RECORD
OF MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION
MORRISON
COMMUNITY UNIT DISTRICT #6
December
18, 2007
The
regular meeting of the Board of Education of Morrison Community Unit District
#6,
December
18, 2007.
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, High School Principal Janet Ward, Junior High
Principal Darryl Hogue, Elementary Principal Amy Heusinkveld, Consultant Joe
Crawford, Tony Nardi, Kent Forth, Harvey Zuidema, Steve Wilkens, 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 November 20, 2007, and the special meeting held
on November 20, 2007. Hearing none, she
asked for a motion to approve the previous minutes.
Motion:
Houldson; Second: Ridley; to approve the minutes for the regular meeting of
November 20, 2007, and the special meeting of November 20, 2007. Ayes: seven; Nays: none. Motion carried.
COMMUNICATIONS/PUBLIC
COMMENTS
Superintendent
Report
Dr.
Jody Ware noted the extra effort put forth by the district’s music instructors
at this time of year. Darlene Palmer,
David Bean and Cynthia Perrizo are going the extra mile to present wonderful
student music performances. She also
recognized the passing of two former employees: Tony Komlance, former educator
and athletic director, and Judith Apple, who was a physical education
instructor at the junior high school.
Building
Administration
Junior
High School Principal Darryl Hogue reported second quarter assessments are
being written and given to students.
Results will be reported in January.
The school improvement team and Amy Heusinkveld met with Deb Walters
from the YWCA to consider a proposal for a bullying grant. Twenty two students attended a “character
college” at
Elementary
Principal Amy Heusinkveld reported that another round of DIBELS, a reading
assessment, was administered at Northside.
The Northside teachers are giving their second quarter assessments
before break and the Southside teachers are giving theirs after the break. Student recognition programs are Wednesday
and Thursday of this week. Fourteen
Southside students will enjoy a pizza party for points earned for accelerated
reading. High school student Jordan Mann
from Key Club and Anji Garza, Coordinator of Elementary Programs and Services
from the elementary schools, are facilitating the tutoring program at Northside
and Southside. High school students are
assigned to elementary students. The Big
Brother/Big Sister program matching high school students with elementary
students will begin after the break.
Third and fourth grade teachers have participated in two days of training
with an associate from Gretchen Courtney.
Kindergarten, first and second grade teachers will work with the
consultant in the spring.
High
School Principal Janet Ward and Guidance Counselor Jennifer Robinson attended a
workshop on building a master schedule.
She also met with Fulton High School Principal to discuss the
possibility of sharing some classes, especially industrial arts. Registration for next year begins in January. Semester tests are Tuesday and
Wednesday.
RECORD
OF MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION
MORRISON
COMMUNITY UNIT DISTRICT #6
December
18, 2007
Public
Forum
There
were no public comments.
INFORMATIONAL
REPORTS
Financial
Report as of November 30, 2007
The
Financial Report was reviewed.
Treasurer’s
Report as of November 30, 2007
The
Treasurer’s Report was reviewed.
Financial
Comparisons: FY06,FY07, FY08
The
Financial Comparisons report was reviewed.
Curriculum
Process: Joe Crawford
Consultant
Joe Crawford reported to the Board on the Data Driven Decision Making process
being used in Morrison. He explained how
curriculum, instruction, and assessment work together to increase student
achievement. He has been working with
the Morrison teaching and administrative staff for the past several years. Morrison began the process last year of
developing their own Power Standards from the State Standards. Instructional Objectives were written to
further define the Power Standards. This
year, teachers are beginning the process of writing quarterly assessments. Results from giving the assessments will be
shared among teachers and administrators, toward the process of continuous
improvement.
Health/Life
Safety Update – HVAC System
Dr.
Ware updated the Board on plans for the replacement of the mechanical systems
at the high school. Careful planning is
involved so this project is successful. Cost
of the project will be around five million dollars. As the committee is
currently considering using a hybrid geothermal system, the grass area south of
the high school is being surveyed for this use.
Dr. Ware asked the Board to consider whether or not to include air
conditioning in the gymnasium at an additional cost of approximately
$112,500.00. The project will go out for
bid in September 2008, and construction will begin in the spring of 2009. Health/life safety bonds will be issued to
pay for the project. Dean Wallace,
Director of Facilities, was present to give additional information and answer
questions.
