Leland Community Unit School District 1 Board of Education met Oct. 16

By Noddy A. Fernandez

Jan 5, 2020

Leland Community Unit School District 1 Board of Education met Oct. 16.

Here is the minutes provided by the Board:

1. Call to Order

President Plote called the regular meeting to order at 6:59 p.m.

2. Roll Call

Present: Anderson, Miller, Riskedal, Shumway and Plote

Absent: Todd and Wesson

Also in attendance were Administrator Chris Bickel, District Bookkeeper Jason Zaleski, and Recording Secretary Andrea Niles.

3. Pledge of Allegiance

4. Board Salutes

Salutes include the following: Mrs. Anderson gave a shout out to everyone that helped out with Homecoming this year, even with the weather-related changes. Mr. Bickel announced the August/September Students of the Month: 5th grader Ethan Flake, 7th grader Adrianna Rodriguez, and 11th grader Preston Pfortmiller.

5. Open Forum

President Plote welcomed LEA representatives Jenny Bickhaus and Julie Jansen. Also present was Stu Bloom.

No discussion followed.

6. Approval of Consent Agenda

Riskedal moved and Anderson seconded the motion to approve the consent agenda as follows:

6.1 Budget Amendment Hearing and Regular Open and Closed Session minutes from September 25, 2019.

6.2 Open Meeting minutes from September 18, 2019 Special Meeting.

6.3 Monthly Bills and Financial Statements for September and October as presented.

Ayes: Anderson, Miller, Riskedal, Shumway and Plote

Nays: none

Motion Carried on 5-0 vote.

7. Approve Audit Report

Riskdeal moved and Shumway seconded the motion to approve the Fiscal Year 2019 Audit Report from Gorenz and Associates.

During discussion Mrs. Moore noted the Audit Report is still in draft form as we are awaiting the final report. An extension is filed with the Regional Office of Education. Preliminary findings show the lack of segregation of duties as a reported concern. There is a corrective action plan which is to continue to monitor internal control systems, with an annual assessment of those controls. This is a very common finding in audits of small districts with limited office/business personnel. Also shown in the preliminary report were fund balances. Total fund balances were decreased by $33,786 due to expenses from the Media Center project being paid from existing cash and investment funds in FY 2019. This is also the reason the Tort Fund and the Fire/Safety Fund are at 112 percent expended of the budgeted amount.

Riskedal moved and Shumway seconded the motion to amend the original motion to approve the Fiscal Year 2019 Audit Report as a Draft Audit Report.

Mrs. Moore will include the final Audit Report on the November 2019 agenda.

Ayes: Miller, Riskedal, Shumway, Anderson and Plote

Nays: none

Motion Carried on 5-0 vote.

The original motion was voted on.

Ayes: Riskedal, Shumway, Anderson, Miller and Plote

Nays: none

Motion Carried on 5-0 vote.

8. Approve Snow Removal Bid

Anderson moved and Riskedal seconded the motion to accept a one-year bid for snow removal services to Horticultural Specialists.

One, Two and Three-Year bids for snow plowing, snow removal, and salting were submitted. Upon Board discussion they felt accepting the One-Year Bid would allow for the opportunity to receive more competitive bids in future years.

Ayes: Shumway, Anderson, Miller, Riskedal and Plote

Nays: none

Motion Carried on 5-0 vote.

9. Approve First Reading of Revised Policy Manual

Shumway moved and Anderson seconded the motion to approve the first reading of the draft proposals of the revised policy manual, with the edit to policy 2:230 to change the

allowed 5 minutes to 2 minutes of time for any one person to address the Board.

Mrs. Moore reported the IASB representative would like one additional meeting to review the Policy Binder.

Ayes: Anderson, Miller, Riskedal, Shumway, and Plote

Nays: none

Motion Carried on 5-0 vote.

10. Approve a Resolution to Proceed With Feasibility Study

Riskedal moved and Anderson seconded the motion to approve the resolution to approve a consolidation feasibility study with Somonauk CUSD 432.

The Board was presented with the resolution.

Ayes: Miller, Riskedal, Shumway, Anderson and Plote

Nays: none

Motion Carried on 5-0 vote.

11. Approve Formation of High School Baseball Team

Shumway moved and Anderson seconded the motion to approve the formation of a Leland High School baseball team for the 2020 spring season.

Mr. Bickel and Mr. Zaleski discussed the planning stages of Leland High School hosting an IHSA sanctioned boys baseball team for the 2020 spring season. At a recent meeting, eighteen students expressed interest in joining the baseball team. Upon Board approval, Mr. Bickel would be the head coach. With the amount of money allotted to create the team, Mr. Bickel feels additional funds will be needed to purchase indoor training equipment. He suggested the team will fundraise or acquire donations to be used toward the equipment.

Mr. Zaleski reported the team would have a 14-game conference varsity schedule with the possibility of adding some JV games.

Ayes: Riskedal, Shumway, Anderson, Miller and Plote

Nays: none

Motion Carried on a 5-0 vote.

12. Approve Administration Report

Shumway moved and Anderson seconded the motion to approve the Administration Report as presented by Mr. Bickel.

Mr. Bickel reported that NIU will be working with us during our One School, One Book event in February. We have set it up to relate to one of NIU’s STEAM reading selections. They will come in once a week to do STEM activities that go along with the selected story. They will also be part of our end-of-book celebration. In addition, five staff members will attend a professional development STEMfest workshop in January.

