RECORD
OF MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION
MORRISON
COMMUNITY UNIT DISTRICT #6
February
20, 2007
The
regular meeting of the Board of Education of Morrison Community Unit District
#6,
On
roll call, the following were present: Steve Swanstrom, Joy Tegeler, Kevin
Schlueter, Kent Forth, Greg Houldson and Sally Gray. Board Member Dave Boyles was absent. Also present were Superintendent Jody Ware,
Amy Heusinkveld, Jim Ridley, Recording Secretary Wendy Krajnovich, and two
media representatives.
Board
President Sally Gray called for any changes or corrections to the minutes of
the last regular Board meeting held on January 23, 2007. Hearing none, she called for a motion to
approve the minutes of the previous meeting.
Motion:
Tegeler; Second:
Board
President Sally Gray asked if anyone wanted any item removed from the consent
agenda. Board member Greg Houldson asked
that the employment item be removed.
CLOSED
SESSION 5:05 P.M.
Motion:
Tegeler; Second:
6:18
P.M.
Motion:
Swanstrom; Second: Houldson; to conclude the closed session and return to open
session. Ayes: six. Nays: none.
Motion carried.
COMMUNICATIONS/PUBLIC
COMMENTS
Superintendent’s
Report
Superintendent
Ware noted an article in the Sterling Gazette on February 11th
featuring elementary physical education instructor Lorna Temple and our
district wellness plan and goals. She
noted the new security cameras have been installed at the high school, but not
yet at the junior high. She talked about
the building heating and snow problems experienced in the district last
week. She also mentioned the brownout
last Thursday, which happened mid-day and took down food service. No electrical damage has been found yet. The Multi-District Institute was held on
Friday, February 16th with 535 teachers from twelve districts
attending. This event was coordinated by
Dr. Ware, Drew Hoffman and Tim Schurman.
The high school and junior high were the lunch sites and all were served
within twenty minutes. Forty-five
workshops were offered. Arnie Vegter
from Morrison Athletic Boosters wants to present the next donation check for
the extracurricular fund at the upcoming Meet the Players event on March 9th. Board members Kevin Schlueter and Steve
Swanstrom will be attending and will accept the check.
Building
Administration
No
administrators were present.
Public
Comments
There
were no public comments.
Board
Comments
Greg Houldson relayed some parent comments
regarding clearing snow at Northside, students being out too long in the
extreme cold, and varying bus pickup schedules.
He had told the parents to contact the schools directly on all issues.
INFORMATIONAL REPORTS
Morrison Junior High & High School Art Field
Trip
Board members received a handout prepared by junior
high art instructor Ned Nesti reviewing the annual art trips for the junior
high and high school planned by Mr. Nesti and high school art instructor Stuart
Roddy. Prior to each trip,
RECORD
OF MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION
MORRISON
COMMUNITY UNIT DISTRICT #6
February
20, 2007
participating students attend a two-hour
orientation. Two art museums and city
experiences are included in the 17-18 hour trip to
Library Per Capita Grant
Morrison Community Unit District #6 has been
notified by the Office of Secretary of State, Jesse White, about our School
Library Per Capita Grant award of $845.41 to provide support for our schools’
library media program. A written report
on the district libraries was provided to the Board by high school librarian
Laura Staublin.
2007-2008 Board of Education Meeting Dates
While preparing the district calendar, Dr. Ware
also created a schedule for Board of Education meetings for the 2007-2008
school year. While two Board meetings a
month is the norm, only one meeting has been scheduled for the months of March,
June, July, November, and December. The
schedule will be officially approved at the next meeting.
Health/Life Safety Summer Work
Dr. Ware provided the Board with a Health/Life
safety project spreadsheet. She related
that she, Director of Facilities Dean Wallace, and representatives from Bradley
and Bradley Architects met at the end of January to review options for summer
projects in order to continue with the health/life safety plan of action. The Board tentatively agreed on a list of
projects to go out for bid soon, so work can begin as soon as school is out and
be completed by the end of August. Board
member Forth asked Dr. Ware to please seek bids for additional health/life
safety projects such as: flooring, and the canopy at Northside.
Weight Room Equipment Request
Dr. Ware has received requests for two pieces of
equipment for the weight room from Scott Rickels, Head Varsity Football
Coach. One is a cable crossover which is
a resistance tool that works the upper body.
The other is a lat pull which also builds the upper body. The balance in
the
CONSENT AGENDA
Motion: Tegeler; Second: Schlueter; to approve the
one item remaining on the Consent Agenda consisting of school activity fund
reports. Ayes: Tegeler, Swanstrom,
Houldson,
ACTION ITEMS
Employee
Health Insurance
Rate
quotes have been obtained from Blue Cross/Blue Shield for employee health,
life, and AD&D insurance for March 1, 2007 through February 28, 2008,
reflecting a 5.4% increase in district premiums. The district pays only the employee portion
of the premiums.
Motion:
Forth; Second: Houldson; to adopt the Employee Health, Life, AD&D Insurance
Plan with Blue Cross/Blue Shield for March 1, 2007 through February 28,
2008. Ayes:
Personnel
Seniority List
School
Code requires each school district to annually update and adopt the certified
seniority list during the month of February.
One staff member was added to tenure status, and no staff members have
taken a year’s leave of absence.
