February 2007 Board Meeting
March 28, 2007
REGULAR MEETING
FEBRUARY 20, 2007
The Board of Education of the Carrollton Community Unit School District #1 was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by President Kevin Roundcount. Mr. Roundcount welcomed the guests and the Pledge to the Flag was given. Roll call was answered by Craig Bandy, Debra Helton, Kevin Roundcount, Bob Schnelten. Bill Hobson arrived at 7:07 p.m., Patti Nord arrived at 7:10 p.m., Kellie York arrived at 7:15 p.m.
Mr. Barry reported that thank you cards were received from the Lady Hawks basketball team for the support during the invitational tournament and from Suzanne Scott for flowers sent upon the death of her mother.
Mrs. Nord moved seconded by Mr. Bandy to approve the following consent agenda items. Mr. Bandy, Mrs. Helton, Mr. Hobson, Mrs. Nord, Mr. Roundcount, Mr. Schnelten, Mrs. York voted aye.
Minutes of the January 16, 2007 meeting
Payroll and Disbursements as presented, entered in the minutes, and orders drawn for payment in the following amounts: Education $166,524.41, Building $9419.48, Transportation $8225.13, IMRF $16,361.73, Payroll $304,299.25.
Treasurers Report as of January 31 in the amount of $905,527.64
The District One Foundation/Hembrough Trust Enrichment Camp for 3 5 grade students this summer. The program alternates between Carrollton and Greenfield and is to be held in Carrollton this summer.
The purchase of four 65- passenger buses at a cost of $65,019.00 per bus from Ponder Equipment Co. of Litchfield and to trade in two of the four used 2003 65-passenger buses to Ponder and to sell two to the Jersey School District for $34,000 per bus.
Leave the April board meeting set as is which is scheduled for Monday, April 16, 2007 and move the May board meeting to May 15, 2007 to coincide with the canvassing of the election.
Because of Prom being scheduled on May 5, 2007, change the May 4, 2007 half-day in-service to April 5, 2007. Students will be dismissed at 11:30 that day.
Accept the $15,000 donation from the Whitey Herzog Foundation to be used to install a fence on the high school baseball field.
Goal Statements as revised.
Mr. Barry reported the attendance rates for January were 93.68% at the g.s. and 94.95% at the h.s.
Ms. Williamson provided the elementary report:
The Student Council sponsored a Book Drive the week of January 24. The goal was to collect additional classic books for the school library. Several donations were received for both the library and classrooms.
The Student Council is sponsoring the Hoops for Heart and Jump Rope for Heart to raise funds for the American Heart Association. Students participated in the activities during their PE class on February 14.
Congratulations to Paige Schnettgoecke for winning the school spelling bee and to Evan Rahe for being runner-up. Paige will compete in the Regional Spelling Bee in Carlinville on February 22. Thank you to Gordon Rahe and Jon Siltman of Country Companies for donating the trophies and to Sonja Stinson for coordinating the event.
The 7th and 8th grade Olympiad team participated in the Learning Olympiad on February 2. The 5th and 6th grade team participated on February 15.
The PTO Carnival will be held at the grade school on February 24 from 4:00 to 8:00. The carnival has a Mardi Gras theme with activities for all ages. A barbecue pork supper will also be held.
Pre-registration for children who will be in kindergarten next fall will be held in the Carrollton Grade School multi-purpose room on March 16, 2007. Children who will be 5 years old by September 1, 2007 may register. Parents should bring a copy of the childs legal birth certificate, immunization records, and Social Security number.
The grade school will be the site of the 7th & 8th grade volleyball regional tournaments on Feb. 26-March 1 and March 5-8, respectively.
The state mandated ISAT will be administered during the March 12 - 23 testing period. Students in grades 3 - 8 will be tested in reading and math and students in grades 4 and 7 will be tested in science. Last years results recently arrived and have been sent home with the students.
Mr. Churchman provided the secondary report:
Congratulations to the 1st place Senior Olympiad team of Ben Cook, Jami Graham, Derek Nord, and Amy Reed and to sponsor Rhonda Kiger. The students placed first among 24 teams at the annual Regional Office of Education sponsored event. This is the third year in a row that Carrollton H.S. has won the competition.
Additional character education training sessions were held for high school students on January 30. Teachers addressed the students on the topic of anger management.
Congratulations to Coach Stumpf and the Lady Hawks basketball team for the fine season. Congrats also to Madi Pranger for being selected to the 33rd annual Carrollton Invitational Tournament all-tournament team. A special thanks to all those who helped make this years tournament another success.
Congratulations to Coach Pohlman and the wrestlers for a hard fought season. Congrats also to Brent Richey for finishing first in his class at the Pittsfield Regional. Brent and James Jackson (4th place finish) advanced to the Vandalia Sectional. Also, congrats to Eric Fraley, Josh Sethaler, and Sam Snyder on their near qualifying 4th place finishes.
