The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
August Meeting
At the Wednesday, August 20, 2008 regular meeting of the West Central Community Unit School District #235 Board of Education the following items took place:
Board President Brent called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. All board members were present at roll call except for board member Sams. Mr. Sams entered the meeting at approximately 7:07 p.m. The meeting was held in the Elementary cafeteria.
President Brent then led the members of audience in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Under good news items, the board recognized 10 West Central High School students from the 2007-08 school year for their perfect 4.0 GPA that was earned for the entire school year. The following students were presented a plaque by Board President Brent: Hannah Allaman, Justin Allaman, Rachael Allaman, Alissa Crandall, Julianna Gillam, Brock Heap, Phillip Kline, Mary Lewis, Miriam Rutzen and Samuel Sanning.
Following the recognition of the Board Academic Excellence All Stars, the following items were shared by board members and administrators as celebrations of success:
The board approved the agenda with the addition of Action Item XB(A-2): Maternity leave for Jessica Orris, WCMS teacher.
Under the recognition of audience request for presentation the board had a brief conversation with Ann Davies who expressed some concerns about the district's athletic code. The board also heard a brief report from Bev Nasland, who was representing Carl Sandburg College as their envoy.
The board approved the consent agenda as presented. The following items were approved under the consent agenda:
The board approved payment of the August bills as presented as well as the June and July activity accounts. The board was informed that the treasurer's reports for July and August would be presented to them for approval at the September meeting.
The board conducted a lengthy discussion with district architect, Bill Phillips about three possible health life safety amendments. Those amendments include repairs to one of the WCMS boilers, the purchase of a replacement pump for the north campus life station and the repair/replacement of the north campus fire alarm system. After the discussion with Mr. Phillips the board approved the amendments for the WCMS boiler repair in the amount of $11,500 and the purchase of the replacement pump for the north campus life station in the amount of $3800. The board asked Supt. Grimm and Bill Phillips to secure some additional information relative to the north campus fire alarm system. Following that presentation, Mr. Phillips discussed briefly with the board the status of several life safety projects that had been undertaken during the summer as well as the status of several other projects that the board has either discussed at one time or are still attempting to complete.
The board received the tentative FY09 district budget from Supt. Grimm. The FY09 tentative budget projects revenues for the year at $10.7 million and expenditures at $10.2 million dollars leaving an overall estimated June 30, 2009 fund balance of $4.7 million dollars. Following some brief comments by Supt. Grimm and a brief question and answer session, the board approved the tentative FY09 budget and in a separate motion the board directed that the budget be put on display for 30 days and that the public hearing on the FY09 district budget be held on Thursday, September 18, 2008 beginning at 6:30 pm in the elementary cafeteria.
The board discussed at great length a request to purchase 15 pieces of fitness equipment for the WCHS PE program. As part of this discussion, the board heard again from WCHS PE teacher Nancy Gibb. Following that discussion, the board authorized Supt. Grimm to seek bids for the requested equipment. Those bids should be acted on at the September board meeting.
The board approved the request to change the date for the September board meeting from Wednesday, September 17, 2008 to Thursday, September 18, 2008. This meeting will begin at 7 p.m. and be held in the elementary cafeteria. The budget hearing will precede this meeting beginning at 6:30 p.m.
The board heard reports from the building principals, Mrs. Serven, Mrs. Frakes, Mrs. Farniok and Mr. Blender
The board heard a report from Mrs. Serven on the 2008-09 opening of school.
The board briefly reviewed the 2007-08 ISAT, PSAE, and ACT scores for District #235. These scores were the same scores that were shared with staff during our institute on Monday, August 18, 2008. The board was cautioned that the ISAT scores must be considered preliminary in light of the fact that the Illinois State Board of Education has decided to re-score all of last years ISAT tests. Overall, the board expressed pleasure with seeing the trend of the scores continuing in an upward manner. The board was also very supportive of the decision to bring in a consultant to re-do our math curriculum and make recommendations on how we can improve in that area.
The board briefly discussed the request to employ a part time custodian at the elementary school. The board gave Supt. Grimm permission to advertise for someone to fill a part time custodian position and bring a recommendation for employment back to the board at the September meeting.
The board briefly reviewed a request to purchase the Connect-Ed message alert system. The board thought that this would be a good idea and directed Supt. Grimm to pursue this and bring back to them a recommendation regarding the purchase of a message alert system at the September board meeting.
Under future agenda items a request was made to have as a discussion item at next month's meeting the recent gifts that have been made to the district.
The board entered closed session to discuss matters pertaining to personnel and to review closed session minutes at approximately 9:55 p.m. The board exited closed session at 10:30 p.m. and took the following action:
The board was reminded that the next meeting will be on Thursday, September 18, 2008 with a budget hearing being held at 6:30 p.m. These meetings will be held in the elementary cafeteria.
There being no other business to come before the board, the meeting was adjourned at approximately 10:37 p.m.