The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
West Central Community Unit School District #235 Board of Education
At the Wednesday, February 18, 2009 regular meeting of the West Central CUSD #235 Board of Education the meeting was called to order at 5:00 p.m. by Board President Brent with all board members, except Torrance, present at roll call.
Board member Torrance entered the meeting at 6 p.m.
The board approved the consent agenda which included:
The board approved the agenda with one additional item. The board added, at the request of Supt. Grimm, action item (F) change in the date of Middle School Promotion to May 26, 2009.
The board approved President Lonnie Brent as a hearing officer for the purpose of conducting a student disciplinary hearing.
The board entered closed session to discuss matters pertaining to student discipline at 5:05 p.m.
The board exited closed session at 5:39 p.m. and expelled a West Central High School student for the remainder of the 2008-09 school year and the first semester of the 2009-2010 school year.
After a brief recess, the board reconvened in the elementary cafeteria at 5:55 p.m. At that time, President Brent led the audience in the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.
Under good news items, the following items were highlighted by those in attendance:
Under the recognition of audience request for presentation the board heard a brief report from WCHS Senior Miriam Rutzen concerning the WCHS Student Council blood drive which will be held on March 6th and the board was given an invitation to attend the WCHS Showcase which will be held on Wednesday, March 18, 2009 as well as an invitation to participate in a "Are You Smarter than a High Schooler" challenge match with the High School Scholastic Bowl Team.
Following Miss Rutzen's presentation, the board heard a report from CSC envoy, Sam Sudaker regarding the events that are happening at Carl Sandburg College.
The board approved payment of all bills as presented and the January activity accounts for WCES, WCMS, and WCHS.
The board also approved the January 2009 treasurer's report and heard a brief review of the district's financial report from Supt. Grimm.
A resolution was approved by the board regarding the sale of some land to the Illinois Department of Transportation.
This sale amounts to .347 acres of ground which will be used to transform the current "Y" intersection of Routes 94 and 34 to a "T" intersection.
Work on the intersection change is scheduled to begin sometime around the middle of June 2009.
The board approved a health life safety amendment for the replacement of a hot water heater at West Central Middle School as presented.
The board heard a report from District Technology Coordinator Melinda Frakes on the district's new three-year technology plan.
Following a brief question and answer session regarding the three-year plan, the board approved the plan as presented and authorized Mrs. Frakes to submit the plan to ISBE by the February 27, 2009 deadline.
The board approved a request to change the date of the West Central Middle School Promotion exercise from Tuesday, May 19, 2009 to Tuesday, May 26, 2009. The promotion exercises will begin at 7 p.m. and be held in the Middle School gym.
The board heard reports from WCE Principal Dale Buss, WCMS Principal Jeff Nichols, and WCHS Principal Phil Geiser.
The board heard a report from District Curriculum Director Jeanne Serven on the activities that she has been involved in over the course of the past month.
The board heard a report from District Technology Coordinator Melinda Frakes and District Special Education Coordinator Jamie Farniok.
The board briefly discussed a proposal to lease a new fleet of buses from Midwest Bus Sales. The proposal calls for leasing 18-2010 Thomas buses from Midwest Bus Sales in the amount of $225,900. This new lease would allow the district to turn in the current bus fleet in exchange for a fleet of 18 new 2010 buses.
The board was informed that the current cost of the lease is $221,620. The board directed Supt. Grimm to seek a couple of alternative lease arrangements and amounts given some different leasing scenarios.
Supt. Grimm indicated that he would do that and have this item as an action item at the March board meeting.
The board reviewed a rather lengthy report from District Architect Bill Phillips regarding several significant building issues that we are dealing with at this time. Mr. Phillips was present at the meeting to answer questions.
The board did direct Supt. Grimm and Mr. Phillips to proceed on repairing the sink hole in the south parking lot on the south campus and to move forward on repairing the lights on the ball diamond on the south campus.
Mr. Phillips was directed to prepare life safety amendments for both projects. In addition, the board asked that the building and grounds sub-committee review the remaining items that were presented for discussion and bring back to the entire board at their March meeting a list of items that the board should consider further.
The board heard a report from Mrs. Serven regarding the activities completed over the course of the last month relative to the Curriculum Audit recommendations. The board expressed their pleasure at the items that had been completed to date.
The board briefly reviewed a board policy related to board communications. A draft addition to one of the policies was presented for the board to consider.
That draft addition was referred to the board's policy sub-committee. That committee will meet and make a recommendation to the rest of the board at the March board meeting.
The board briefly discussed the proposed 2009-2010 school district calendar. There were no negative comments from the board regarding the proposed calendar. The current draft calendar will be presented to the board for approval at the March 2009 board meeting.
The board spent some time reviewing the list of possible budget reductions. Several items were taken off the list as being items that the board did not wish to consider further.
The board briefly discussed compensation for the SIP team members. Following a brief discussion, while the board expressed their appreciation to all who serve on a school improvement team, it was the decision of the board at the request of the Superintendent and the administrative team to not pursue compensation for SIP team members at this time.
The board briefly discussed again the extra curricular activity PM shuttle bus routes that are currently being utilized.
It was the consensus of the board to continue providing this extra curricular shuttle even though on some evenings, there are very few riders.
It was pointed out to the board that these shuttles are extremely important to those students who participate in our after school enrichment and tutoring programs and that for these reasons these shuttles should be continued.
It was also noted that on many nights the shuttle buses are very full to the point that some nights two shuttle buses could be used.
The board briefly discussed the National Career Readiness Certificate Program as put forth by the ACT Company.
Mrs. Serven reported on some information that she had gathered relative to this project.
It was the consensus of the board to continue to investigate this program and that Mr. Geiser should take this program back to his school improvement team for discussion.
The board was reminded that there is a special board meeting on Saturday, February 21, 2009. This meeting will be held at the Henderson County Library's conference room and begin at 7:30 a.m. The agenda for that meeting was distributed to the board. There were no additions or changes noted for this agenda.
Supt. Grimm reviewed briefly with the board the March 5, 2009 public meeting to discuss district finances. It was the consensus of the board that this meeting should be treated as a board meeting and an agenda should be created and posted for this meeting.
Supt. Grimm reviewed with the board the key points that he felt should be presented and the board concurred. That meeting will be open to the public and it will be promoted through the Connect-Ed messaging system.
There were no items listed under the future agenda item section of the agenda.
The board entered closed session at 8:56 p.m. to discuss matters pertaining to personnel.
The board exited closed session at 9:39 p.m. and took the following action.
The board was reminded of the board retreat on Saturday, February 21, 2009 at 7:30 a.m. held at the Henderson County Library and the Wednesday, March 18, 2009 regular meeting. This meeting will be held in the elementary cafeteria and begin at 6 p.m.
There being no other business to come before the board, the meeting was adjourned at approximate 9:40 p.m.