Motion:
Swanstrom; Second: Schlueter; to approve the 2007 Personnel Seniority
List. Ayes: six. Nays: none.
Motion carried.
Information was provided at the last meeting of the
Board of Education on textbook selections for high school science classes. Anticipated funding from the State of
RECORD
OF MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION
MORRISON
COMMUNITY UNIT DISTRICT #6
February
20, 2007
Motion: Tegeler; Second: Schlueter; to adopt the
Holt Chemistry (2006) textbook and the Holt-Spectrum Integrated Science: A
Balanced Approach (2006) textbook. Ayes:
Swanstrom, Schlueter, Houldson,
Fifth Grade Teacher Assistant Request
The fifth grade team and Mr. Wroble would like to
hire a “teacher trained” assistant to help provide individual student attention
and feedback until the end of the school year, due to the large fifth grade
enrollment. Rate of pay will be $75/day
for the remainder of the year, and will be funded through the elementary
substitute salary line.
Motion: Tegeler; Second: Schlueter; to add a
teacher assistant to the Southside fifth grade program due to large enrollment
in the classes. Ayes: six. Nays: none.
Motion carried.
Adoption of 2007-2008 School Calendar
Area superintendents plan their 2007-2008 school
year calendars to avoid conflicts with Bi-County Special Education and
Motion: Tegeler; Second: Houldson; to adopt the
2007-2008 school calendar. Ayes:
six; Nays: none. Motion carried.
Hodges/Loizzi Rate Increase
Motion: Forth; Second: Tegeler; to accept the rate
increase as set by district attorney firm, Hodges, Loizzi, Eisenhammer, Rodick
& Kohn. Ayes: six; Nays: none. Motion carried.
Elementary Principal Job Descriprion
The revised elementary principal job description
was reviewed by the Board at the last regular meeting. Several recommendations for changes were made
and have been incorporated into the final description.
Motion: Houldson; Second: Swanstrom; to adopt the
elementary principal job description as presented. Ayes: six; Nays: none. Motion carried.
Fifth Grade Assistant Position
Motion: Tegeler; Second: Forth; to hire Kim
Vandermyde as the fifth grade teacher assistant to the end of the 2006-2007
school year at a rate of $75/day. Ayes:
Tegeler, Schlueter, Houldson,
COMMITTEE REPORTS
Policy Committee
No report.
Strategic Planning
No report
Personnel/Negotiations
Kevin Schlueter had no report.
Finance Committee
Joy Tegeler had no report.
Facilities Committee
Facilities renovations and repairs were discussed
earlier in the meeting.
Citizens’ Advisory Committee
Dr. Ware reported that the committee will meet on
Monday.
RECORD
OF MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION
MORRISON
COMMUNITY UNIT DISTRICT #6
February
20, 2007
Extra-Curricular Committee
No report
Insurance Committee
Insurance was discussed earlier in the meeting.
Local Wellness Committee
Greg Houldson reported that five committee members
will be attending a state wellness workshop on Thursday in
Energy/Utility Committee
Steve Swanstrom reported our natural gas in storage
is down to 67%. Natural gas prices have
not risen, because the inventory was large.
It was noted at this time that there will not be a
quorum for next Tuesday’s meeting, so the meeting is cancelled.
CLOSED
SESSION 7:15 P.M.
Motion:
Houldson: Second: Schlueter; to enter into a closed session to consider the
employment, compensation, discipline and performance of personnel. Ayes:
Schlueter,
RETURN
TO OPEN SESSION 7:30 P.M.
Motion:
Swanstrom; Second: Houldson; to return to open session. Ayes: six; Nays: none. Motion carried.
RETURN
TO CLOSED SESSION 7:35 P.M.
Motion:Houldson;
Second:Schlueter; to enter into a closed session for the purpose of student
discipline. Ayes: Schlueter,
RETURN
TO OPEN SESSION 8:10 P.M.
Motion:
Swanstrom; Second: Houldson; to return to open session. Ayes: six; Nays: none. Motion carried.
ACTION
FROM CLOSED SESSION
Motion:
Houldson; Second: Forth; to expel student 290380-07 effective 2/20/07 for the
remainder of the school year (through 6/4/07) contingent upon the addendum and
exercising our right according to the IDEA to place the student in an
alternative educational setting. Ayes:
RETURN
TO CLOSED SESSION 8:15 P.M.
Motion:
Schlueter; Second: Houldson; to approve the minutes of a previous closed
session, and to consider the employment, compensation, discipline, and
performance of personnel or dismissal of personnel.
RETURN
TO OPEN SESSION 9:05 P.M.
Motion:
Schlueter; Second:
ACTION
FROM CLOSED SESSION
Motion:
Houldson; Second:
Nays:
none. Motion carried.
Motion:
Houldson; Second: Forth; to employ Amy Heusinkveld as the Northside/Southside
Elementary Principal for the 2007-2008 school year at a rate of $63,000 for an
eleven month contract. Ayes:
Board
President Sally Gray adjourned the meeting by consent at 9:14 P.M.
RECORD
OF MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION
MORRISON
COMMUNITY UNIT DISTRICT #6
February
20, 2007
(President)
______________________________________________
(Secretary)
______________________________________________ Date Approved
__________________________