The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
At the regularly scheduled Wednesday, March 15, 2006 meeting of the West Central Community Unit School District #235 Board of Education the following items took place.
President Brent called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m.
All board members except Brad Arnold were present at roll call. Mr. Arnold joined the meeting at approximately 6:27 p.m.
President Brent led the board and audience in the Pledge of the Allegiance to the flag.
Under good news items, the following items were offered:
Coach Jim Cole was congratulated for being named Coach of the Year by the Galesburg Register Mail.
Congratulations to Lene Lox and Darci Renken for making the Register Mail's first team for basketball.
Paul Anderson thanked Mrs. Rima and the W.C. District for allowing Troop 60 to conduct a bake sale at the last home boys' basketball game.
Gary Ricketts and all of his art students were congratulated on their placing in the Nutrition Poster Contest. West Central students received 7 of the 9 first place awards.
The Jr. High play was well done and nicely attended.
Coach Kemp was recognized by Richard Clifton for the nice job he did with the boys' basketball team.
Superintendent Grimm thanked the W.C. staff for their preparation and participation in the administering of the ISAT test.
Superintendent Grimm also reported that he had received the Regional Superintendent's compliance visit report and that West Central is in complete compliance.
The public meeting held on March 5th went very well and was very informative.
Prior to approving the agenda, the board heard from Superintendent Grimm that he would not be asking for the board's approval of the proposed 2006-07 school calendar until a later point in time. Following that the board approved the agenda as presented.
Under request of audience request for participation, the board heard from Sam Sudaker, the Carl Sandburg College Envoy. Mr. Sudaker updated the board on several activities that the college is engaged in that pertain to our school district.
The board approved the consent agenda as presented. Those items approved under the consent agenda include:
Minutes of the February 15, 2006 regular & closed meetings
District Organizational Chart
IHSA and IESA Memberships for 2006-07
Direct Superintendent to begin working on the FY07 District Budget
The board briefly discussed the 2006-07 school calendar. During this discussion Superintendent Grimm informed the board that on further review of the proposed calendar it was noticed that in March of 2007 there is an early dismissal for school improvement on the same day as parent/teacher conferences were scheduled and that the all day parent teacher conferences scheduled for March of 2007 are set to be held on the Friday before ISAT testing begins on Monday. Superintendent Grimm informed the board that a revised final calendar will be presented to them in the near future.
The board heard reports from the three building principals on the happenings in their respective buildings since the February 15, 2006 board meeting.
The board heard an update from Jeanne Serven, Curriculum Director, on her activities since the February meeting.
The board heard a brief report from Superintendent Grimm on the progress that has been made on his performance objectives. It was pointed out again that the third objective which relates to financial projections will not be worked on until this summer and those financial projections will be presented to the board in September along with the FY07 budget.
The board heard a report on the districts special education program from Jamie Farniok who is serving as Teresa Adair's' part-time intern for this school year.
The board heard an update on building issues from District Architect Bill Phillips. Items highlighted included an update on the waste water treatment facility for the north campus project. Mr. Phillips reported that, that project is complete. It was also reported that the final results from the air quality testing from the elementary wing have been received and there were no surprises in the numbers nor were there any numbers that exceeded the limit for air quality. The board was informed that the ventilation project for the elementary wing is wanting approval from the Illinois State Board of Education's architects. Mr. Phillips reported that the remodeling project undertaken last fall is substantially complete and he anticipates getting the final request for payment from the general contractor soon. Mr. Phillips also reported that the City of Biggsville is working with the Dallas Rural Water District for water service and it would be in District 235's best interest to hook on to that water service if it is at all feasible when that water line is run to Biggsville. Mr. Phillips also reported to the board about an odor problem found in the Special Services Office and how that problem has been addressed and we think eliminated.
