SE Illinois News

Carmi White County Community Unit School District 5 Board of Education met March 16.

Here is the minutes provided by the board:

The regular meeting of the board of education of Carmi-White County Community Unit District No. 5 was held on Monday, March 16, 2020, at the Carmi-White County Junior/Senior High School cafeteria. The meeting was called to order by President Andy Acord at 7:00 p.m.

RECITAL OF PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

The Pledge of Allegiance was recited by all present.

Those present were board members Acord, Chapman, Fulkerson, Hammell, Hoskins, Mitchell and Scates. Others present were Superintendent Brad Lee; Amy Atteberry, Washington Attendance Center principal; Dr. Amy Dixon, Lincoln and Jefferson Attendance Centers principal; Bart King, junior high school principal; Jarrod Newell, high school principal; Kathy Price, Brownsville Attendance Center Principal; Lacey Moore, elementary dean of students; Todd Haley, Junior/Senior High School Dean of Students; Corey Ackerman, CWCEA President; Rachel Blazier, unit secretary; Scott Mareing, reporter at Carmi Broadcasting Co.; Nicole Behnke-Bullock, editor at The Carmi Chronicle; and Carol Groves, reporter at The Carmi Times.

CONSENT AGENDA APPROVED

Consent agenda items were presented to the board for its approval as follows:

1. Minutes of February 18, 2020 regular board meeting

2. IHSA Membership

Annually, to compete in the Illinois High School Association athletic and musical events, the board of education must certify that it has approved renewal of its membership in the IHSA at a board meeting. Fees have been waived again this year.

It was recommended that the board renew IHSA membership.

3. Certified Staff Retirements

Trena Black has submitted her irrevocable letter of retirement effective at the completion of the 2023-2024 school year. The retirement request meets and complies with the contractual language outlined in the district’s retirement incentive language.

Cynthia Francis has submitted her irrevocable letter of retirement effective at the completion of the 2023-2024 school year. The retirement request meets and complies with the contractual language outlined in the district’s retirement incentive language.

It was recommended that the board accept the irrevocable letter of retirement of Trena Black at the completion of the 2023-2024 school year and the irrevocable letter of retirement of Cynthia Francis at the completion of the 2023-2024 school year.

4. Resignations

Melissa Coniglione has submitted a letter of resignation as a Special Education Individual Aide at Washington Attendance Center effective March 3, 2020.

Todd Rice has submitted a letter of resignation as the Carmi-White County High School Assistant Boys’ Basketball Coach effective immediately

It was recommended that the board accept the letter of resignation of Melissa Coniglione as a Special Education Individual Aide at Washington Attendance Center effective March 3, 2020 and the letter of resignation of Todd Rice as the Carmi-White County High School Assistant Boys’ Basketball Coach effective immediately.

5. Donations

Lincoln Attendance Center has been the recipient of the following donations in memory of Kaye Bridwell and in support of its PTO:

Ms. Jane Absher.$100.00 Dr. and Mrs. Fred Smith.$25.00 Mr. and Mrs. Bill Hays.$20.00 Mr. and Mrs. Tom Sutton.$35.00 Alice Carter Family.$75.00 First Bank.$50.00 Total Donations.$305.00

Brownsville Attendance Center has been the recipient of the following donations in support of its programs:

Ms. Janice Gates.$500.00 TOTAL DONATIONS.$805.00

In line with board policy, it was recommended that the board of education accept the donations noted above.

Motion by Mitchell, second by Hammell, that recommendations for consent agenda items as follows:

1. Minutes of February 18, 2020 regular board meeting

2. IHSA Membership

3. Certified Retirements

4. Resignations

5. Donations

be approved. Roll call vote: Fulkerson, yes; Hammell, yes; Hoskins, yes; Mitchell, yes; Scates, yes; Chapman, yes; Acord, yes. Motion carried.

BILLS APPROVED

An additional list of bills was presented to the board of education for its consideration and approval.

Motion by Fulkerson, second by Hoskins, that the bills for the month of February 2020 be approved as listed. Roll call vote: Hammell, yes; Hoskins, yes; Mitchell, yes; Scates, yes; Chapman, yes; Fulkerson, yes; Acord, yes. Motion carried.

TREASURER’S REPORT READ AND APPROVED

The treasurer’s report for the month of February 2020 was read as follows: Education Fund, $3,763,414; Building Fund, $375,202; Transportation Fund, $563,719; Municipal Retirement Fund, $173,362; Imprest Fund, $7,525; Tort Fund, $756,221; Debt Service Fund, $542,049; Working Cash Fund, $99,473; Fire Prevention and Safety Fund, $190,354; and Capital Projects, $563,331. Investments by Fund: Education Fund, $4,000,000; Building Fund, $600,000; Municipal Retirement Fund, $475,000; Working Cash Fund, $425,000; and Capital Projects, $1,000,000.