Health/Life
Safety Annual Inspection
The
annual Health/Life Safety inspection of the district’s buildings was conducted
by Regional Office Assistant Superintendent Bob Sondgeroth on October 25,
2007. A copy of his report was provided
for the Board. At this time, all
violations have been corrected with the exception of the exhaust fan in the
girls’ restroom at the high school. This
will be addressed when the HVAC system is replaced.
2008
Multi-District Institute
The
Multi-District Institute will again be held in Morrison on February 15,
2008. Five hundred seventy-five
educators are expected to attend. Dr.
Sue Nelle-DeHart, a consultant from Ruby Payne will be the keynote speaker for
the entire day speaking on “A Framework for Understanding Poverty.” Her presentation will provide an in-depth
study of information and understanding of the poverty culture. There will be no
breakout sessions as in the past.
Proposed
Rules – Certified Librarian
A
proposed rule by the State Board of Education would require a library
information specialist assigned to each attendance center. If passed, our district would have to hire
three more library information specialists at a cost of approximately
$235,000.00. Our district, as well as
many others, cannot afford this proposed unfunded mandate. Comments are being received by the State
Board of Education either in favor of or opposed to the proposal. Dr. Ware asked that each board member take
the time to send an email to www.rules@isbe.net
or a letter with their comments opposing this rule. District staff will also be asked to submit
their comments.
RECORD
OF MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION
MORRISON
COMMUNITY UNIT DISTRICT #6
December
18, 2007
High
School Course Collaboration Meeting
High
School Principal Janet Ward has met with Fulton High School Principal Kathleen
Schipper to see if there are any course offerings that could be shared. Mrs. Ward does not think that River Bend currently
offers anything of use to Morrison students, but River Bend could benefit in
the area of our industrial arts program.
A plan of collaborative programs is noted in the district’s Plan on a
Page issue of Quality Education.
High
School Course Offering
The
high school English department is requesting approval of a new version of a
previously offered course titled “Drama in Literature”, which will enhance the
current offerings of the English department
Mrs. Ward would like to include the course in the course description
handbook that will be distributed to all students in January. The course will be open to sophomores, juniors and
seniors. The Board will be asked to
approve the addition of this course at the January 8th meeting.
Stevens
Amendment
The
Stevens Amendment is a public law that requires when issuing statements, press
releases, requests for proposals, bid solicitations and other documents
describing projects or programs funded in whole or in part with Federal money,
the percentage of the total costs of the program or project which will be
financed with Federal money, the dollar amount of Federal funds for the project
or program, and the percentage and dollar amount of the total costs of the
project or program that will be financed by nongovernmental sources must be
provided. For compliance, Dr. Ware
provided information about the federal grant money that we receive for
programs: Title I, Title II, Title IID, Title IV, and Title V.
Superintendent
Search Process
The
Board held a discussion on their options regarding the search process for a new
superintendent. There are two options to
consider. First, IASB provides a search
service. The cost would be approximately
$6,000-$7,000 to use this service. The
second option would be to contract with a search firm at a cost of $9,000 to
$20,000. This seemed to be the preferred
method as it was felt the search firm would do more of the work on background
checks, etc. Dr. Ware was directed to
contact two search firms: Hazard, Young & Attea and School Exec Connect
requesting proposals. More information will be obtained, and the Board will
take action at the January meeting.
CONSENT
AGENDA
Motion:
Tilton; Second: Prombo; to approve the items on the consent agenda consisting of:
District Bills as of December 18, 2007; Financial Report as of November 30,
2007; Treasurer’s Report as of November 30, 2007; Financial Comparisons: FY06,
FY07, FY08; Personnel Recommendations, and disposal of closed session tapes
from May 9 & May 23, 2006.
Ayes:
Ridley, Schlueter, Swanstrom, Tilton, Houldson, Prombo, Gray. Nays: none.
Motion carried.
ACTION
ITEMS
Adoption
of 2007 Tax Levy
Motion:
Ridley; Second: Schlueter; to adopt the 2007 tax levy using $87,000,000 as the
anticipated EAV . Ayes: Swanstrom,
Tilton, Houldson, Prombo, Ridley, Schlueter, Gray. Nays: none.