Thanks to Mrs. Ross for coordinating the Financial Aid Night on Jan. 16 and for conducting the Jan. 31st orientation for next years freshmen.
Mr. Barry reported that Character Education selections were made for the month of January at both schools. Fifth grade student Hollie Davidson, sixth grade student Adele Cook, and sophomore David Steckel were nominated and selected for recognition. The Lions Club invited the students and parents to their February meeting for dinner and a presentation.
Mr. Barry provided a grants update stating that the Secretary of States office recently notified the district that the library will again be awarded the per capita grant, this year in the amount of $467.07. The funds are to be used to help support student learning through the library media program. In other grant news, equipment has been arriving this past month for the new LCCC Telemedicine and Health grant. Teacher training should be scheduled sometime soon. As part of the project, the district will have video conferencing capabilities set up at the high school.
Mr. Barry noted that the new district web site will be live soon and may be viewed at HYPERLINK "http://www.c-hawks.net" www.c-hawks.net. Thanks were extended to Jan Jungk for her guidance in developing the new web site. Until then, the current site, HYPERLINK "http://www.c-hawks.org" www.c-hawks.org, is still active.
Mr. Barry provided the following School Improvement update:
The district held a half-day in-service on Feb. 2, 2007. Staff training was received in the following areas: Behavior Management, Discovery Learning, AED and Web Site.
Planning is underway for next years scheduling and curricular improvements. Building and grounds improvements are also under review.
Official AYP status reports for the grade school, high school and district have been received from the ISBE and copies provided to board members. As reported earlier, the district is not making AYP due to one of the two subgroups at the g.s. falling short of the minimum AYP test percentage target. The schools easily surpassed all the other state benchmarks, including overall testing percentage, attendance rates, and graduation rates. Mr. Roundcount acknowledged that both schoolsscores have improved the past few years. At the g.s., 74% of the students met or exceeded the state standards in reading compared to 64% in 2004 and in math, 84% met or exceeded standards compared to 73% in 2003. Increases were even more dramatic at the h.s. where 64% of the juniors tested last year met or exceeded the state standards in reading compared to 46% in 2002. In math, 58% met or exceeded compared to 43% in 2002.
The districts attendance rate of 96% surpassed the states benchmark rate of 89% and the districts graduation rate of 89% easily out distanced the states benchmark rate of 67%.
A federal NCLB commission is recommending up to 75 changes to the Act prior to its reauthorization this year. Among the recommendations include creating national standards, requiring the tracking of the progress of teachers, changing the way special education students are assessed, and adding science to the subjects to be tested. Information on the commission may be viewed at HYPERLINK "http://www.aspeninstitute.org" www.aspeninstitute.org.
Mr. Barry provided a State Board of Education/Legislative Update noting that the State Board of Education voted to recommend a budget for FY08 to include an $800 million increase to elementary and secondary education. The proposal includes an increase of $355 to the per student foundation level and 100% funding of categorical grant programs. In addition, a $5,000 increase to the special education personnel reimbursement is being sought. The governor will give the state budget address on March 7, 2007, which will include his recommended priorities for spending. The legislature will then vote on the state budget later in the spring. Legislative committees are currently being organized and will be considering hundreds of bills over the next few weeks.
Regarding the upcoming board election, five candidates have filed for the Board of Education: Incumbent Kevin Roundcount, David Fraley, Bill Leonard, Rodney Reif, and Bill Steinacher. Members Bill Hobson and Kellie York did not file for re-election. With the township election guidelines and depending upon the vote counts, Kevin Roundcount or Bill Leonard and two of the three others could be elected OR David Fraley, Rodney Reif, and Bill Steinacher could be elected.
Mr. Barry reported that Finance Committee and Committee of the Whole meetings were held on Feb. 5, 2007 for the purpose of reviewing the budget and discussion of policy. Minutes of the meetings were sent and filed with the board secretary. In addition, the Two Rivers IASB will be having the Semi-Annual Conference and Dinner meeting at North Greene High School on March 6, 2007. Mrs. Helton stated her intent to attend. Mr. Barry noted that a board candidate workshop is offered at this meeting, and candidates will be invited to attend.
Mr. Barry reported that in the follow-up of previous committee meeting discussions, the following policies are listed for update:
Drug and Alcohol JFCHand Student Discipline JG- The board discussed revision of language, possible counseling requirements, parental conferences.
Early Graduation IKF: The board is interested in establishing criteria such as only open to A, B,or C students, must meet or exceed the state standards, must have definite academic plans after the mid-year graduation, would have to take a class to finish the 4th year semester English requirement.
Waiver for Physical Education INF: Currently, seniors are permitted to waive PE to take additional academic classes and because of being in an athletic program.
