RECORD
OF MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION
MORRISON
COMMUNITY UNIT DISTRICT #6
March
18, 2008
The
regular meeting of the Board of Education of Morrison Community Unit District
#6,
March
18, 2008.
On
roll call, the following were present: Doug Pannier, Jim Ridley, Kevin
Schlueter, Steve Swanstrom, Ted Tilton and Sally Gray. Board member Jim Prombo
was absent. Also present were
Superintendent Jody Ware, High School Principal Janet Ward, Junior High Principal
Darryl Hogue, Elementary Principal Amy Heusinkveld, Colleen Buckwalter, Julie
Mickley, Bill Simpson, Deanne Simpson, Sandra Bechtel, Heather Stoudt, Jerry
Navarra , Tammy Deter, Kelly Vegter, Erik Carlson, Adam Smith, Wendy Connelly,
Karen Mayberry, Deb Beckstrom, Recording Secretary Wendy Krajnovich, and two
media representatives.
President
Sally Gray called for any changes or corrections to the minutes of the last
regular Board meeting held on February 12, 2008, and the special meeting held
on March 3, 2008. Board Member Ted
Tilton noted one correction on the minutes of February 12th. President Gray asked for a motion to approve the
previous minutes.
Motion:
Schlueter; Second: Tilton; to approve
the minutes for the regular meeting of February 12, 2008, as corrected, and the
special meeting of March 3, 2008. Ayes:
six; Nays: none. Motion carried.
COMMUNICATIONS/PUBLIC
COMMENTS
Superintendent’s
Report
Dr.
Jody Ware reported that it has been very busy lately. A lot of time has been spent on the
superintendent search. She reported that
she, Board members Kevin Schlueter and Steve Swanstrom, and Fiscal Director
Katie Kuehl had met with the district’s attorney to prepare for upcoming
teacher negotiations. Meetings have
also been held recently for the Health/Life Safety HVAC and swimming pool
renovation projects. The Finance Committee and the Grading Committee have
met. Principals continue their work on
revising the student handbooks for 2008-2009.
Building
Administration
Junior
High Principal Darryl Hogue reported that ISAT testing is completed. The students appreciated the daily snacks and
prizes. The student of the month
assembly will be held after break. Honor
Roll students will also be recognized.
Social studies instructor Antony Deter was selected by an Asian study
group to participate in a three-week educational trip to
Elementary
Principal Amy Heusinkveld reported they also have completed ISAT testing. Preschool screenings will be completed
tomorrow. The Morrison Early Childhood Consortium will meet after break to discuss
results and make program recommendations.
The Kindergarten Round-up parent meeting will be held on Thursday, April
3rd. Northside teachers have
completed their training with the Gretchen Courtney trainer. Southside is participating in the Illinois
Move and Crunch Challenge. This involved
tracking physical activity and fruit and vegetable intake for one week. Students, teachers and parents
participated. The Accelerated Reading
swim party was held last Thursday for 83 students. Anji Garza and Jenny Williams applied for a
preschool grant for a garden award consisting of garden items.
High
School Principal Janet Ward reported that she and guidance counselor Jennifer
Robinson attended the Connections Conference.
They attended sessions regarding standardized testing. Mrs.Robinson is attending an AP conference. High school is preparing to take the PSAE in
April. Cassie Heusinkveld has been named
a student of the month at WACC for Child Care. THE National Bank is providing nine magazine
subscriptions for the high school library.
New football uniforms have arrived.
Team Dance
RECORD
OF MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION
MORRISON
COMMUNITY UNIT DISTRICT #6
March
18, 2008
Public
Comments
Bill
Simpson addressed the Board regarding the possible changes to the grading
scale, and noted that grade point average is important for getting into
college.
Julie
Mickley also addressed the Board about the grading scale. She is concerned for students who struggle;
raising the grading scale will make it more difficult for these students.
Erik
Carlson spoke about grades. He is a
member of the Citizens’ Advisory Committee, and has read the articles Dr. Ware
has given the committee regarding grading scales. He feels students need internal motivators to
raise their expectations, but raising grades is an artificial way to raise expectations.
Dr.