Superintendent Lee distributed a breakdown of receipts for February 2020 to the board. The Education Fund received $751,105 in the month of February that included receipts for Evidence Based Funding, Title Funding, federal lunch reimbursement, Pre-K program, TAMES and special education tuition reimbursement. Local Taxes received $1,418,040. 1% Sales Tax received $61,160. Total receipts for the month of February totaled $2,230,304. Superintendent Lee said that Local Taxes received this month represents the majority of taxes that the district will receive this year (approximately 95% of total local taxes).

Motion by Scates, second by Hammell, that the treasurer’s report for the month of February 2020 be approved as read. Roll call vote: Hoskins, yes; Mitchell, yes; Scates, yes; Chapman, yes; Fulkerson, yes; Hammell, yes; Acord, yes. Motion carried.

SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT TO THE BOARD

Superintendent Lee explained that due to the school closings directed by Governor Pritzker, many things have changed on the Superintendent’s Report since it originated last Friday. He reported the following:

1. SPRING MUSICAL

The spring musical “Thoroughly Modern Millie” was to be performed by the CWCHS Fine Arts Department on March 20, 21 and 22 in the high school auditorium. The musical had to be cancelled. Thanks were extended to Mrs. Passmore, the drama sponsor, and students who worked extremely hard in preparing for this production for our community.

2. SPRING BREAK

Spring Break for students and staff is scheduled for April 6-10. It was decided that Spring Break will continue as originally scheduled.

3. HIGH SCHOOL PROM

At this time, this year’s high school prom will still be held at New Harmony, Indiana, on Saturday, April 18, 2020, at 7:00 p.m.

4. CORONAVIRUS UPDATE

With information changing daily (and sometimes even quicker) that is received from the Illinois State Board of Education, the federal government, the State government, the Illinois Department of Public Health, and other sources, Superintendent Lee updated the board on the latest information he had regarding the Coronavirus. Governor Pritzker has claimed March 17 – March 30, 2020 as Act of God Days.

Continuity of Education: E-Learning days are not required but is recommending that districts make their best efforts to provide learning services to its students. The district’s PK-Grade 3 students received a week’s worth of information that was sent home with them today. Fourth-twelfth grade students took their Chromebooks home so teachers could provide educational learning on-line.

Superintendent Lee and the building administrators met on Sunday afternoon to discuss lesson planning for students. After the district gets through this first week, parents/guardians will be notified when teachers will have additional materials to be picked up. They have encouraged parents/guardians to let buildings know if they do not have internet.

The district has applied for a waiver and starting on Tuesday, March 17, will begin distributing to student’s a lunch for that day along with a breakfast for the following morning. Head cooks will work from 8:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. preparing meals for the students. Assistant cooks and staff volunteers are packaging the meals and distributing to seven drop off locations. The district has received monetary donations for these meals along with Wal-Mart donating coolers and miscellaneous items to be used in preparation/distribution of meals. A letter was sent home with students today in PreK through 8th grade. Information is available on the district website and the CWC app.

All extra-curricular and co-curricular events (games and practices) starting Tuesday, March 17 and running through March 30 have been cancelled.

Since these days are considered Act of God Days, all certified and support staff employees will be paid during this time.

5. GOOD NEWS

Dr. Dixon showed the board a sample of the packets that went home with students today at Lincoln Attendance Center. Kindergarten students were sent home with a snack for breakfast tomorrow, Little Readers (books and printed material), math activities, and extra activity kits. First grade students prepared and took home “suitcases”. They started their adventure this morning that lasted all day long. Their suitcases included reading, math books, crafts, suggested family activities, and a “pot of gold”.

Mrs. Moore reported on Jefferson Attendance Center. In the interventionist class, they studied a unit on inventors. The students discussed a lot of different inventions and decided they wanted to make a cell phone speaker. Mrs. Moore had one of the class made cell phone speakers to show to the board.

Mrs. Price said she wanted to brag on her staff. Students at Brownsville Attendance Center require individualized lessons to work on. Her staff rose to the occasion. They made arrangements to get this information to out-of-district students that were not in attendance today due to their school districts being closed.

She also reported on the Polar Plunge. Jacob Dobson’s team (a former student at Brownsville) collected $4,200.00. Total collected was $21,000.00.

