Minutes of the meeting of the Board of Education held on Monday, May 21, 2007. The meeting was called to order by the president at 7:00 p.m. The recording secretary called the roll. Present were: Hicks, Cribben, Palombo, Konen. Absent: Boehne, Foster, Ottengheime.
Mr. Foster arrived at 7:01 p.m.
Mr. Hicks asked if the Education and Finance Committees reports could be moved to VI. b and c. Ms. Rockwood stated that VII.l would be tabled.
It was moved by Palombo, seconded by Foster to approve the minutes of the May 7, 2007 board meeting. On a voice vote, all members voted yes. The motion carried.
It was moved by Palombo, seconded by Foster to approve the bills for the month of May including Caudle Lawn Service for $3,030 accounts payable checks numbers 18035 to 18116, 57269-57358, and 10221 to 10246 in the amount of $333,450.09; payroll checks numbers 48187-48343 in the amount of $311,755.66; and the monthly financial reports. On a voice vote, all members voted yes. The motion carried.
The president asked if anyone in the audience had anything that they wished to present to the board. No one responded.
Mrs. Kennedy gave the middle school principal’s report. Kathleen Chester placed first in the poetry contest and won books for the school. Vic Sebastiano won a grant from the DeKalb County Community Foundation for $7,000 and received another $2,500 from community members. Mr. Cribben asked about any building physical needs.
Mr. Simpson gave the Waterman Elementary principal’s report. Grandparents day was held. The spring concert including the fifth grade band will be on Thursday at the middle school. The asphalt is holding up well. The security system is going well. Mr. Foster asked if MIG was being used at Waterman Elementary. The answer was that it is being used for grading and attendance but there are no models of reporting for primary grades testing scores. There is a paper file on students that is passed along to the middle school. Research will be done to see if a module is available for electronic portfolios. Mr. Cribben asked about any physical building needs.
Mrs. Watson gave the Shabbona Elementary principal’s report. A certificate of appreciation was presented to the school district on behalf of the DARE program. She passed out handbooks, gave an enrollment update, and spoke on the awards program the last day of school. Mulch is needed on the playgrounds. Mr. Hicks asked about the bushes along the north edge of the property. Mr. Ham and Mrs. Watson found that the bushes are half on school property and half on private property. The custodian will trim the bushes. Mr. Foster asked if the MIG system is being used. Report cards cannot be aligned to MIG. She has checked with Hinckley-Big Rock and they cannot use the system for report cards either. Mrs. Watson explained the changes in the elementary handbook. Mr. Cribben asked about any physical building needs.
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Mr. Hammack gave the high school principal’s report. IVVC students of the month for May were Greg Jeffries in fire science and June Clayton in food services. The girls are playing tonight for the sectional final in soccer. Softball will be Wednesday in the sectionals at Plano. The Boosters are getting a banner to note the girls softball team winning the regional. Trent Tuestad and Randall Makarrall are going to state for track. FFA News: Tim Ehrhart won second in the state for electrical wiring, Morgan Buchholz won eighteenth in the state, and Annie Larson won her state FFA degree. In the FFA National Chapter Program, Indian Creek won a gold rating, a bronze for heritage, and a silver for cooperative Farm Bureau. The concrete work has been completed in the Memorial Garden and the mulch will soon be completed. Mr. Foster asked if the MIG program was being used at the high school. Mr. Hammack said it is being used all the time. More professional development is needed in some areas and there is a time issue with school improvement.
Mr. Hicks asked if another program is needed for the parent component. MIG has a module to be web-based edline that work only with certain modules. The goal is second semester of 2007-08 to have people trained on the grading program and Mr. Cribben asked about any physical needs for the high school.
Mrs. Ottengheime arrived at 7:42 p.m.
Mr. Hicks reported on the Education Committee meeting. The middle school schedule proposal was discussed. Periods could either be 35 or 70 minutes allowing for more collaboration time for teachers. Discussion was held on how that time might be used.
Summer school will be run the same as in the past from June 12-28 and July 30-August 9 for elementary and middle school students. Also there was a recommendation to purchase high school Spanish textbooks.
Mr. Foster reported on the Finance Committee meeting. Bus rotation was discussed. It was decided to proceed with a purchase program and purchase at least one bus a year on a rotating basis. Capital expenses were tabled. The need for a new phone system was discussed as well as the water leak in the high school. Future large expenses include roofing and the gym floor. The supplemental salary schedule and fees were discussed.
