GALENA UNIT SCHOOL DISTRICT #120 BOARD OF EDUCATION MEETING TUESDAY, AUGUST 19, 5:00 P.M. GALENA MIDDLE SCHOOL LIBRARY

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1 1. Welcome: GALENA UNIT SCHOOL DISTRICT #120 BOARD OF EDUCATION MEETING TUESDAY, AUGUST 19, 5:00 P.M. GALENA MIDDLE SCHOOL LIBRARY 1.1. Call to Order; Pledge of Allegiance The Board of Education of met in regular session at the Galena Middle School Library on Tuesday, August 19, The meeting was called to order at 5:00 p.m. The Galena High School Cheerleaders led the Pledge of Allegiance. 1.2 Roll Call A roll call vote was taken finding the following members present: Member Campbell, Member Edmonds, Member Hyland, Member Korte, Member Long, Member Wienen and President Miller Establishment of Quorum A quorum was established Approval of Agenda <Motion made by Member Korte and seconded by Member Wienen to approve the Agenda as presented. Motion carried Public Comments There were no public comments. 2. Superintendent Report/Administrative Reports: 2.1. Dr. Sharon Olds, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Olds reported: Updated the Board on summer projects. Stated we are still waiting on a few kitchen items for the cold part on the salad bar; cafeteria tables are set to arrive on August 26 th, and a piece of the desk for the Middle School Office is set to arrive next week. There was an issue with the cooler walls that we received with our kitchen equipment, as they are taller than the standard coolers and do not fit in the storage area. We hope to put it out for a minimum bid to recoup the money for the condensing unit. We will hold on to it if we do not receive the minimum bid. Card reader mechanisms will be updated so we re on the same system and can be controlled from anywhere. Regarding the half cent sales tax the Board discussed at their last meeting, Dr. Olds has been talking to County Chairman, Ron Smith. He is working on details and getting information as to who brings the motion and verifying that it can be brought back. Hopefully she will hear something by the end of the week. Also the Gazette and the TH had articles. She also talked to other superintendents and several of the other districts in the county are on board with us. This must be done by October for it to go into effect by January. Page 1 of 6

2 The first day of school went well. She thanked the principals for doing a great job of orienting students the first day with an assembly, going through rules and setting the pace for this year. Teachers had two inservice days for the start of the school year. They had a floating day (even though more came in than that); the other day was devoted to meetings; there were different trainings for paraprofessionals and custodians. The principals welcomed and introduced new staff: Kerry Shelke, Bilingual Teacher Samantha Lange, 7th Grade English Language Arts Teacher Alivia Coulthard, K-8 Art Teacher Board Goals The Board set a date for Goal setting for Tuesday, September 2, 2014, at 4:15 p.m. at the District Office. David Howard, Transportation Director, gave a report to the board. He currently has 10 routes, with the longest route being route to Chestnut. Also, they use the school van to haul a student to the alternative program in Elizabeth. Most busses leave the bus barn at 6:50 or 7 a.m. and are back in by 7:50 or 8 a.m. In addition to the regular routes there are Field Trips and Athletic Runs. He is in need of substitute bus drivers, as there s definitely a shortage. We ve advertised in the past and put it on the district website, but the licensing process is difficult, which makes it less appealing to applicants. In addition there are roads in the district that are problematic. There is one road in particular they run that s two miles down and only one lane. There are 25 to 30 students on the bus at the time they go down that lane. If they meet a car or truck someone needs to back up, as there is no place to turn around. It s very poorly maintained. Board members questioned whether that is a safe venue to run, as it sounds like the district has gone above and beyond to get buses to places that are questionable. If there are 25 or 30 students on the bus we are endangering them. The Principals reported to the board on school improvement and goal areas for the upcoming school year: RtI focus, Core Reading Skills, MAP Testing, Compass Learning, Tech Integration, Grading, Communication, Academics, Behavior, Assigning Homework, and School Spirit. 3. Board/Committee Reports: 3.1. Board Suggested adding Board meeting dates to the calendar on the district website Master calendar; Received feedback from parents at the Primary school. There is orientation for kindergarten students but nothing for students in grades 1 4. Perhaps you could have a meet and greet or open house the night before school so students could come in with their parents and bring their backpack, school supplies, etc. and familiarize themselves with where they will be going the first day of school and meet their teacher Business Services Committee No report. Their next meeting is scheduled for September 3, 2014 at 4:15 p.m. to discuss the budget Policy Committee no report 3.4. School Facilities no report Page 2 of 6

