The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
September 20, 2007 Regular Meeting of the WC CUSD #235 Board of Education
At the Thursday, September 20, 2007 regular meeting of the West Central Community Unit School District #235 Board of Education the following items took place:
The board conducted a FY08 budget hearing at 6:30 pm. All board members except Dr. Brent and Mr. Sams were present at roll call for this hearing.
No one from the audience presented testimony to the board on the FY08 budget so Board Vice President Brad Arnold adjourned the public hearing at approximately 6:35 pm.
Following the budget hearing, each building principal introduced their new teachers for the 2007-08 school year.
The board members then met and greeted those new teachers individually.
At 7 pm Vice President Arnold called the regular meeting to order. All board members were present at roll call except Dr. Brent, and Mr. Anderson.
Dr. Brent joined the meeting at approximately 7:45 pm and Mr. Anderson joined at 7:55 pm. The meeting was conducted in the elementary gymnasium on the north campus.
Following the roll call, Vice President Arnold led the audience and the board in the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.
Under good news items, the board first recognized 142 students for their performance on the Spring 2007 ISAT and PSAE tests.
Students were presented with a certificate of recognition for their performance on last years test.
Following the conclusion of the recognition ceremony the following items were identified as good news items:
Mr. Clifton recognized the large number of 5th grade students who havwe joined the band.
Mr. Clifton thanked Supt. Grimm for becoming involved in the Highway 34 coalition and the Rural Water projects.
Mr. Clark publicly congratulated the recipients of the awards presented earlier in the evening as well as the staff for preparing these students.
Eighth grade students were recognized for volunteering to tutor their peers.
Dr. Brent publicly passed a thank you on to the administration and staff for promptly addressing food allergy situations. The board approved the agenda as presented.
Under recognition of Audience Request for Presentation, the board heard a brief presentation from Sam Sudakar, the CSC envoy.
The board approved the consent agenda as presented. Items approved under the consent agenda were:
Minutes of the August 15, 2007 regular meeting;
2007-08 Applications for Recognition of Schools for WCECC, WCE, WCMS, and WCHS;
Designated Superintendent Grimm as the Safety Committee Designee;
Agreement with Oak Lane for emergency bus service.
Following the approval of the consent agenda, the board approved the payment of all bills as presented.
The board also approved the August activity accounts and the treasurer's report for August as presented.
The board approved the FY08 district budget as presented.
The FY08 district budget shows projected expenditures at $10,698,875 and projected revenue at $10,175,495.
It was pointed out that the largest reason for the apparent deficit in revenue versus expenditures is due to the spending of the approximately $800,000 in the life safety fund. The board was reminded that we have already received the money that will be spent out of the life safety fund in the previous fiscal year and that is why this budget is a deficit budget.
It was also noted that in terms of the operating funds, the budget is a surplus budget.
The board approved on first reading proposed changes to several board policies.
The board will take action on these policies for adoption at the October board meeting.
The board reviewed a letter from WCHS Principal Phil Geiser recommending the early graduation of a WCHS senior due to special circumstances.
Following a brief discussion, the board approved that request as presented.
The board briefly reviewed the district and school building report cards as put forth by the Illinois State Board of Education.
After a brief discussion the report cards were approved in their present form.
A request was made to have the report cards on the October board meeting agenda as a discussion item.
The board heard reports from the three building principals, the district curriculum director, the technology coordinator, and the special education coordinator.
In addition, the board heard a brief report from Board member Sams on the board's partnership committee meeting.
The board's partnership committee is a committee that was developed as a result of the strategic planning retreat which was held in March of 2007.
Specifically, this committee will be looking at how we can increase our vocational offerings for our high school students.
The board reviewed the improvement activities as called for in each building's school improvement plan for the 2007-08 school year.
The board also reviewed briefly a document that showed our test scores since 2005 for each class of West Central students.
The board had a lengthy discussion on some of the changes that have been implemented for the 2007-08 school year at West Central High School.
The board spent a considerable amount of time reviewing the three minute passing period as well as the 10 minute make-up requirement for high school students who use the restroom during class time.
As a result of that discussion, the board asked Mr. Grimm and Mr. Geiser to continue monitoring the revised policy and to report back to them before the end of the first semester.
The board briefly discussed the upcoming school board conference in Chicago which will be held in November.
The boar reviewed a computation of 6thday enrollment figures since 2005. Superintendent Grimm pointed out to the board that with three years of 6th day enrollments to review, it would appear that the trend that is emerging is one of declining enrollment.
Superintendent Grimm indicated to the board that this will need to be monitored carefully as we continue to look at budget decisions, spending decisions, staffing decisions, etc.
Under future agenda items, a request was made to discuss the continuation of middle school football and baseball next fall.
The board entered closed session at approximately 9:45 pm to discuss matters pertaining to personnel.
The board exited closed session at approximately 11:15 pm and took the following action:
Accepted the resignation of Bonnie Flatt as an early childhood associate;
Employed Kelly Viall as a WCHS part time (1/7) science teacher;
Employed Jennie "Nikki" Brownlee as a long term certified substitute to fill in for Carl Young's medical leave;
Employed Anita Grafton as a West Central ECC associate;
Employed Brenda Olson as a WCE special education associate;
Employed Carolyn Grafton as a substitute district bus driver;
Accepted the resignation of Tammy Rankin as WCMS Science Olympiad Sponsor;
Accepted the resignation of Jessi Winters as a WCE Enrichment Program Teacher;
Employed Jose Galvan as WCHS speech coach;
Employed Brendan Schaley as WCMS 6th grade girls basketball coach;
Employed Lindsay Williams as WCMS science Olympiad sponsor
The board was reminded that the October board meeting will be on Wednesday, October 17, 2007 in the elementary cafeteria and that meeting will begin at 7 pm.
The meeting was adjourned at approximately 11:17 pm.