Ware responded to those in attendance regarding their concerns. One of the district’s tasks is to create a
common grading scale. This is still in
study, and nothing has been presented to the Board yet. A second district task is to create a common
make-up homework procedure.
INFORMATIONAL
REPORTS
Financial
Report as of February 29, 2008
The
Financial Report was reviewed.
Treasurer’s
Report as of February 29, 2008
The
Treasurer’s Report was reviewed.
Financial
Comparisons FY06, FY07, FY08
The
Financial Comparisons Report was reviewed.
Members
of the
Elementary
Principal Amy Heusinkveld, Kindergarten teacher Wendy Connelly, first grade
teacher Karen Mayberry, and second grade teacher Deb Beckstrom presented the
Northside Improvement Plan. Since there
are no state mandated tests at that level, they are measured on how well the
third graders at Southside perform. At
Northside, they do a number of local assessments quite frequently, continually
assessing progress. The 3 R’s are the
focus of learning at Northside as they are the foundation for future learning.
Eighth
Grade Graduation Date
Eighth
grade graduation will be held at the
Special
Education Projection 2008-2009
Each
year a special education needs assessment is done by Bi-County Special
Education Cooperative. This assessment
uses a projection of numbers of students needing special education services for
the next year. Due to the results, Dr.
Ware recommends no changes to the current staffing level for next year.
RECORD
OF MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION
MORRISON
COMMUNITY UNIT DISTRICT #6
March
18, 2008
HVAC/Health-Life
Safety Update
A
facilities meeting was held with Bradley & Bradley Architects and Metro
Engineering to make decisions regarding the upcoming Health/Life Safety
project. It was decided to put a
separate heating/cooling system in the shop/weight room area of the building,
and not to include that area in the geothermal system. Also, the air conditioning of the gym will be
an alternate bid. The Finance Committee members
reviewed a cost analysis last week, and are looking at options for issuing
bonds.
Local
Options Sales Tax
In
February, Dr. Ware and Fiscal Management Director Katie Kuehl attended a
meeting on the new Local Options Sales Tax Law.
This law allows all counties, except Cook, to impose a sales tax that
cannot exceed a penny, to be used exclusively for school facility improvement
purposes, thereby providing some property tax relief. Dr. Ware said she would like to see the
Morrison Board of Education start organizing efforts in the county to bring
this to a vote.
Assessment
Appeal
There
was an error on the assessment for Morrison Elderly resulting in a loss of
$657,440 in EAV. Morrison Elderly is
considered a Section 25-Low Income Housing Unit, and should have been appraised
at yearly income instead of fair cash value.
We
recently received a letter from
2008-2009
Transportation Contract
Dr.
Ware has prepared the draft of the annual contract with RC Smith/Scenic Stage
Transportation, the provider of student busing for our district. There is an increase of 4% for daily
operations. Again this year, there is no
increase in the Athletic Rate/Field Trip Rate/Other Rate.
Projected
Enrollment
Dr.
Ware discussed projected enrollment for next year. She provided two documents: one for the
consolidation packet based on 2006 numbers, and another using the Cohort
Survival formula including the 2007 numbers.
The number of students graduating compared to the number of student
enrolling in kindergarten results in a loss of 37 students. This results in a decline in General State
Aid, which is our main source of revenue. Dr. Ware is particularly concerned about the
size of the 08-09 third grader class and the decrease in enrollment for the
incoming kindergartners.
Pool
Project Update
The
bid opening for the pool project is scheduled to be held on April 3rd. The pool will close on April 7th. Metro Engineering is currently finalizing the
design. The plan needs to be approved by the Illinois Department of Health
before reconstruction can begin. It will
take approximately 6-8 weeks for IDPH to approve the plan. Taking care of the demolition right away will
allow for construction to begin as soon as possible after the plan
approval. Substantial completion will be
set for July 28th to allow for punch list items to be taken care of
so the pool can reopen for the start of girls’ swimming on August 10th.
Football/Baseball
Scoreboards
The
RECORD
OF MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION
MORRISON
COMMUNITY UNIT DISTRICT #6
March
18, 2008
CONSENT
AGENDA
Motion:
Tilton; Second: Schlueter; to approve the consent agenda consisting of District
Bills as of March 18, 2008; Financial Report as of February 29, 2008;
Treasurer’s Report as of February 29, 2008; Financial Comparisons: FY06,
FY07,
FY08; personnel recommendations; and an addendum to the personnel
recommendations: Ayes: Ridley,
Schlueter, Swanstrom, Tilton, Pannier, Gray.