3 4. Consent Agenda: 4.1. Approval of Consent Agenda <Motion made by Member Wienen and seconded by Member Long to approve Consent Agenda Items 4.1 through A roll call vote was taken: Member Wienen Yes, Member Long Yes, President Miller Yes, Member Korte Yes, Member Hyland Yes, Member Edmonds Yes, Member Campbell Yes. Motion carried Approval of Board Minutes - The Board approved the July 31, 2014, Regular Meeting Minutes and Executive Session Minutes Approval of Bills - The Board approved the bills as presented Approval of Financial Report The Board approved the Financial Report as presented Approval of Treasurer s Monthly Statement The Board approved the Treasurer s Report as presented Approval Activity Fund Accounts, Scholarship Funds, and Revolving Fund Account The Board approved the June and July Activity Fund Account Reports, the June and July Scholarship Fund Account Reports, and the July Revolving Fund Account Report, as presented Destruction of Closed Session Audio Recordings from December, The Board approved the destruction of closed session audio recordings prior to and including December, Open Meetings Act (OMA) Compliance Officers and Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Officers - The Board appointed Sharon Olds, Superintendent, and Patti Murphy, District Secretary, as the Open Meetings Act Compliance Officers and Freedom of Information Act Officers for the District for the school year District Property Offered The Board authorized the following item to be advertised and offered for sale with a minimum bid of $5000 accepted: Walk in Cooler Panels and Door (includes: wall, ceiling and floor panels) with Optional Condensing Unit. The Board authorized the following items to be offered for the highest bidder: Plastic Mobile Salad Bar Unit with Sneeze Guard Two (2) Butcher Block Tables Steam Table (holds 4 deep pans) Large metal teacher s desk Five (5) computer carts on wheels Four (4) old tube tv s Page 3 of 6

4 4.10. Personnel The Board approved the maternity leave request of Sarah Hesselbacher, Reading Interventionist at Galena Primary School, for six weeks, commencing August 18, 2014, with a return date of September 29, Old Business: 5.1. Student Handbook Board members had a few questions/clarifications and suggested minor modifications to the Parent- Student Handbook. Member Hyland felt it was an impossible read and suggested it be formatted differently for next school year in an easier reading format with hyperlinks. To this end the following motion was made: <Motion made by Member Wienen and seconded by Member Hyland to adopt the Parent- Student Handbook. Motion carried New Business: 6.1. Approval of Gas and Diesel Bid The combined bid with the city for bulk diesel was submitted and sent to three local providers and was also published in the paper. There were no bidders at the time of closing. Dr. Old stated the District could resubmit the bid for bulk diesel. After discussion it was consensus of the Board to resubmit the bid for bulk diesel Present Tentative FY15 Budget The Tentative Budget has been available for review by the public and the required notice has been in the paper regarding the public hearing which is scheduled for 4:45 p.m. on September 16 th, with the regular meeting to follow, at which time the budget will be voted on for approval. Dr. Olds provided the Board with a comparison from last year s budget to this year. She indicated PMA reviewed the budget and their comment was that it looked good but there were less tax revenues than anticipated. The Budget shows overall spending of $68,933 of reserves. It s similar from one year to the next. Salaries for staff increased around 4%. The Education fund is basically where we pay salaries and benefits, and also includes what we need to run school (technology, etc.). Also employees are taking advantage of insurance benefits. The insurance plan is slightly higher than last year. Projected expenses for maintenance are up over last year by approximately $160,000. Revenues are slightly down because transportation has been reduced by 20% and the special education budget is down from 90% to 50%. Dr. Olds stated there are many things to take into consideration when preparing the final budget. Anticipated maintenance is very hard to predict. In addition we have upcoming certified contract negotiations, and will be looking at capital projects, facilities and life safety, along with analyzing staffing, etc. She will provide the Board with more information on Friday, however, if there are questions or if anyone wants to stop by the office she will go through the budget with them line by line. Page 4 of 6