Coming later in October, Mr. Epperson and Mr. Bickel set up a Career Fair to be held for our high school students. Several professionals in a variety of careers will be in attendance sharing information on their respective career fields.

Mr. Bickel reported the new phone and intercom systems are up and running. With the new systems, announcements can now be heard through the intercom system, as well as through the phone system which ensures all rooms receive announcements. Other safety/security features include multiple phones ringing when teachers call in to the office, direct administration notification when emergency calls are made from any district phone, including the exact location of the call, and administration have access to the system through their mobile devices allowing announcements to be made from anywhere in the building.

The recent County-wide Institute Day allowed teachers options of workshops which all gave teachers additional supports and resources for creating a better classroom environment which fall under Domain II in the teacher evaluation tool. Mr. Bickel also shared a link to an After School Homework Help document that tracks attendance with the Board. He said many students have been utilizing the program so far this year.

Important Dates:

10/17 - 8th Springfield Trip

10/25 - HS Career Day

10/25 - 1:00 Dismissal Teacher Institute -(Focus is on assessing written work)

11/7 and 11/12 - Parent Teacher Conferences

Ayes: Shumway, Anderson, Miller, Riskedal and Plote

Nays: none

Motion Carried on 5-0 vote.

13. Discussion of First Quarter Budget Report

Mrs. Moore presented the First Quarter Budget Report in a different format to the Board. In review, she explained to the Board how the State has moved from a General State Aid funding to Evidence Based funding approach. Under the GSA model every student was assigned a dollar amount, of which was consistently prorated to a lesser amount due to lack of state funds. With the new EBF approach a Gap Analysis is used by ISBE to run calculations with several factors taken into consideration which assign districts to tiers ́. State funds are allocated based on the tier assigned to each school district.

First quarter revenue and expenditures were discussed. Overall, 72 percent of budgeted revenue has been collected through the first quarter. This number is always inflated in the first quarter due to property tax revenue being collected at the beginning of the fiscal year. Expenditures are currently recorded at 30% to date. This is a little high due to the unforeseen expenses with the septic system, as well as monies from the Working Cash Fund for the Media Center project. Transportation expenses are typically high during the first quarter due to a lease payment due in July. Forty-one percent of the Transportation budget has been expended.

Mrs. Moore is confident the budget will level out during the second and third quarters.

14. Discussion of State Report Card Review

The State Board of Education continues to have a data embargo on the District information within the Illinois Interactive Report Card, as well as the review for the High School and Elementary School. A public release date is now set for October 30th. If the information is released to the public, it will be presented at the November Board meeting.

15. Discussion of IASB Starved Rock Division Fall Meeting

Mrs. Anderson reported on the recent Division Fall Meeting. She relayed ISBE State Superintendent Ayalaś goals:

1) Reduce unfunded mandates

2) Increase ease of data gathering

3) Reduce inequities

4) Reduce professional shortages

Additionally she announced Mrs. Plote as a Starved Rock Member-at-Large and Mr. Shumway and Mr. Todd received their Level 1 pins.

Mrs. Plote said a resolution for administrators to be allowed a concealed carry weapon is being brought forward again in the state.

16. Discussion of IASB Joint Convention

Mrs. Moore opened the floor for discussion and questions regarding the upcoming Joint Convention. Bernardiś Securities has invited our Leland District convention attendees to dinner on Friday or Saturday night. She recommended a Saturday night reservation. She will continue to share information as she gets it.

17. Discussion of Committee Reports

17.1 IVVC Committee:

Minutes from the October 2 IVVC Board of Control meeting were shared. Mrs. Moore will forward emails she receives showcasing accomplishments and activities of IVVC program. There was no further discussion.

17.2 Facility Committee:

Mrs. Moore reported the recent septic issue appears to have been corrected. Mr. Miller will monitor future issues and report them to administration.

18. Executive Session

Riskedal moved and Miller seconded the motion to go into executive session to discuss matters related to the appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance, or dismissal of specific employees of the public body or legal counsel for the public body, including hearing testimony on a complaint lodged against an employee of the public body or against legal counsel for the public body to determine its validity. Also, to discuss minutes of meetings lawfully closed, whether for purposes of approval by the body of the minutes or semi-annual review of the minutes as mandated by Section 2.06. 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(21).

Ayes: Anderson, Miller, Riskedal, Shumway and Plote

Nays: none

Motion Carried on 5-0 vote and the meeting entered closed session at 7:48pm.

Meeting re-entered open session at 8:17pm.

19. Approval of Recommendation for High School Assistant Basketball Coach

Miller moved and Shumway seconded the motion to approve the recommendation to hire Pat Torman as high school assistant basketball coach for the 2019-2020 season.

Ayes: Miller, Riskedal, Shumway, Anderson, and Plote

Nays: none

Motion Carried on 5-0 vote.

20. Any Other Items Resulting from Closed Session

Miller moved and Anderson seconded the motion to hire Chris Bickel as the high school head baseball coach for the 2019-2020 season.

Ayes: Riskedal, Shumway, Anderson, Miller, and Plote

Nays: none

Motion Carried on 5-0 vote.

21. Adjournment

Shumway moved and Anderson seconded the motion to adjourn.

On a voice vote, the Motion Carried 5-0.

Meeting adjourned at 8:25 pm.