The NWEA assessment system was discussed. Several teachers in the audience shared that they were impressed with it. The assessments are very challenging and each student has a different random test, finishing at different times. The test results are received immediately to determine what help a student might need. It is very well organized, well run, and students take the tests three times a year. NWEA is aligned with the state standards and will boost students where they need to go. Possible training and time constraints were discussed.
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Mr. Boehne arrived at 8:23 p.m.
Ms. Burling explained that the NWEA testing would keep adjusting a level that a student understands. It is an excellent assessment for students moving into the district. It allows students to start and stop at any time and keeps the data until they can return to the test. The data is received much faster for sooner use. It also removes the problem of shuffling papers, locking up tests, and bubbling tests, since the testing is done on computers.
Mr. Simpson said that NWEA is one of the accepted measures of state reading grant funding used to measure student progress. It is one of the few programs that is acceptable. Teachers visited other schools using NWEA and were very impressed with what they saw.
Mr. Cribben administered the oath of office to Mr. Boehne.
The board took a five minute recess to view the concrete in the memorial garden.
It was moved by Palombo, seconded by Konen that the meeting adjourn into executive session regarding appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance, or dismissal of specific employees, placement of individual students in special education programs and other matters relating to individual students, student disciplinary case, litigation, and collective bargaining. On a voice vote, all members voted yes. The motion carried. The meeting adjourned into executive session at 8:45 p.m.
It was moved by Foster, seconded by Boehne that the meeting reconvene into regular session. On a voice vote, all members voted yes. The motion carried. The meeting reconvened into regular session at 9:42 p.m.
It was moved by Konen, seconded by Boehne that the executive session minutes be approved as reviewed. On a voice vote, all members voted yes. The motion carried.
It was moved by Palombo, seconded by Konen to rehire non-certified staff as listed: Tom Allen, Susan Anderson, Victoria Baldwin, Becky Boldt, JoDe Byro, Su Cox, Cyndee Davies, Sharlene Dodd, Laura Donoho, James Doyle, Debbie Faivre, William Gee, Cary Jo Goodrich, Mary Lou Gorman, Nancy Govig, Karla Grundin, Allen Ham, Lisa Headon, Yuying Hu, Lisa Johnson, Simone Johnson, Tammy Johnson, Tina Johnson, Dawn Kimpflin, DeeDee Koehler, Geri Korhnak, Mindy Lange, Kevin Larson, Sharlyn Larson, Gail Loes, Leigh Marchiorello, Cheryl Merchant, Ehren Mertz, Matt Orstead, Carol Peterson, Thom Plotz, Megan Rissman, Shannon Rissman, Sue Rood, Julie Rowland, Sandra Rueff, Coral Sanders, Donna Stanley, Pat Witzig, Michael Woodbury, and Shana Zimmerly. Roll call vote: Hicks, yes; Boehne, yes; Foster, yes; Ottengheime, yes; Palombo, yes; Konen, yes; Cribben, yes. 7 yes, 0 no. The motion carried.
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It was moved by Hicks, seconded by Palombo to approve supplemental contracts with the exception of freshman coaches which will be determined by the numbers of athletes who go out for the team. Roll call vote: Boehne, yes; Foster, yes; Ottengheime, yes; Palombo, yes; Konen, yes; Hicks, yes; Cribben, yes. 7 yes, 0 no. The motion carried.
It was moved by Cribben, seconded by Boehne to approve rehiring Allura Jefko as speech/language pathologist. Roll call vote: Foster, yes; Ottengheime, yes; Palombo, yes; Konen, yes; Hicks, yes; Boehne, yes; Cribben, yes. 7 yes, 0 no. The motion carried.
It was moved by Boehne, seconded by Palombo to approve Lori Andel as drill team coach for the 2007-2008 school year. Roll call vote: Ottengheime, yes; Palombo, yes; Konen, yes; Hicks, yes; Boehne, yes; Foster, yes; Cribben, yes. 7 yes, 0 no. The motion carried.
It was moved by Konen, seconded by Palombo to approve Abiah Saltzman as cheerleading coach for the 2007-2008 school year. Roll call vote: Palombo, yes; Konen, yes; Hicks, yes; Boehne, yes; Foster, yes; Ottengheime, yes; Cribben, yes. 7 yes, 0 no. The motion carried.
It was moved by Cribben, seconded by Boehne to accept the resignation of Janeen Vogeler as assistant girls soccer coach. Roll call vote: Konen, yes; Hicks, yes; Boehne, yes; Foster, yes; Ottengheime, yes; Palombo, yes; Cribben, yes. 7 yes, 0 no. The motion carried.
