session to discuss matters pertaining to personnel at 8:14 p.m. The board exited closed session at approximately 10:10 p.m. Upon exiting closed session the board took the following action:
There being no other business to come before the board, the meeting was adjourned at approximately 10:15 p.m.