Nays: none. Motion carried.
ACTION
ITEMS
Non-Renewal
Reduction in Force – Certified Staff
Angela
Sensor was hired last fall to provide supplemental academic support to fifth
grade students in the areas of reading and math.
Motion:
Ridley; Second: Pannier; to adopt the reduction in force resolution for
non-renewal of Angela Sensor. Ayes:
Schlueter, Swanstrom, Tilton, Pannier, Ridley, Gray. Nays: none.
Motion carried.
Bi-County
Special Education Rental Agreement
Bi-county
Special Education Director Drew Hoffman has requested to again rent office and
classroom space at Northside and Southside.
Motion:
Schlueter; Second: Ridley; to approve renting classroom and office space at
Northside Elementary and Southside Elementary to Bi-County Special Education
Cooperative. Ayes: Swanstrom, Tilton,
Pannier, Ridley, Schlueter, Gray. Nays:
none. Motion carried.
Delta
Dental/Vision Insurance
A
two year proposal has been received from Phoenix Group of
Motion:
Swanstrom; Second: Tilton; to accept the Delta Dental and Vision Two Year
Proposal. Ayes: six. Nays: none.
Motion carried.
Partial
Abatement of Working Cash to Building Fund
Some
of the money plus interest earned from a working cash bond issued in May 2005
needs to be transferred, or abated, to the Building Fund. This money is to be used for capital
projects.
Motion:
Schlueter; Second: Ridley; to adopt the resolution to partially abate the
working cash bonds as a permanent transfer of $114,308.50 to the Building Fund.
Tenured
Staff List
Approval
of the Tenured Staff List was postponed until the next Board of Education
meeting.
COMMITTEE
REPORTS
Policy
Committee
A
new packet of policy changes was just received.
Strategic
Planning Committee
No
report.
Personnel/Negotiations
This
topic will be addressed in tonight’s closed session.
Finance
Committee
No
report
RECORD
OF MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION
MORRISON
COMMUNITY UNIT DISTRICT #6
March
18, 2008
Facilities
Committee
Ted
Tilton reported the committee reviewed procedures for certified use of the
defibrillators. Use of the district’s
facilities
for private parties, such as holiday dinners, has been eliminated. Construction of a storage building on the
north
side of the athletic fields for storage of elements of the geothermal/HVAC
construction project is being considered.
Items could be stored here rather than by contractors who have storage
space issues, plus the items would be available and ready to install when
needed. The estimated savings from the
geothermal system should be 30-40% on heating bills, resulting in a 6-7 year
payoff.
Citizens’
Advisory Committee
No
report
Extra-Curricular
Committee
Plans
are underway for the new concession stand.
Insurance
Committee
Property
insurance will be on the Board agenda in April.
Local
Wellness Committee
The
next meeting will be held in May.
Energy/Utility
Committee
Steven
Swanstrom reported that prices are up.
CLOSED
SESSION 8:41 P.M.
Motion:
Ridley; Second: Tilton; to enter into a closed session for the appointment,
employment, compensation, discipline, performance, or dismissal of a specific
employee of the District; and for collective bargaining matters between the
District and its employees or their representatives. Ayes: Pannier, Ridley, Schlueter, Swanstrom,
Tilton, Gray. Nays: none. Motion carried.
RETURN
TO OPEN SESSION 10:06 P.M.
Motion:
Schlueter; Second: Prombo; to conclude the closed session and return to open
session. Ayes: Ridley, Schlueter,
Swanstrom, Tilton, Pannier, Gray. Nays:
none. Motion carried.
ACTION
FROM CLOSED SESSION
Motion:
Schlueter; Second: Pannier; to approve the closed session minutes of February
26, March 3, March 12, March 13, and March 17, 2008. Ayes: six.
Nays: none. Motion carried.
ADJOURNMENT
Board
President Sally Gray adjourned the meeting by consent at 10:08 P.M.
(President)
___________________________________________
(Secretary)
___________________________________________
Date Approved _________________________