RECORD
OF MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION
MORRISON
COMMUNITY UNIT DISTRICT #6
October
23, 2007
The
regular meeting of the Board of Education of Morrison Community Unit District
#6,
On
roll call, the following were present: Greg Houldson, Jim Prombo, Jim Ridley,
Kevin Schlueter, Steve Swanstrom, Ted Tilton and Sally Gray. Also present were
Superintendent Jody Ware, Fiscal Management Director Katie Kuehl, Karen Zuidema, District Auditor Russ Rumbold,
Recording Secretary Wendy Krajnovich, and three media representatives.
President
Sally Gray called for any changes or corrections to the minutes of the last
regular Board meeting held on October 9, 2007.
Hearing none, she asked for a motion to approve the previous minutes.
Motion:
Schlueter; Second: Houldson; to approve the minutes for the regular meeting of
October 9, 2007. Ayes: seven; Nays:
none. Motion carried.
INFORMATIONAL
REPORT
The
Auditor’s Report item was moved to the beginning of the agenda so Mr. Rumbold
could make his presentation.
Auditor’s
Report
Russ
Rumbold, district auditor from Gorenz and Associates, was present to give the
Board an overview of the FY07 audit.
Part of the responsibility of this firm is to give an opinion on the
district’s financial status. Mr. Rumbold
said the district scored a 3.8 on a scale of 4.0. The .2 was due to outstanding debt. He noted that because Morrison made the tough
decisions to make the cuts a few years ago, they are in a good position now.
Board President Sally Gray noted that thanks is due to Dr. Ware for her help in
getting the district in a much better financial position.
COMMUNICATIONS/PUBLIC
COMMENTS
Superintendent
Report
Dr.
Jody Ware announced that once again the Preschool For All grant was not
approved. Application will be made again
next year. Friday, October 19th
was a teacher institute day. Dr. G. Robb
Cooper met with all district teachers and administrators in the morning
discussing legal issues for schools.
Teachers were invited to submit questions prior to the
presentation. In the afternoon the
teachers worked on local assessments. State
playoffs for football begin this Saturday, October 27th. American Education Week is the second week in
November. Refreshments will be provided
for the staff as a thank you from the Board of Education on November 1st during parent-teacher conferences.
Building
Administration
Junior
High Principal Darryl Hogue reported that he has made several presentations for
local groups to recruit volunteer tutors.
Junior High teachers are writing assessments and giving them to their
students. Some teachers have attended
workshop sessions on assessment writing.
Mr. Hogue, Janet Ward, Dr. Ware and consultant Joe Crawford will be
making presentations at three different sites on how our district makes data
driven decisions. Grades were printed on
Monday and the system worked smoothly.
Sixth grade had a field day with the objective of students working
together in teams. A representative from
the wellness grant provider visited our schools recently and was impressed with
the progress made toward being named one of the first “U.S. Healthy Schools” in
Elementary
Principal Amy Heusinkveld reported the use of the DIBELS evaluation as a
screening tool to determine student reading progress in grades K-3. Teachers use the results to monitor progress
and group students accordingly. Students
in grades 1-5 also are given the Gates McGinitie reading assessment as part of
the Reading Improvement and Title 1 grant.
Kindergarten students were given the Illinois Snapshot of Early Learning
in late September and the results will be shared with parents at conference
time. On October 24th,
Kindergarten students will be visiting Selmi’s
to
learn about agriculture and pumpkin farming.
Funds for the trip were provided by a grant from the Extension
Office.
Elementary
teachers continue their assessment writing and will administer them at the end
of the first quarter. Fifth
RECORD
OF MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION
MORRISON
COMMUNITY UNIT DISTRICT #6
October
23, 2007
grade
and Junior High teachers attended a presentation focusing on teaching writing
skills to students. Fall Fun Fest is at
Northside on Friday. A bench was damaged
at Northside over the weekend, and a police report was filed.
High
School Principal Janet Ward reported the Morrison football team won the Big
Rivers Conference. Many players were
chosen for the all-conference team. Adam
Cook was selected as Player of the Year.
The golf team placed 7th at State. Volleyball begins regionals this week. Students from band, senior choir and junior
mixed choir were selected to participate in the Illinois Music Educators
District Festival. High school teachers
also continue to work on assessments.
First quarter grades will be mailed this week. Several math teachers attended a workshop on
improving PSAE scores. Two English
teachers returned from a workshop with new ideas for improving reading. Parent-teacher conferences begin next
week. The high school crisis team met
with the other building teams and emergency response personnel to review and
update the crisis plan.
Public
Comments
There
were no public comments.
INFORMATIONAL
REPORTS
Financial
Report as of September 30, 2007
The
Financial Report was reviewed.
Treasurer’s
Report as of September 30, 2007
The
Treasurer’s Report was reviewed.
