The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
By: Shirley Linder, Executive Editor
from the Feb. 21st minutes
At the regular meeting of the West Central School Board on February 21st, a discussion was held about solar energy and the different types of projects to consider. There are three different types of projects to consider: leasing of ground where the company pays the district for the land or we can consider installing a solar array onsite and using the energy produced to reduce our energy costs, either by purchasing the equipment on our own or by entering into a Power Purchasing Agreement where an investor owns the equipment. The Board would like Superintendent Day to collect some additional information and follow up with the Board at a future meeting.
The meeting was called to order by President Schaley at 6:01 p.m. President Schaley led the attendees in the Pledge of Allegiance.
The following items were presented as Good News:
There were no members of the public in attendance to address the Board.
The following items were approved by a 7-0 roll call vote as part of the consent agenda
There was one FOIA request for this month from the Illinois Retired Teachers Association requesting names and email addresses for certified staff who have notified us they intend to retire at the end of the year.
Superintendent Day presented an update on the status of our district investments.
All investments are doing well and the next CD to mature is currently at IPAVA State Bank, Superintendent Day will look for the best option for those funds when it reaches maturity.
Board members were reminded that they are Mandated Reporters in the State of Illinois for suspected or reported child abuse.
All board members signed off on a mandated reporter acknowledgement form that will be kept on file in the district office.
Principals Kirby, Ryner and Lafary, as well as Athletic Director Zaiser and District Technology Director Hennings presented their monthly reports to the Board.
The Board approved transferring $200,000 from the Debt Service Fund to the Fire Prevention and Safety Fund.
There was a large fund balance in the Debt Service Fund. This transfer allows those funds to be used towards Health Life Safety projects in the future.
The funds in Debt Service were originally for Health Life Safety projects, this transfer allows the district to use the outstanding balance for those purposes.
The Board approved on a 7-0 roll call vote for the HS and MS Activity Accounts to obtain debit cards for use on those accounts.
The 10 Year Health Life Safety list was approved by a 7-0 roll call vote. The architects will now work on entering the information into the state system.
The final steps are then obtaining approval from the ROE and then from the State Board of Education.
The Board approved (by a 7-0 roll call vote) the proposal from DEM Services to abate the asbestos in the Middle School Locker Rooms for a cost of $24,200.
Board member Higgins asked that a future discussion item be placed on the agenda to consider construction of a new building for use as a weight room for the district.
The Board then went into closed session to discuss personnel and negotiations.
They returned to open session at 8:38 and approved the following personnel changes from the personnel agenda:
Board members present were: Mindy Clark, Sarah Bigger, Dillan Vancil,
Lauren Chockley, Brendan Schaley and Karl Gullberg.
Absent at roll call was Josh Higgins, who arrived at 6:03 p.m..
Also present for the meeting were: Superintendent Stacey Day, District Administrators: Kathy Lafary, Jason Kirby, Sara Ryner, Joel Zaiser and Joe Peters,Recording Secretary Jaime Shultz and District Technology Coordinator Jeremy Hennings.
The next regular Board of Education meeting will be on Wednesday,, March 20, 2024 at 6 p.m. in the Elementary Cafeteria
The board adjourned at 8:40 p.m.