Mr. King wanted to express his thanks to the building secretaries at the junior/senior high school. They worked on getting students’ packets ready today. They had two big tables with folders that had each teacher’s name on them and each teacher’s class periods so when student’s come in tomorrow to big up their lesson plans, the packets will be ready.

Mr. Newell said that there are so many questions and nobody has all of the answers. Staff were going out of their way to ask what they could do to get everything prepared. Staff and students both came to school today with really good attitudes. He had difficult conversations with the seniors and told them they were doing the best that they can, to take one minute at a time. No matter what, we are going to be o.k. Staff is wanting to do whatever they can while their students are away from them.

Board member Chapman suggested that during this time, that the students keep a journal. In generations to come, they will have documented what is was like during this pandemic.

Dr. Dixon told the board that she has a daughter that is a senior. She commended Mr. Newell for meeting and talking with each senior student today.

SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION TASK FORCE FINAL REPORT

The Illinois School Construction Task Force has released its final report with recommendations for how the School Construction Grant Program should function. The report is being sent to the Governor, General Assembly and the chairperson of the Illinois State Board of Education to review. The following is an approximate time line for districts to follow and a summarized description:

Stage 1: ISBE Review – Possibly summer or early fall 2020

We expect the first stage – where school districts apply for funds – to begin this summer or possibly early fall.

Once the applications are received, ISBE will review and send out a notice of grant eligibility with the estimated state/local share to school districts. A list of eligible applicants will be published and forwarded to the Capital Development Board (CDB).

Stage 2: Capital Development Board Review – Possibly late spring or early summer 2021

We expect it will take the CDB nine months once it gets a list from ISBE before it issues any conditional grant awards to schools. That would bring the timeline into late spring or early summer of 2021 before districts could be confident state funding will come through.

According to the report, the CDB will be responsible for verifying the total project cost a district puts into its application, as well as overseeing the distribution of state funds.

Stage 3: Collection of Match – 2 years

Following the issuance of a conditional grant award, school districts will have two years to collect the local match and provide proof to the CDB. That’s a longer period than what districts had under the old grant program.

Stage 4: Disbursement of Funding

The CDB will disburse grant funding (actual dollars) to districts when appropriate at various stages of project completion.

One of the biggest takeaways is a recommendation to use equity principles embedded in the Evidence-Based Funding Formula to determine how much local match a district would have to contribute.

The local match would be based on a district’s Local Capacity Percentage and could range from as low as 10 percent to as high as 90 percent. That’s a change from the old state construction program, where the minimum level was 35 percent up to a maximum of 75 percent.

What remains unclear at this time is how large a pool of money will be available for K-12 education. The overall figure, of course, will go a long way in determining how big of an impact the capital program will have on rebuilding and repairing deteriorating school buildings across Illinois.

We will continue to monitor information as it becomes available and keep the board updated. Our intention is to reconvene the Building Bulldog Pride Facilities Committee in April to look at possible next steps as we move forward.

APPOINTMENT OF IMRF AUTHORIZED AGENT

The board is requested to appoint V. Joy McCully, district office administrative secretary, as IMRF authorized agent to succeed District Bookkeeper Laura Goemaat, due to her reassignment to district office administrative secretary with duties that now include assisting with payroll. This appointment will be effective March17, 2020. In this capacity, Mrs. McCully will be able to file a petition for nomination of an Executive Trustee of IMRF, cast a ballot for election of an Executive Trustee of IMRF, and perform any other powers and duties delegated to an Authorized Agent Pursuant to Section 7-135 of the Illinois Pension Code. Mrs. McCully is a current participant in IMRF. A copy of the Notice of Appointment of Authorized Agent is attached.

Motion by Fulkerson, second by Chapman, that V. Joy McCully, district office administrative secretary, be appointed as IMRF authorized agent effective March 17, 2020. Motion carried by unanimous vote.

CLOSED SESSION

Motion by Mitchell, second by Hammell, that the board meet in closed session at 7:42 p.m. for purposes of discussing appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance, or dismissal of an employee or officer. Roll call vote: Mitchell, yes; Scates, yes; Chapman, yes; Fulkerson, yes; Hammell, yes; Hoskins, yes; Acord, yes. Motion carried.

Motion by Mitchell, second by Chapman, that the board return to open session at 8:19 p.m. Motion carried by unanimous vote.

CLOSED SESSION MINUTES APPROVED

Motion by Acord, second by Mitchell, that the board approve closed session minutes of the February 18, 2020 regular meeting of the board of education. Roll call vote: Chapman, yes; Fulkerson, yes; Hammell, yes; Hoskins, yes; Mitchell, yes; Scates, yes; Acord, yes. Motion carried.

