The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
Biggsville.... At the Wednesday, August 16, 2006 regular meeting of the West Central Community Unit School District #235 Board of Education the following items took place.
President Brent called the regular board meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. All board members were present at roll call except Richard Clifton who arrived shortly afterwards.
President Brent led the audience in the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.
Under good news items the following items were highlighted by those in attendance:
The board also recognized during the good news items section of the agenda, four students for earning the Board of Education's Academic Excellence Award for the 2005-2006 school year. Those West Central High School students who had a perfect 4.0 grade point average for the entire year were, Miriam Rutzen, Miranda Clark, Alyssa Griepentrog and Jourdan Evans.
The board added discussion item J-Transportation to golf and bowling practice. This was the only amendment to the agenda so the amended agenda was approved as amended.
The board heard during the recognition of audience request for presentation, a request from Mr. Pat Brokaw to have permission to coach his daughter in junior high cross country for the 2006-07 school year. Mr. Brokaw presented the board with a written request which essentially indicated that he and his wife would coach their daughter and other students who might be interested in junior high cross country. After a brief discussion the board approved the request my consensus.
The board approved the consent agenda as presented. The following items were included in the consent agenda.
The board approved all bills as presented for payment. The superintendent shared answers to several questions that board members had about a few of the individual bills. The board also approved the activity accounts for June and July as presented and the July treasurer's report was also approved as presented.
The board approved a bid for gymnasium bleachers for the West Central High School gym. The low bid for the replacement of these bleachers was $75,158 and it was submitted by Interkal, LLC of Kalamazoo, MI. The bleacher replacement work is scheduled to be done over Christmas vacation in December 2006.
The superintendent presented the board with a tentative FY07 district budget. The tentative budget calls for projected revenue in the amount of $11,341,111 and projected expenses in the amount of $10,158,479. The superintendent pointed out that these totals include all of the revenue from the sale of life safety bonds but only part of the life safety expenditures. The remaining life safety expenditures will be paid for during the FY08. After a brief discussion on the proposed budget the board approved the tentative budget as presented. Following that the board made a motion to put the tentative budget on display and to have a public hearing on the budget on Wednesday, September 20th at 6:30 p.m. in the elementary cafeteria.
The board gave approval for occupancy permits for four of the temporary buildings on the north and south campus.
The board heard reports from the building principals about the activities that they have engaged in since the July board meeting.
The board heard a report from District Director of Curriculum Instruction, Jeanne Serven on her activities since July 1. Mrs. Serven reported that she has worked a total of 14 days for the district during that period.
The board heard an update on district technology from District Technology Coordinator, Barb Elliott. Mrs. Elliott reported that the phones for the Stronghurst and Media campuses will be installed within a week and that training will take place for our staff on the use of those phones shortly thereafter. Mrs. Elliott reported that due to equipment unavailability, the phones for the north campus will not be in for a couple of weeks but that it is anticipated that the entire phone and network backbone upgrade project will be completed by September 19, 2006.
The board heard a brief report from District Special Education Coordinator, Jamie Farniok on some issues relative to special education. The board heard a brief summary of the state board's response to intervention initiative.
The board was given an update on the status of the district's summer work and life safety projects. Superintendent Grimm reported on the outcome of a meeting that he and board members Allaman and Anderson had had with District Architect, Bill Phillips during the week of August 7th. Mr. Grimm reported that all major projects
are well underway and many are near completion or are completed. Superintendent Grimm reported that the parking lot project came in slightly under budget and on time.
The board heard a report from Mrs. Serven and Mr. Grimm on the opening of the 2006-2007 school years. Mrs. Serven reported that over the course of about two weeks, our staff will have had opportunities to participate in 17 different professional development activities. Mrs. Serven thanked our staff members who provided several of these in-service programs. Superintendent Grimm discussed with the board the successful pre-registration process and thanked Sharri Richard, the central office staff, the building secretaries and the many District #235 staff members who volunteered their time to help get the registration process completed in a timely and efficient manner. The board also discussed elementary enrollment numbers. As a result of this discussion, the board directed Superintendent Grimm and Mr. Buss to investigate the possibility of splitting the first and second grade students into four sections rather than three.
The board discussed the district planning retreat which was scheduled to be held on Saturday, August 19th. It was the consensus of the board to postpone the retreat due to several board members not being able to be in attendance at the meeting on Wednesday.The superintendent and President Brent will select some alternative dates, most likely an evening time when this four hour planning meeting can take place. The meeting will be re-scheduled for another time.
The board heard a report from Board President Brent on a meeting that he attended on July 20th regarding the Biggsville water project. Board President Brent reported that the City of Biggsville is looking to secure their water from the Dallas City Rural Water District and the the proposed water line will cross the school's farm. It was indicated to those that are doing the planning for this project that certainly District #235 would be interested in having that water line cross the north campus property in order to hook up the north campus to that water line. The board asked Mr. Grimm and President Brent to schedule a meeting with the Dallas City Rural Water's attorney to see what might be worked out in that regard.
The board discussed the WCHS access road that was put in place to alleviate our students' need to cross Route 34 when they leave the north campus to head south to Stronghurst. It was the consensus of the board that that road should provide two-way traffic and stop signs should be up at each end of the road on an initial basis. The board asked the administrative team to monitor the use of the road and the traffic pattern in the north parking lot behind the vocational building to determine if any changes might need to be made in the future.
The board discussed briefly transportation costs for pupil transportation. The superintendent discussed with the board the recent high price that was paid by the district for diesel fuel and his concern that the fund balance in the transpiration fund is dwindling down to zero very quickly. The superintendent presented some ideas for the board to consider in terms of ways to reduce transportation costs. The board directed the superintendent to continue studying the issue and return to them with recommendations.
The board heard a report from Superintendent Grimm on the 2005-06 ISAT scores for District #235. The board was extremely pleased with the scores as reported. The board saw the same slides as the staff did earlier in the day on Wednesday, August 16th.
The board briefly reviewed the district's policy on athletic participation relative to the "no cut" policy that they have adopted. The board directed Superintendent Grimm to make a slight revision to that policy and then bring it back to the board for approval at the September board meeting.
The board briefly discussed a request by the Regional Office of Education for continued use of a classroom at the Media facility to continue one of the Even Start programs that was housed there previously. The board was reminded that the Even Start program has had their funding cut to zero and the request was from the Regional Office of Education to continue using one classroom at the Media facility free of charge to provide parent education classes. The board by consensus granted that request.
The board briefly discussed a request that came from a parent for them to consider providing transportation to Hend Co Hills Golf Course and County Fun Bowling alley. The board directed Superintendent Grimm to look into this with legal counsel, the district transportation and director and the coaches of these two sports.
The board entered closed session to discuss matters pertaining to personnel and to review the previous seven month closed minutes.
Upon exiting closed session the board took the following action:
The board was reminded that their regular September meeting will be on Wednesday, September 20, 2006. That meeting will be held in the elementary cafeteria on the Biggsville campus. That meeting will be preceded at 6:30 p.m. by a budget hearing and that budget hearing will be followed by a brief reception for all new teachers to the district.
There being no other business to come before the board, the meeting was adjourned at approximately 11:40 p.m.