RECORD
OF MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION
MORRISON
COMMUNITY UNIT DISTRICT #6
February
14, 2006
The
regular meeting of the Board of Education of Morrison Community Unit District
#6,
On
roll call, the following were present: Dave Boyles, Kevin Schlueter, Ellen
Smith, Joy Tegeler, Kent Forth and Sally Gray.
Also present were Superintendent Jody Ware, Recording Secretary Wendy
Krajnovich, Kay Smith, Chris Tichler, Lee Baird, Jennifer Thorndike, and three
media representatives. Board member
Steve Swanstrom was absent.
President
Sally Gray called for any changes or corrections to the minutes of the last
Board meeting. Hearing none, she called
for a motion to approve the minutes of the previous meeting.
Motion:
Forth; Second: Smith; To approve the minutes of the regular meeting of January 24,
2006. Ayes – 6; Nays – none; motion
carried.
COMMUNICATIONS/PUBLIC
COMMENTS
Superintendent’s
Report
Dr.
Jody Ware accepted a check for $10,000 from Kay Smith representing Morrison
Athletic Boosters. Dr. Ware also
reported that the Booster’s last fundraising event was a Turkey Shortcake Dinner
with 227 served.
Dr.
Ware reminded the Board that the Multi-District Institute will be held on
Friday, February 16th with 565 participants expected to attend. There will be a keynote presenter speaking on
bullying, and then other sessions throughout the day. Breakfast and lunch will be served.
Dr.
Ware also noted that Governor Blagojevich would be making his annual speech on
the budget on Wednesday and outlining his plans for educational programs and
finances.
Building
Administration
No
reports were given.
Public
Comments
There
were no public comments.
Board
Comments
Board
member Ellen Smith reported there were positive remarks from a relative of hers
who recently enrolled her child at Northside.
She also noted that she appreciates the prompt thanks she gets from
schools whenever she makes donations from her place of business.
INFORMATIONAL
REPORTS
Qwizdom
– Pilot Project
Lee
Baird from Qwizdom provided a demonstration of his product. He passed out handheld remotes to the Board
and everyone else in attendance and went through a short test so all could see
how the product worked. The high school
science teachers had already met with Mr. Baird and were impressed with the
product. After an offer by Mr. Baird to
pilot new software, Dr. Ware met with all grade 3-9 language arts/reading, math
and science teachers. Unanimously, the
teachers wanted to pursue the project for the 2006-2007 school year. Student input in the remotes instead of on a
piece of paper would provide instant feedback to the teacher on lessons,
quizzes and tests. The piloted software
has been developed for assessing students’ performance on Illinois Learning
Standards.
After a lengthy discussion, the Board decided
to consider this an action item, and voted on purchasing the necessary
hand-held remotes and other equipment for the project. The software for the pilot project is
provided by Qwisdom at no charge.
RECORD
OF MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION
MORRISON
COMMUNITY UNIT DISTRICT #6
February
14, 2006
Motion
to purchase the necessary equipment to participate in the Qwisdom software
pilot project.
Motion:
Forth; Second: Boyles; Ayes -
Eighth
Grade Promotion Activity
Thursday,
May 25th, 2006, is the date that has been selected for the eighth
grade promotion activity. It will be
held at 7:00 P.M. in the
Library
Per Capita Grant
We
have recently been awarded our 2006 School Per Capita Grant of $870.73. This will be divided among the four libraries
for purchasing books. A requirement of
the grant is a yearly report to the Board of Education, and a written report
was provided by high school librarian, Laura Staublin.
District
2006/2007 Calendar
The
Board of Education was asked to review the calendar for the next school year. Since Veteran’s Day next year falls on a
Saturday, there will not be a day taken from school attendance. Action will be taken on the calendar at the
next Board of Education meeting.
2006-2007
Board Meeting Dates
The
Board of Education reviewed the schedule of regular meetings for the 2006-2007
school year. Action will be taken on the
calendar at the next Board of Education meeting.