5 6.3. Confirm Hearing Date on FY15 Budget Dr. Olds stated after the Tentative Budget has been on display for 30 days, the District sets a public hearing prior to approving the final budget. The Public Hearing is traditionally held just prior to the regularly scheduled board meeting. To this end the following motion was made: <Motion made by Member Campbell and seconded by Member Edmonds setting the Public Hearing on the FY15 Budget for September 16, 2014, at 4:45 p.m., in the Middle School Library, with the regular meeting to follow Consideration of Resolution Approving Freeport School District Withdrawal from NWSE The Freeport School District requested last fall that they be allowed to withdraw from the Northwest Special Ed Co-op. The terms and conditions of this withdrawal have been worked out over the past several months and are fair to all member school districts and to Freeport. They have provided us with a Resolution setting forth the agreement and all member districts need to approve the Resolution. At this point there could be a chance that they may stay in the Co-op but because they acted on it we need to respond. It s of no advantage to us not to release them. To this end the following was made: <Motion made by Member Wienen and seconded by Member Hyland to approve the Resolution for Freeport School District s withdrawal from the Northwest Special Education Co-op. A roll call vote was taken: Member Wienen Yes, Member Hyland Yes, Member Campbell Yes, Member Edmonds Yes, Member Korte Yes, Member Long Yes, President Miller Yes. Motion carried Consideration of Contracts with Midwest Medical for: Athletic Trainer and Nurse Dr. Olds stated they are still working on the terms of the nursing coverage, and will just be discussing the contract for the Athletic Trainer. She provided the Board with the Athletic Trainer contract and stated it covers games and practice for fall and winter sports but also provides us the flexibility to get coverage for spring sports at $25.00 per hour. The cost is comparable from in the past. Quite often they send both trainers and occasionally send grad students. Part of contract is they need to find someone. Concerns were expressed by board members as to whether a trainer should be present for all practices and games, spring sports included. They felt it could be a liability issue. Perhaps we could check and see if a trainer is present and if not we could provide one. To this end the following motion was made: <Motion made by Member Wienen and seconded by Member Hyland to approve the contract with Midwest Medical for athletic training services for the school year. A roll call vote was taken: Member Wienen Yes, Member Hyland Yes, Member Campbell Yes, Member Edmonds Yes, Member Korte Yes, Member Long Yes, President Miller Yes. Motion carried 7-0. Page 5 of 6

6 6.6. Wellness Committee Dr. Olds stated the Board had expressed interest in focusing on Wellness. Before establishing a committee and goals she asked for direction from the Board as to whether they wished to focus on the wellness of students, staff, or both, and if so did they wish to invest money in this area. It was consensus of the Board to establish a wellness committee to focus on the wellness of both students and staff, with the possibility of investing funds in that area. They directed Dr. Olds to establish a committee, give the committee time to research and put a plan together and then come back with direction. 7. Executive Session: 7.1 Motion to Move to Executive Session to Discuss Employment/Dismissal of Personnel as Authorized by Section 2 (c) (1) of the Open Meetings Act (5 ILCS 120/2 (c) (1) The Board agreed there was no need for Executive Session. 8. Reconvene to Open Session: N/A 8.1. Recommendations from Executive Session (if necessary) The Board did not go into Executive Session 9. Adjournment: 9.1. Motion to Adjourn <Motion made by Member Wienen and seconded by Member Edmonds to adjourn meeting at 6:58 p.m. Motion carried 7-0. Barb Miller, President Laura Edmonds, Secretary Board of Education Board of Education Approved Page 6 of 6