Illinois Valley Times

Earlville Community Unit School District 9 Board of Education met September 25.

Here is the minutes provided by the Board:

The regular meeting of the Board of Education of Earlville Community Unit School District 9, DeKalb, LaSalle and Lee Counties, Illinois, held at the Earlville School on the 25th day of September, 2017 was called to order by School Board President Barbara Meloy at 6:59 p.m.

Roll Call:

The following members answered roll call: Mr. John Eager, Mrs. Angie Koontz, Mrs. Lisa Harness, Ms. Jennie Smith, Mr. Jeff Maly, Mr. Carl Zimmerman and Mrs. Barbara Meloy.

Administrators: Mr. Rich Faivre and Mrs. Jenette Fruit were present.

Visitors Present:

Mr. Stu Bloom from the Earlville Post, Ms Tamara Abbey from the LaSalle News Tribune, and Mr. Roland Hacker were present.

Motions Arising Out of Closed Session.

A motion was made by Mr. Zimmerman to rescind the offer of employment to Arian Mereness. Mrs. Koontz seconded the motion. Upon roll call vote, the following members voted aye: Mr. Eager, Mrs. Koontz, Mrs. Harness, Mr. Maly, Mr. Zimmerman, Ms Smith, and Mrs. Meloy. The motion carried.

A motion was made by Mrs. Harness to hire Jacqueline Whitmore as junior high ELA teacher at Bachelors step 0 of the collective bargaining agreement. Ms Smith seconded the motion. Upon roll call vote, the following members voted aye: Mr. Eager, Mrs. Koontz, Mrs. Harness, Mr. Maly, Mr. Zimmerman, Ms Smith, and Mrs. Meloy. The motion carried.

A motion to accept the resignation of Nicole Haefner as full-time route driver was made by Mrs. Koontz. Mr. Zimmerman seconded the motion. Upon roll call vote, the following members voted aye: Mr. Eager, Mrs. Koontz, Mrs. Harness, Mr. Maly, Mr. Zimmerman, Ms Smith, and Mrs. Meloy. The motion carried.

A motion to hire Wally Cwikla as full-time route driver was made by Mr. Maly. Mr. Zimmerman seconded the motion. Upon roll call vote, the following members voted aye: Mr. Eager, Mrs. Koontz, Mrs. Harness, Mr. Maly, Mr. Zimmerman, Ms Smith, and Mrs. Meloy. The motion carried.

A motion was made by Mr. Eager to hire Tom Johnson as high school assistant soccer coach. Mrs. Harness seconded the motion. Upon roll call vote, the following members voted aye: Mr. Eager, Mrs. Koontz, Mrs. Harness, Mr. Maly, Mr. Zimmerman, Ms Smith, and Mrs. Meloy. The motion carried.

A motion was made by Mr. Eager to hire Maureen Ayala as Title I and Special Education Paraprofessional at the rate of $10 per hour for the 2017-2018 school year. Ms Smith seconded the motion. Upon roll call vote, the following members voted aye: Mr. Eager, Mrs. Koontz, Mr. Maly, Mr. Zimmerman, Ms Smith, and Mrs. Meloy. Mrs. Harness abstained from voting. The motion carried.

A motion was made by Mr. Eager to hire Kelsey Hardwick Schofield as an individual aide at the rate of $13.00 per hour for the 2017-2018 school year. Mrs. Koontz seconded the motion. Upon roll call vote, the following members voted aye: Mr. Eager, Mrs. Koontz, Mrs. Harness, Mr. Maly, Mr. Zimmerman, Ms Smith, and Mrs. Meloy. The motion carried.

Visitor Comments:

Mr. Roland Hacker was present working on a project for a class he is taking at Northern Illinois University.

Consent Agenda:

A motion was made by Mr. Eager to approve the Consent Agenda which consists of Minutes, Bills, and Payroll. Mrs. Harness seconded the motion. Upon roll call vote, the following members voted aye: Mr. Eager, Mrs. Koontz, Ms. Smith, Mr. Zimmerman, Mrs. Harness, Mr. Maly, and Mrs. Meloy. The motion carried.

Financial Reports:

A motion was made by Mrs. Koontz to approve the Financial Reports. Mr. Eager seconded the motion. Upon roll call vote, the following members voted aye: Mr. Eager, Mrs. Koontz, Mrs. Harness, Mr. Maly, Mr. Zimmerman, Ms Smith, and Mrs. Meloy. The motion carried.

Mrs. Koontz made a motion to approve the pay scales for Custodial and Maintenance personnel. Ms Smith seconded the motion. Upon roll call vote, the following members voted aye: Mr. Eager, Mrs. Koontz, Mrs. Harness, Mr. Maly, Mr. Zimmerman, Ms Smith, and Mrs. Meloy. The motion carried.

Committee Reports:

Building and Grounds

FFA Greenhouse: Mr. Faivre, Mr. Zimmerman, and Mrs. Natalie Mahler met regarding the greenhouse. Mrs. Mahler is proposing the greenhouse go to the south of the West Gym between the gym and the gravel road.

PTA Marquee Sign: The Earlville PTA has the funds available to install the marquee sign. The Committee approved November installation, pending the cooperation of weather. The PTA has a volunteer (John Boltz) who will remove the bricks. FFA will remove the current landscaping and will preserve it until the sign is erected and materials can be replanted.

Finance: The Finance Committee discussed the current custodial pay scale and the Ameresco bill. The anticipated increase would be $4500 per year. The current amount due to Ameresco is $743,502.

School Leadership Team: Mrs. Fruit presented the Board with a comparison of the school year 2016 and 2017 data focusing on ELA and Math. She has been working diligently with the teachers to incorporate the District goals and Board goals to align and keep students’ progress continuing in an upward motion.

Administrative Reports:

Mr. Faivre – Mr. Faivre told the Board he is waiting to see what the final numbers will be with the new funding formula the State of Illinois is using.

The insurance renewal came back at a 4.5% increase over last year. Mr. Faivre provided a breakdown for the Board members to review.

Old Business:

Mrs. Koontz made a motion to approve the changes to policies 2.20 through 8.70 as presented. Mr. Eager seconded the motion. Upon roll call vote, the following members voted aye: Mr. Eager, Ms. Smith, Mr. Zimmerman, Mrs. Harness, Mrs. Koontz, Mr. Maly, and Mrs. Meloy. The motion carried.

New Business:

A motion was made by Mrs. Koontz to approve the FY’18 budget. Ms Smith seconded the motion. Upon roll call vote, the following members voted aye: Mr. Eager, Ms. Smith, Mr. Zimmerman, Mrs. Harness, Mrs. Koontz, Mr. Maly, and Mrs. Meloy. The motion carried.

Adjourn:

Mr. Maly made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 7:45 p.m. with a second by Mr. Zimmerman. All members voted aye by voice and the motion carried.

http://www.earlvillecusd9.org/vimages/shared/vnews/stories/53b9780b22dad/September%2025%202017.pdf