SARA RIDER REASSIGNED AS LINCOLN ATTENDANCE CENTER BUILDING CUSTODIAN

Motion by Hammell, second by Fulkerson, that the board reassign Sara Rider as a Building Custodian at Lincoln Attendance Center for the 2020-2021 school year to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Greg Leggett. Roll call vote: Fulkerson, yes; Hammell, yes; Hoskins, yes; Mitchell, yes; Scates, yes; Chapman, yes; Acord, yes. Motion carried.

KELLY TAYLOR REASSIGNED AS A FIFTH GRADE TEACHER

Motion by Chapman, second by Hammell, that the board reassign Kelly Taylor as a Fifth Grade Teacher at Washington Attendance Center for the 2020-2021 school year to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Anna York. Roll call vote: Hammell, yes; Hoskins, yes; Mitchell, abstained; Scates, yes; Chapman, yes; Fulkerson, yes; Acord, yes. Motion carried.

KATE SIMMONS EMPLOYED AS THE JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS’ HEAD TRACK COACH

Motion by Hoskins, second by Mitchell, that the board employ Kate Simmons as the Junior High School Girls’ Head Track Coach for the 2019-2020 school year to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Trey Mason. Roll call vote: Hoskins, yes; Mitchell, yes; Scates, yes; Chapman, yes; Fulkerson, yes; Hammell, yes; Acord, yes. Motion carried.

BRANDON SMITH APPROVED AS A JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL VOLUNTEER ASSISTANT BOY’S TRACK COACH

Motion by Fulkerson, second by Acord, that the board approve Brandon Smith as a Junior High School Volunteer Assistant Boys’ Track Coach for the 2019-2020 school year. Roll call vote: Mitchell, yes; Scates, yes; Chapman, yes; Fulkerson, yes; Hammell, yes; Hoskins, yes; Acord, yes. Motion carried.

TEACHERS PLACED ON TENURE AT BEGINNING OF 2020-2021 SCHOOL YEAR

Motion by Mitchell, second by Fulkerson, that Jayme Cowling, Margherita DiMaggio and Suzanne Tomm be placed on tenure at the beginning of the 2020-2021 school year. Roll call vote: Scates, yes; Chapman, yes; Fulkerson, yes; Hammell, yes; Hoskins, yes; Mitchell, yes; Acord, yes. Motion carried.

FIRST YEAR TEACHERS RE-EMPLOYED

Motion by Chapman, second by Hammell, that first year certified staff members April Benham, Sabrina Cox, Jessica Flannigan, Todd Haley, Kim Hindman, Brenda Lack, Robin Mick, Tara Miller, Whitney Pearce, Felicia Rumsey, Megan Tockstein and Rhet Vaughan be re- employed for the 2020-2021 school year. Roll call vote: Chapman, yes; Fulkerson, yes; Hammell, yes; Hoskins, yes; Mitchell, yes; Scates, yes; Acord, yes. Motion carried.

SECOND YEAR TEACHERS RE-EMPLOYED

Motion by Chapman, second by Hoskins, that second year certified staff members Rachel Attebury, Tomas Brandt, Amy Burgener, Angela Cole, Julie Jackson, Sarah Richards, Ashley Walls and Shannon Webb be re-employed for the 2020-2021 school year. Roll call vote: Fulkerson, yes; Hammell, yes; Hoskins, yes; Mitchell, yes; Scates, yes; Chapman, yes; Acord, yes. Motion carried.

THIRD YEAR TEACHERS RE-EMPLOYED

Motion by Fulkerson, second by Mitchell, that third year certified staff members Adam Cross, Hannah Roe-Gottman and Bethany Scates be re-employed for the 2020-2021 school year. Roll call vote: Hammell, yes; Hoskins, yes; Mitchell, yes; Scates, yes; Chapman, yes; Fulkerson, yes; Acord, yes. Motion carried.

ADMINISTRATORS RE-EMPLOYED FOR 2020-2021 SCHOOL YEAR

Motion by Scates, second by Hoskins, that the following administrators be re-employed for the 2020-2021 school year: Amy Atteberry, Amy Dixon, Bart King, Jarrod Newell, and Kathy Price. Roll call vote: Hoskins, yes; Mitchell, yes; Scates, yes; Chapman, yes; Fulkerson, yes; Hammell, yes; Acord, yes. Motion carried.

ADJOURN

Motion by Chapman, second by Acord, that the meeting be adjourned at 8:25 p.m. Motion carried by unanimous vote.

https://core-docs.s3.amazonaws.com/documents/asset/uploaded_file/622878/March_16__2020_-_Regular_Board_Minutes.pdf