It was moved by Cribben, seconded by Konen to accept the resignation of Sally Bruns as Shabbona Elementary kindergarten teacher. Roll call vote: Hicks, yes; Boehne, yes; Foster, yes; Ottengheime, yes; Palombo, yes; Konen, yes; Cribben, yes. 7 yes, 0 no. The motion carried.
It was moved by Cribben, seconded by Konen to dismiss Terrye Simmons at the end of the 2006-2007 school year. Roll call vote: Boehne, yes; Foster, yes; Ottengheime, yes; Palombo, yes; Konen, yes; Hicks, yes; Cribben, yes. 7 yes, 0 no. The motion carried.
It was moved by Cribben, seconded by Boehne to dismiss Bonnie Conery at the end of the 2006-2007 school year. Roll call vote: Foster, yes; Ottengheime, yes; Palombo, yes; Konen, yes; Hicks, no; Boehne, yes; Cribben, yes. 6 yes, 1 no. The motion carried.
It was moved by Boehne, seconded by Palombo to approve the middle school schedule for the 2007-2008 year. On a voice vote, all members voted yes. The motion carried.
There was first reading of all student handbooks. Mr. Simpson will check the Waterman Elementary Kindergarten handbook to see if speech and language screening is included.
There was a first reading of the high school athletic handbook. There was discussion on Policy 7.240-AP1. The recent changes in board policy were reflected in handbook.
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There was a first reading of the high school crisis handbook.
It was moved by Hicks, seconded by Palombo to approve summer school. On a voice vote, all members voted yes. The motion carried.
It was moved by Hicks, seconded by Boehne to approve Spanish textbooks. On a voice vote, all members voted yes. The motion carried.
It was moved by Hicks, seconded by Palombo to approve membership in the audio-visual cooperative. On a voice vote, all members voted yes. The motion carried.
It was moved by Palombo, seconded by Foster to approve fees for the 2007-2008 school year. On a voice vote, all members voted yes. The motion carried.
It was moved by Foster, seconded by Boehne to approve bus additions for 2007-2008 at a cost of $150,500. On a voice vote, all members voted yes. The motion carried.
It was moved by Hicks, seconded by Boehne to approve the NWEA assessment system and associated costs for all students in grades 1-10 with all students to be tested by September 15, 2007. Roll call vote: Ottengheime, yes; Palombo, yes; Konen, yes; Hicks, yes; Boehne, yes; Foster, yes; Cribben, yes. 7 yes, 0 no. The motion carried.
There was first reading of board policy 7.240-AP1. The administration is recommending the policy for second reading.
There was first reading of changes to board policies 2:250-AP2, 2:170, 2.170-AP, 4:50-E, 4.120, 4:120-AP, 4.170-AP1, 4.170-E2, 6.145, 6.160, 6.160-E1, 6.160-E2, 6.170-AP3, 6.300-E1, 6.310, 6.310-E, 7.15E, 7.20-AP, 7.70, 7.130, and 7.190.
After a second reading, it was moved by Hicks, seconded by Palombo to approve board policy sections 7 and 8 (with the exception of 7.240-AP1), policy 5.330, and policy 6.330. On a voice vote, all members voted yes. The motion carried.
It was moved by Hicks, seconded by Konen to follow procedures for the disposal of the old weight room equipment. Mrs. Ottengheime said the fire department was willing to move the equipment and use it at the fire department. The motion was withdrawn. It was moved by Hicks, seconded by Konen to donate the old weight room equipment to the Shabbona Fire Department. On a voice vote, all members voted yes. The motion carried.
Ms. Rockwood gave the superintendent’s report. The water leak at the high school is being investigated. Several positions have been posted. Social workers are being interviewed. Special
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education numbers were given to board members by category. Waterman’s crisis plan has been received. The AD/Dean position is still advertised in-house and will posted outside after June 1.
Mrs. Ottengheime gave the DCP/SAFE report. Seniors were honored at the last meeting. Priorities were discussed for next year and input from the students was gathered on their likes, dislikes, and improvements of the program. Mrs. Ottengheime would like to see some guidelines and goals for next year. The group should have a purpose and rules on how members could be removed from the membership list.
It was moved by Hicks, seconded by Boehne that the meeting be adjourned. On a voice vote, all members voted yes. The motion carried. The meeting was adjourned at 11:00 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Pamela Ottengheime, Secretary