The administration will revise and forward to the board for approval.
The board reviewed the districts extra-curricular code in regards to alcohol and drug violations, academic ineligibility (the board would like the h.s. and g.s. policies more consistent), random drug testing (discussion to continue at the next meeting with input from the community), possible counseling requirements-family doctor vs trained counselor, and parental conferences. Input from the district advisory committee will be given consideration. The board discussed combining the discipline and advisory committees. The administration will revise the extra-curricular code and forward to the board for approval.
Mrs. Nord moved seconded by Mr. Hobson to approve the use of the districts van and activity bus for cross-country and golf for normal competitions with no fee as long as the team provides their own driver. Mr. Bandy, Mr. Hobson, Mrs. Nord, Mr. Roundcount, Mrs. York voted aye. Mrs. Helton abstained, Mr. Schnelten voted present.
The board discussed the possibility of hiring of a part-time consultant or firm to work with the Board of Education. Mr. Barry indicated that the district years ago belonged to the North Central Association, a regional oversight and accreditation agency.
At 8:50 p.m. Mrs. Nord moved seconded by Mrs. York an executive session be held for Personnel Evaluation/ Employment/ Appointment 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(1). Mr. Bandy, Mrs. Helton, Mr. Hobson, Mrs. Nord, Mr. Roundcount, Mr. Schnelten, Mrs. York voted aye.
Mrs. York left before going into executive session.
At 10:19 p.m. Mrs. Nord moved seconded by Mrs. Helton the session be ended. Mr. Bandy, Mrs. Helton, Mr. Hobson, Mrs. Nord, Mr. Roundcount, Mr. Schnelten, Mrs. York voted aye.
Mr. Barry made the following recommendations:
continue with the current contract for h.s. principal Alan Churchman with salary to be determined.
approve the following volunteer assistant track coaches: Cris Brannan, Steve Adcock, Rob Lippert at the grade school, Jim Challens, Steve Dawdy, and Linda Davidson for the high school.
approve Reggie Pohlman as a volunteer asst. baseball coach and Shane Carter and Kelly Lesemann as volunteer asst. softball coaches.
approve the retirement of bookkeeper Loretta Caskey effective June 30, 2007.
approve the resignations of g.s. custodian Lyndall Lakin as of the end February and h.s. cheerleader sponsor Tina Carter.
hire Paul Enochs as g.s. night custodian beginning February 26, 2007.
Mr. Bandy moved seconded by Mr. Hobson to continue with the current contract for h.s. principal Alan Churchman with salary to be determined. Mr. Bandy, Mrs. Helton, Mr. Hobson, Mrs. Nord, Mr. Roundcount, Mr. Schnelten voted aye.
Mrs. Nord moved seconded by Mr. Bandy to approve the following for volunteer assistant track coaches: Cris Brannan, Steve Adcock, Rob Lippert at the grade school, Jim Challens, Steve Dawdy, and Linda Davidson for the high school. Mr. Bandy, Mr. Hobson, Mrs. Nord, Mrs. Roundcount, Mr. Schnelten voted aye, Mrs. Helton abstained.
Mrs. Nord moved seconded by Mrs. Helton to appoint Reggie Pohlman as volunteer asst. baseball coach and Shane Carter and Kelly Lesemann as volunteer asst. softball coaches. Mr. Bandy, Mrs. Helton, Mr. Hobson, Mrs. Nord, Mr. Roundcount, Mr. Schnelten voted aye.
Mrs. Nord moved seconded by Mrs. Helton to regretfully approve the retirement of bookkeeper Loretta Caskey effective June 30, 2007. Mrs. Helton, Mrs. Nord, Mr. Roundcount, Mr. Schnelten voted aye, Mr. Bandy and Mr. Hobson voted present.
Mr. Bandy moved seconded by Mr. Schnelten to approve the resignations of g.s. custodian Lyndall Lakin as of the end February and h.s. cheerleader sponsor Tina Carter. Mr. Bandy, Mrs. Helton, Mr. Hobson, Mrs. Nord, Mr. Roundcount, Mr. Schnelten voted aye.
Mrs. Nord moved seconded by Mrs. Helton to hire Paul Enochs as g.s. night custodian beginning February 26, 2007. Mrs. Helton, Mr. Hobson, Mrs. Nord, Mr. Roundcount, Mr. Schnelten voted aye. Mr. Bandy voted present.
There were no public comments.
Regarding Board Comment/Future Agenda Items, Mr. Roundcount noted that doors need to be installed on stalls in the boysrestrooms, and the area behind the shop at the h.s. should be cleaned up.
At 10:27 p.m., Mr. Roundcount stated that having completed the agenda, the meeting was adjourned to the next scheduled meeting on March 19, 2007.
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Secretary President