Motion carried.
Adoption
of 2007 Working Cash Levy
Motion:
Swanstrom; Second: Houldson; to approve the Working Cash Levy at the rate of .05000. Ayes: Tilton, Houldson, Prombo, Ridley,
Schlueter, Swanstrom, Gray. Nays:
none. Motion carried.
Approval
of Pool Project
With
Board approval, the timeline for the pool reconstruction project would be: Metro
Engineering will begin the pool design after the holidays, submit the design to
the Illinois Department of Public Health, issue bid documents the end of March
or beginning of April, receive bids the end of April, and complete construction
during the summer of 2008. Maximum cost
including contingency, should be no more than $545,000 using local funds.
RECORD
OF MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION
MORRISON
COMMUNITY UNIT DISTRICT #6
December
18, 2007
Motion:
Tilton; Second: Prombo; to approve the reconstruction of the
Waiver
Request: Date Changes for
Due
to a request from Bi-County special education to change the administration
dates for the Illinois Alternative Assessment, a waiver request needs to be
turned in to the State of
Motion:
Schlueter; Second: Tilton; to approve the waiver request for changing the dates
of the Illinois Alternative Assessment administration. Ayes: seven; Nays: none. Motion carried.
Resignation:
Superintendent of Schools
Dr.
Jody Ware is resigning her position as Superintendent of Schools effective June
30, 2008. Most Board members offered
positive comments and thanks to her for her hard work during her years at
Morrison. Board President Sally Gray
asked for a motion to accept her resignation.
Motion:
Ridley; Second: Schlueter; to accept the resignation of Dr. Jody L. Ware as
Superintendent of Schools as of June 30, 2008.
Ayes: Ridley, Schlueter, Swanstrom, Tilton, Houldson, Prombo, Gray. Nays: none.
Motion carried.
COMMITTEE
REPORTS
Policy
Committee
A
date will be set up for the committee to meet.
Strategic
Planning
No
report.
Personnel/Negotiations
Dr.
Ware will set up a meeting with the negotiating team in early January.
Finance
Committee
No
report.
Facilities
Committee
No
report.
Citizen’s
Advisory Committee
Greg
Houldson reported that the committee had met twice since the last Board of
Education meeting. The committee did a
facilities walkthrough with Facilities Director Dean Wallace on November 26th. On December 17th, Dr. Ware went
over the same presentation that Joe Crawford gave to the Board tonight on
curriculum process. He noted that the committee
would like to see the new superintendent focus on curriculum development .
Extra-Curricular
Committee
No
report.
Insurance
Committee
Dr.
Ware will plan a meeting for January.
Ted Tilton is the Board’s representative to this committee.
Local
Wellness Committee
Greg
Houldson reported that an application will be prepared in February for
Northside and Southside to be declared “Silver Schools” for progress made to be
U.S. Healthy Schools. Food Service
Director Sheila Richmond is gathering the nutrition information to be included
with the application.
RECORD
OF MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION
MORRISON
COMMUNITY UNIT DISTRICT #6
December
18, 2007
Energy/Utility
Committee
Steve
Swanstrom said the current prediction is for a warmer than normal February and
March. We currently have good natural
gas supplies. Our consultant will be
watching to lock in costs at 78 cents or lower per therm.
CLOSED SESSION 6:48 P.M.
Motion:
Swanstrom; Second: Houldson; to enter into a closed session for the purpose of
the appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance or dismissal
of an employee. Ayes: Houldson, Prombo,
Ridley, Schlueter, Swanstrom, Tilton, Gray.
Nays: none. Motion carried.
CONCLUDE
CLOSED SESSION AND RETURN TO OPEN SESSION
7:00 P.M.
Motion:
Schlueter; Second:Houldson; to conclude the closed session and return to open
session. Ayes: seven. Nays: none.
Motion carried.
ADJOURNMENT
President
Sally Gray adjourned the meeting by consent at 9:06 P.M.
(President)
__________________________________________
(Secretary)
__________________________________________
Date Approved: _________________________