The board heard a request from representatives from the West Central High School student council for the board's support in their efforts to raise funds to provide a new marquee on the north side of the north campus. Specifically the student council asked the board for permission to move forward with this fund raising project which is estimated to cost $20,000-$30,000. The board was also asked if they would accept the gift once the student council completes the fund raising initiatives and the board was asked if they would contribute $10,000 to this project from District funds. The consensus of the board was to give approval on all three requests. Formal approval will be granted by the board at the April 2006 board meeting. The board expressed their since appreciation to the students present at the meeting for their willingness to undertake such a worthwhile project.
The board heard a lengthy report from District Architect Bill Phillips on the result of his ten year life safety survey that he has been working on in the district over the course of the last several months. As a bit of background, Mr. Phillips reminded the board that because no ten-year life safety surveys have been found in any files anywhere since at least 1994, it was the general consensus that a ten-year life safety survey be conducted of all District 235 facilities so that we can get that process back on a proper track. The purpose of the survey is to see how our facilities are in compliance relative to the new International Building Code that applies to school district buildings.
After a lengthy discussion, the board was informed that it is Mr. Phillip's opinion that there are necessary and needed repairs in the amount of $1.883 million dollars that are needed to bring the buildings up to meet the current International Building Code as is required by law. While there are some 700-800 items sited in Mr. Phillips' report that need to be addressed, some of the more "big ticket" items include:
Accessibility work at the pre-K ($40,000)
After a lengthy discussion, which included a presentation by Superintendent Grimm on how to pay for these mandated repairs, the board directed the Superintendent and the District architect to proceed with the following items:
The board heard a report from Superintendent Grimm on a possible scholarship trust that a district resident would like to establish on behalf of her late husband and herself. The board gave the Superintendent permission to proceed with finalizing the details of this trust with the local attorney who is handling this matter.
The Superintendent briefly reported on his participation at the Illinois School Board Association Western Division dinner meeting held in Bushnell Prairie City last week.
The board briefly discussed their thoughts and ideas on the high school graduation ceremony. Superintendent Grimm and WCHS Principal Karen Rima informed the board of a meeting they had held with senior class officers. The primary topic of discussion at the board meeting was whether to have the ceremony indoors or outdoors, pros and cons of both. Options were discussed and it was the consensus of the board to make preliminary plans for an outdoor graduation ceremony, while at the same time, taking the steps necessary to ensure an orderly distribution of seats if the graduation is needed to be held indoors. The board was reminded that graduation is set for Saturday, May 13th at 2:00 p.m. at West Central High School.
The board directed the Superintendent to apply for all available funds for Preschool For All when they become available.
The board briefly reviewed the March 5, 2006 community meeting that was held in the gymnasium at the south campus.
The board entered closed session at 10:00 p.m. to discuss matters pertaining to personnel.
The board exited closed session at 11:00 p.m. and took the following action:
In addition to the personnel action approved the board regretfully issued reduction in force notices to the following:
It is noted that these notices are issued due to the uncertainty of the funding in the grants that pay for these positions for the 2006-07 school year. It is the board's hope that when funding levels for these grants are made available to us that we will be able to rescind these reductions in force notices.
The board issued dismissal notices to the following certified staff due to uncertainty in enrollment numbers in the area they teach and/or uncertainty of funding from the grants that support these positions:
In addition the board issued a dismissal notice to Darrell Gittings as High School Ag teacher due to technical issues that have arisen relative to certification. This dismissal was given at the direction of the Regional Superintendent. It is the expectation that the certification issues will be cleared up very shortly, and this dismissal notice will be rescinded by the board as well.
The board was reminded that there will be a special meeting of the District #235 Board of Education on Thursday, March 30, 2006. A public hearing to give our community an opportunity to share their thoughts about the paving project will begin at 5:45 p.m. and be held in the elementary cafeteria. The special board meeting will then begin at 6:00 p.m. in the elementary cafeteria as well.
There being no other business to come before the board, the board meeting adjourned at approximately 11:15 p.m.