The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.

West Central School Board Meeting

by Joann Hilligoss, Quill Editor

The Regular Board of Education Meeting was called to order by President Schaley at 6:00 pm. On November 14, 2023. Board members present were: Brendan Schaley, Mindy Clark, Lauren Chockley, Sarah Bigger, Dillan Vancil, Josh Higgins and Karl Gullberg. Also present for the meeting were: Superintendent Stacey Day, District Administrators: Kathy Lafary, Jason Kirby, Sara Ryner, Joe Peters, Joel Zaiser, Jeremy Hennings, and Recording Secretary Jaime Shultz. Also present were members of the MS Speech Team, their sponsors (Lisa Lox and Sara Dittner) and parents.

President Schaley led the attendees in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Two groups of Middle School Speech Team Participants presented their Judges Choice performances for the Board Members. A great job was done by all!

GOOD NEWS

The following items were presented as Good News:

1. Board Member Appreciation Day - November 15
2. A big thank you to all of our families for supporting reading and our schools by purchasing items at our most recent Scholastic Book Fair.
3. The West Central PTC held their annual Fall Festival and it was a huge success. Lots of kids, lots of smiles and lots of fun. Thank you to the volunteers and organizers.
4. The Middle School Veteran’s Day Assembly on Friday was a great success. Thank you to all of our Veterans for attending and to the students and staff who planned the event.
5. Rebecca Hinshaw, freshman, placed 27th in the 50m freestyle at the IHSA Girls Swimming State Tournament.
6. Isiah Stephson was recently selected to be on the Honorable Mention All-State 8-Man Football Team.

OTHER BUSINESS

The following items were approved as part of the Consent Agenda on a 7-0 Roll Call vote:

• Meeting minutes and closed session minutes of the regular meeting, October 18, 2023, Payment of Bills, Approval of Activity Accounts and of Treasurer’s Report.
• There were two FOIA requests presented: MCC Leinmaster requesting bond documents from Merit Construction for our HS Windows project and from Illinois CPA Society gathering school district audit information to assess the quality of information provided to school districts from their auditors. Both requests were responded to in the needed time frame.
• Superintendent Day provided an update on our Mentor Program for certified staff. We are not off the ground as much as we hoped by this point in the school year. Mrs. Day and Mr. Boyle will be setting a check-in meeting the first week of December with our new certified staff to see how things are going and plan to hold monthly meetings/check-ins during 2nd semester. A more robust program will be planned for next school year and into the future.
• Superintendent Day presented information about our 2023 Summative Designations. Designations were released publicly on October 31.
• Both the Elementary and High Schools were designated Commendable and our Middle School received a Comprehensive designation. The Middle School will receive grant funding and support from ISBE to determine areas needed and create a plan for improvement. Additiona information can be found at www.illinoisreportcard.com.
• The District administrators, the Technology Director and the Athletic Director presented their monthly reports.
• The board approved a tentative 2023 tax levy. The proposed levy is estimated to bring in an estimated $7,752,779 for next school year. The final tax levy will be presented and approved at the December Board meeting, after receiving updated EAV values from the county assessors offices. This levy amount does not require a Truth in Taxation Hearing (which is required IF the levy request exceeds 5% of the actual extension received in the previous year).
• The Board approved the first reading of PRESS Issue 113, updating Board Policy to match changes in state law.
• A discussion was held on the selection of a project for the FY24 School Maintenance Grant. The Board approved the elementary drop-off lane canopy project for the application. The Maintenance Grant is a $50,000 matching grant from ISBE. We will also plan to remodel bathrooms at the middle school and look into remodeling the middle school lockers rooms for next school year.
• There was a request from President Schaley to place the following topics on the December meeting agenda: HS Speech Team, MS Hitting Facility, Softball/Baseball Storage, and Superintendent evaluation. Board member Chockley asked for a comparison of electricity cost and usage over the last few years and for a discussion on the clocks in each building (many of them do not work).

There was no closed session during this meeting.

The Personnel Agenda was approved 7-0 on a roll call vote:

1. Brittany Smith - Volunteer WCHS Girls’ Basketball Coach
2. Brian Kane - Volunteer WCHS Cheer Coach
3. Deb Paulus - Part-time District Cook
4. Sara Dittner - WCHS Head Play/Musical Director
5. Henry Sutton - WCHS WYSE Sponsor
6. Kathy Pence - District Cook
7. Heidi Crane - Long-Term Sub Maternity Leave
8. Lisa Ravenscraft - Long-Term Sub Maternity Leave
9. Trey Goff - 7th Grade Boys Basketball
10. Kara Keating - Maternity Leave
11. Miranda Gullberg - Maternity Leave
12. Jacalyn Kendall - Resignation Part-time Cook
13. Lene Lox - Resignation WCMS 6th Grade Volleyball Coach
14. Lisa Lox - Retirement WCMS Social Studies Teacher (23-24)
15. Michael Holloran - Resignation WCHS WYSE Sponsor

The Board was reminded our next Regular Board of Education Meeting will be on

Tuesday, December 19 at 6:00 pm in the Elementary Cafeteria.

The meeting was adjourned at 7:59 pm.