Pope County CUSD #1 Board of Education met Dec. 17.
Here is the minutes provided by the board:
Meeting was called to order at 7:00 pm by President Hansen and the following members were present: Aly, Wallace, Simmons, and Hansen. Walker, Schuchardt, and Hogg were absent.
Motion was made by Wallace and seconded by Aly to approve the consent agenda including the following: 1) Approve Minutes of Board Meetings on 11/19/2019; 2) Approve Closed Session Minutes; 3) Approve Bills for Payment; and 4) Accept Financial Reports. Roll call vote: all ayes.
Under Administrative reports, Mr. Blankenship reported the following: 1) The Christmas programs will take place this Thursday in the Elementary gym. The K- 2 program will take place at 9:30 and the 3-5 program will take place at 1:30; 2) The janitors will be replacing filters in all heat/air units, touching up the paint where needed, cleaning the carpets, and scrubbing the hall floors during Christmas break; 3) The gym roof top unit is not firing and the bid received on fixing the unit was $2,300. We had Sharp Heating come and they bid $310.00 for the repairs. They are expected to be here on Friday to fix the unit and we are going to ask for a quote on a AC unit for the teacher’s lounge; 4) The 8th grade night for the boys basketball and cheerleaders will be on January 9th; 5) The Jr.
High girls basketball GEC tournament is scheduled to start on January 8 and their regional is schedule for January 14th; 6) The Jr. High boys basketball GEC tournament is scheduled to start on January 16th and their regional is scheduled for January 28th; 7) The Jr. High Choir will be one of the school choirs on the Sounds of the Season sponsored by WSIL-TV 3. The program will air on December 21 at 6 p.m., December 22 at 10 a.m., December 23 at 8 p.m., and on Christmas eve at 7 p.m.; and 8) Current Enrollment 352 as of December 16th.
Mr. Fritch reported the following: 1) Boys basketball team will play in the Dongola Christmas Tourney; 2) Girls basketball team will be in the CCA Christmas Tournament; 3) We have scheduled optional professional development opportunities for teachers when they come back to school. The training is titled Youth Mental Health First Aid and is presented by counselors from Family Counseling; 4) Madrigal was sold out for both performances; 5) Christmas concert was very nice. Special thanks to Mrs. Reed and Mrs. Hosfeldt; 6) Orkin found wood decay fungus under the gym floor; quoted a price of $3,648.00 to treat the entire surface. I have also contacted Enviro-Tech to come out on Friday for a quote as well. I will be exploring this more to determine what we need to do; 7) The gym and locker rooms have new thermostats installed to keep the temperature more regulated. So far this has seemed to fix the problem with the floor; 8) A group is looking to repurpose the Job Corp Facility for a Veteran’s Rehabilitation Center. They reached out to me last Friday about using our community room to do some presentations over Christmas break. I told them we would do anything to help them out in any way possible; and 9) Enrollment is 163; 54 Freshman, 42 Sophomores, 26 Juniors, 41 Seniors. President Hansen asked about the sound in the gym. Mr. Fritch stated that the sound in the gym was much better for the concert and madrigal since the system updates. More tweaking needs to be done but we are getting there. Mr. Fritch also added that he attended an ISA meeting last week and they discussed the possible revamping of the graduated income tax, property tax rate freeze, and extended freeze and how this would impact the District. This is something to definitely keep an eye on.
Mr. Climer reported on the following: 1) Margie brought to my attention that in the financial report, the transportation fund is getting low due to no cash flow from the State. We have not received any transportation payments this year. We are expending around $32,000 per month and we have around $100,000 left in the line item with only $10,000 to come from tax levy funds. We need to keep an eye on this and if we don’t receive any payments from the State, we can abate working cash in to transportation with a resolution or do an intra-fund loan.
Motion to enter executive session for the purpose of personnel employment, performance, and procedures was made by Simmons and seconded by Wallace. Roll call vote: all ayes. Board entered executive session at 7:27 pm.
Motion to return to regular session was made by Wallace and seconded by Simmons. Roll call vote: all ayes. Board returned at 8:14 pm.
Motion to approve the 2020 Board meeting dates as presented was made by Wallace and seconded by Aly. Roll call vote: all ayes.
Mr. Climer stated the Health Life Safety Inspection Report was included in the packet and the items stated will be addressed this summer. Mr. Fritch also added that the high school storage area, shop area, and wood paneling will be fixed this summer and our janitors will be taking care of the issues. A motion to accept the Health Life Safety Inspection Report was made by Simmons and seconded by Wallace. Roll call vote: all ayes.
Mr. Fritch stated the School Maintenance Grant has been opened with an application deadline of February 14th. It is a matching $50,000 grant. With this grant, 10 more doors and window units could be replaced at the elementary. President Hansen asked when we would be awarded the funds. Mr. Fritch stated there would probably be a fast turnaround. President Hansen stated if the timing is right we could add on the 10 more units to the current contract. A motion to pursue the Maintenance Grant was made by Wallace and seconded by Simmons. Roll call vote: all ayes.
A motion to donate $2,500 to Hometown Heroes for school-based service project was made by Wallace and seconded by Aly. Roll call vote: all ayes.
A motion to approve the contract of Mr. Ryan Fritch as Superintendent starting July 2020 as discussed in closed session was made by Simmons and seconded by Wallace. Roll call vote: all ayes.
A motion to post internally for High School Principal was made by Aly and seconded by Wallace. Roll call vote: all ayes.
Motion to approve the Science Club trip to the Magic House and Zoo in St. Louis, MO as requested by Mr. Sushinski was made by Simmons and seconded by Wallace. Roll call vote: all ayes.
Under Old Business, Mr. Fritch stated he spoke with the engineer and the completed permit for the septic system has been put in the mail. We have two options, pumping to Golconda would be the best option and the other one being building a new septic system at the elementary. President Hansen stated he received a phone call from City Clerk, Jim Suits, and the city is very supportive and willing to work with us on this project.
Mr. Fritch state the SRO position has been posted by Sherriff Suits. They are expecting to get with the Administration sometime in January to advise on the applications received. Eileen Rochford, SRO in the Vienna School District, has also offered her services to help with training.
Under Other School Business, President Hansen stated they would schedule a Goals Committee meeting in the near future since some projects have come up.
Member Wallace stated he has been attending the WOVSED meetings and gave an update that they are having trouble filling positions.
Member Wallace also stated he has been attending the County Board meetings to give SRO updates. He will continue to attend those meetings when he is able.
Mr. Fritch state the plaques have been ordered for Dustin Turner and will schedule a time in January for the presentation.
Mr. Fritch also reported that he attended a meeting in Marion with Southern FS regarding the bidding of fuel for school districts. They have suggested we bid in January when the fuel prices are lower. They asked that we rebid in January for the remainder of the current contract and then again to get through January 2021 so all districts will be on the same bid schedule to get a better fuel price.
With no further business to be discussed, a motion was made by Wallace and seconded by Simmons to adjourn the meeting until the next scheduled meeting to be held on Thursday, January 16, 2019 at 7:00 pm in the J.H. Hobbs Memorial Library. All members present voted aye.
Meeting adjourned at 8:42 pm.
http://www.popek12.org/UserFiles/Servers/Server_2554242/File/Board%20Minutes/Dec%2017%202019.pdf
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