Hodges/Loizzi
Attorney Rate Structure
A
letter was received by Superintendent Jody Ware from the district’s attorney
firm, Hodges, Loizzi, Eisenhammer, Rodick & Kohn notifying of adjustments
to their rate structure. There are
increases for both partner and associate services.
Health/Life
Safety Ten Year Study
The
Facilities Committee met with the district’s architect and that firm’s engineer
to review information about the swimming pool located in the high school and
received information on options for repairs and improvements.
Because
there are two “outside the parameters of the building violations”, we must have
a public hearing. The violations are the
pool ramp sidewalk and the guard railing on the back ramp leading to the boys’
locker room. A public hearing notice
will be published in the Whiteside Sentinel today, February 14th,
and the public hearing will be held on Tuesday, February 28th during
the next meeting of the Board of Education.
CONSENT
AGENDA
Motion
To Approve Routine Items
Motion:
Tegeler; Second: Schlueter; to approve the items on the consent agenda
consisting of a FMLA request from Northside teacher Karen Mayberry for fall
2006, and the disposal of Closed Session tapes from July 27, 2004 and August
10, 2004.
Ayes:
Schlueter, Smith, Tegeler, Boyles,
ACTION
ITEMS
Employee
Health Insurance – Life, AD & D
The
Insurance Committee has met twice and studied options to lower rates. Through competitive bidding by our health
insurance representative, lower rates have been negotiated. The committee decided to increase the office
co-pay from $20 to $30. Also, the AD
& D rate will remain the same for the third year in a row.
RECORD
OF MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION
MORRISON
COMMUNITY UNIT DISTRICT #6
February
14, 2006
Motion
to approve the adoption of the Employee Health, Life, AD & D Insurance Plan
with Blue Cross/Blue Shield from March 1, 2006 through February 28, 2007.
Motion:
Forth; Second: Boyles; Ayes - Boyles,
Personnel
Seniority List
Each
year the Board of Education is required by School Code to update, review, and
adopt the certified and non-certified personnel seniority list.
Motion
to approve the 2006 Personnel Seniority List.
Motion:
Boyles; Second: Smith; Ayes – six; Nays – none.
Motion carried.
City
of
Once
again, the City of
Motion
to adopt the intergovernmental Agreement with the City of
Motion:
Tegeler; Second:
Amendment
of N.I.A. Articles of Agreement
The
Northwestern Illinois Association (N.I.A.) cooperative provides services to the
surrounding school districts and Bi-County Special Education Cooperative for
meeting the needs of children with suspected hearing, vision, orthopedic and
multiple impairments. The N.I.A.
Executive Board met to review and update their Articles of Agreement. These amendments can only be implemented
after ratification by two-thirds of the member districts.
Motion
to approve the Amendment of the N.I.A. Articles of Agreement as presented.
Motion:
Tegeler; Second: Smith; Ayes – six; Nays – none. Motion carried.
COMMITTEE
REPORTS
Policy
Committee
No
report
Strategic
Planning
Ellen
Smith noted how well the strategic planning “plan on a page” is working and how
it has become a part of teachers’ everyday language.
Personnel/Negotiations
No
report
Finance
Committee
The
committee met last Tuesday.
Facilities
Committee
No
report
Citizen’s
Advisory Committee
Ellen
Smith reported the committee had met last month.
RECORD
OF MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION
MORRISON
COMMUNITY UNIT DISTRICT #6
February
14, 2006
Extra-Curricular
Committee
Dave
Boyles reported that the committee met last week and discussed the
extra-curricular budget for the year.
Insurance
Committee
It
was reported that insurance costs will increase by nine percent.
Local
Wellness Committee
Dr.
Ware and Food Service Director Sheila Richmond have met to discuss formation of
this new committee. A notice has been
published in the Sentinel asking for committee volunteers.
Energy
Committee
There
was no report but it was noted that another contract has been signed with
ProAlliance.
ADJOURNMENT
9:23
P.M.
Board
President Sally Gray adjourned the meeting by consent.
(President)
(Secretary) Date
Approved