Financial
Comparisons: FY06, FY07, FY08
The
Financial Comparisons report was reviewed.
2005-2006
Special Education Profile
Dr.
Ware reviewed a report from the State of
SB-1463
– Moment of Silence
On
October 11, 2007, the Illinois General Assembly approved the Silent Reflection
and Student Prayer Act to be effective immediately. The text from the actual bill reads: “Sec.1.
In each public school classroom the teacher in charge shall observe a brief
period of silence with the participation of all the pupils therein assembled at
the opening of every school day. This
period shall not be conducted as a religious exercise but shall be an
opportunity for silent prayer or for silent reflection on the anticipated
activities of the day.” Observance in
the Morrison Schools is just before the reciting of the Pledge of Allegiance at
the beginning of the school day.
HB
2693 passed by the General Assembly in 2005 requires all school districts to
establish minimum requirements and standards for schools to follow when
conducting school safety drills and reviewing school emergency and crisis
response plans. An annual review of the
school buildings’ emergency and crisis response plans, protocols and procedures
is also required. Our district held this
meeting on Tuesday, October 16th.
It was noted that a school board member or designee needs to be part of
the committee. Ted Tilton, who also
serves on the district facilities committee agreed to serve on this school
safety committee.
CONSENT
AGENDA
Motion:
Tilton; Second: Swanstrom; to approve the items on the consent agenda
consisting of approval of the District Bills as of October 23, 2007, the
Financial Report as of September 30, 2007, Treasurer’s Report as of September
30, 2007, and personnel recommendations.
Ayes:
Ridley, Schlueter, Swanstrom, Tilton, Houldson, Prombo, Gray. Nays: none.
Motion carried.
RECORD
OF MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION
MORRISON
COMMUNITY UNIT DISTRICT #6
October
23, 2007
ACTION
ITEMS
Audit
Approval
Motion:
Schlueter; Second: Prombo; to approve the FY07 audit as presented.
Ayes:
seven; Nays: none. Motion carried.
WACC
Transportation Agreement
Again
this year a request has been made by the
Motion:
Swanstrom; Second: Houldson; to approve the amendment to the district’s
transportation contract with R. C. Smith to transport WACC Health Occupation
students to the Pavilion or to Exceptional Care located in Sterling, IL.
Ayes:
Swanstrom, Tilton, Houldson, Prombo, Ridley, Schlueter, Gray. Nays: none.
Motion carried.
Friends
of Swimming Fundraising Project
Motion:
Prombo; Second: Swanstrom; to approve the fundraiser for the Friends of
Swimming to sell cement blocks located on the east wall of the Morrison High
School pool area, limiting the contents to name, business, donor, anonymous, or
left blank.
Ayes:
seven. Nays: none. Motion carried.
High
School Activity Account – Wrestling
Motion:
Houldson; Second: Schlueter; to approve the addition of an additional high
school activity account dedicated to wrestling.
Ayes:
seven. Nays: none. Motion carried.
COMMITTEE
REPORTS
Policy
Committee
No
report
Strategic
Planning
No
report
Personnel/Negotiations
No
report
Finance
Committee
The
committee met with district auditor, Russ Rumbold, before the meeting.
Facilities
Committee
No
report
Citizens’
Advisory Committee
Greg
Houldson reported that the committee will meet on October 29th at
3:30 P.M.
Extra-Curricular
Committee
No
report
RECORD
OF MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION
MORRISON
COMMUNITY UNIT DISTRICT #6
October
23, 2007
Insurance
Committee
No
report
Local
Wellness Committee
No
report
Energy/Utility
Committee
Steve
Swanstrom reported we are in good position for winter. Natural gas storage is currently at 85%
capacity.
CLOSED
SESSION 7:48 P.M.
Motion:
Tilton; Second: Houldson; to enter into a closed session for the purpose of the
appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance or dismissal of
an employee and review of the closed session minutes of October 9, 2007.
Ayes:
Houldson, Prombo, Ridley, Schlueter, Swanstrom, Tilton, Gray. Nays: none.
Motion carried.
CONCLUDE
CLOSED SESSION AND RETURN TO OPEN SESSION 8:06 P.M.
Motion:
Schlueter; Second: Houldson; to conclude the closed session and return to open
session. Ayes: Prombo, Ridley,
Schlueter, Swanstrom, Tilton, Houdson, Gray.
Nays: none. Motion carried.
ACTION
FROM CLOSED SESSION
Motion:
Houldson; Second: Prombo; to approve the closed session minutes of October 9,
2007. Ayes: seven. Nays: none.
Motion carried.
ADJOURNMENT
8:09 P.M.
President
Sally Gray adjourned the meeting by consent at 8:09 P.M.
(President)
__________________________________________
(Secretary)
__________________________________________
Date Approved: _________________________