Pope County Community Unit School District 1 Board of Education met March 19.
Here is the minutes provided by the board:
Meeting was called to order at 7:00 pm by Board President Hansen and the following members were present: Walker, Aly, Schuchardt, Wallace, Simmons, Hogg and Hansen.
Motion was made by Hogg and seconded by Wallace to approve the agenda. Roll call vote: all ayes.
Motion was made by Hogg and seconded by Simmons to approve the consent agenda including the following: 1) Approve Minutes of Board Meetings on 2/20/2020 and 3/9/2020; 2) Approve Closed Session Minutes; 3) Approve Bills for Payment; 4) Accept Financial Reports; and 5) Renew IHSA Membership. Roll call vote: all ayes.
President Hansen recognized Mrs. Teresa Dunning and read the following letter of recognition:
On behalf of the Administration, this Board, and our entire community, we would like to recognize you on being awarded the 2020 Distinguished Faculty Award for Pre-K – 5 th grade as given by WKCTC at their 3rd annual regional educator’s award ceremony.
This is a great achievement for you however, we are not surprised. You make the classroom a fun learning environment. Just a quick glance of social media and we see pictures of you dressed as an elf, Cinderella, a pirate, Phoebe from Friends, a dentist, a scuba diver, among other things. This keeps the class room lively and reinforces to our students that learning is fun.
We also would like to recognize you for your work with collecting money for St. Jude’s, with this year collecting over $3,600. Mrs. Dunning, teachers like you are what makes this school district great. You truly care, you sacrifice, and you give all to shape the lives of our youth.
Teachers like you can inspire hope, ignite the imagination, and instill the love of learning. We truly appreciate all you do, and congratulate you on this great achievement.
Once again, on behalf of the Administration, this Board, and our entire community, please accept this letter of commendation as a small token of our appreciation and gratitude.
Mrs. Dunning also received many Thank You letters written by students in grades 4-8 presented to her by Mr. Blankenship.
Under Administrative reports, Mr. Blankenship reported the following: 1)Before the shut down, we were in the process of IAR state testing. At this time, we are not certain if the testing will need to be continued or a waiver will be issued for this year; 2) The Illinois Science Assessment will be scheduled after IAR is finished; 3) Pre-K Screenings were held on March 11th. All slots were filled; 4) Spring Pictures for K-8 will have to be re-scheduled; 5) Mrs. Dunning and her class organized a St. Jude’s Penny Drive to raise money for St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital. With the help from other classes and individuals they have raised $3, 629.32; and 5) Current Enrollment is 358 as of March 16th.
Mr. Fritch reported the following: 1) Pope County High School Choir Placed 2nd in the State IHSA Solo and Ensemble Contest Class D (small school). Congrats to Mrs. Hosfeldt and her choir!; 2) Several students, too many to name all, received Division I (Superior) and II (Excellent) at the IHSA solo and ensemble contest. Congrats to those students!; 3) Tractor show on April 18th. Mr. Swinford is monitoring the situation closely and will work with the City of Golconda and County to determine if this should take place; 4) Custodians have been deep cleaning during the school closure; 5) Would like to thank Tresa and Scotty Hargrove for finding and picking up 20 desks from Murray State University. We got them for $7.00 each and they are in great condition; and 6) Enrollment: Freshmen – 54, Sophomores – 42, Juniors – 25, Seniors – 42, Total 163.
Mr. Climer reported the following: 1) Last Friday was when the District received word on the COVID-19 two week closure of all schools in the state. Our core mission is to serve students and am deeply impressed by our cooks, janitors, secretaries, and administration with how everyone is working to serve our students by providing around 150 meals a day while we are closed during this time. Also like to commend Margie and Paula on their training with the new software.
President Hansen also thanked everyone involved with providing the meals to students.
With no business for executive session, the Board did not enter in to executive session.
Under New Business, a motion was made to approve Resolution 20-03-19A authorizing the dismissal of full-time education support personnel, individual aides, for the 2020-2021 SY was made by Simmons and seconded by Wallace. Roll call vote: all ayes.
Motion was made to approve Resolution 20-03-19B authorizing the dismissal of part-time education support personnel, individual aide, for the 2020-2021 SY was made by Wallace and seconded by Hogg. Roll call vote: all ayes.
Mr. Climer added that all employees will be kept whole during this break and everything will remain intact.
Motion to accept bid from Lewis Bakeries for bakery products for the 2020-2021 SY was made by Hogg and seconded by Wallace. Roll call vote: all ayes.
Motion to accept bid from Prairie Farms for dairy products for the 2020-2021 SY was made by Schuchardt and seconded by Aly. Roll call vote: all ayes.
Motion to accept bid from Best One Tire for tires for the 2020-2021 SY was made by Hogg and seconded by Wallace. Roll call vote: all ayes.
Motion to accept bid from Enviro-Tech Termite & Pest Control for pest control for the 2020-2021 SY was made by Hogg and seconded by Schuchardt. Roll call vote: all ayes.
Mr. Fritch stated the IDEA Flow-Through Grant has $26,000 carryover funds we need to spend by the end of the school year or we have to return to the State. Special Education will be receiving 50 new computers in five classrooms, speech materials, and workbooks will be purchased using these funds.
Mr. Fritch stated through the Title I Grant we will be purchasing a new server, new computers for some teachers, administration, and the unit office to replace their five year old machines, and some English textbooks to deplete these funds. Mr. Climer stated he received verification of the allocations for the 2021 SY Title I Grant.
Mr. Fritch state there has been no new mandates come down regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. We are currently in a holding pattern and continuing to provide meals to students. Again, thank you to all who have made that possible. We are playing the educational aspect of learning by ear and will wait to hear from ISBE on the next steps. Hopefully by next week, we will know more on how to proceed. President Hansen commended everyone and appreciates the community and administration on the handling of this situation. Hansen also stated the scheduled Board meeting for next month might be a different format. Will have to wait and see what happens in the coming weeks. Everyone will be informed of any changes that need to be made.
Mr. Climer also mentioned Spring break. The Board discussed several options and all agreed to honor the calendar and keep Spring break in place regardless of the outcome of the current situation.
Under Old Business, Mr. Fritch stated he is getting a drawing and quote from DW Builders for a softball concession stand. He has also researched Cook buildings and they have all sizes and types, just depends on how much you want to spend.
Mr. Fritch stated he has been in contact with QNS and has received a bid for the replacement of all current phones for $19,944 and a bid to add additional phones in the elementary along with replacement of current phones for $26,522. He is waiting to hear back from Shawnee Telephone Company for their bid.
Mr. Fritch asked Paula to give update on the new financial software transition. I stated it was a rough three days of training from 9 – 4 with the trainer on the phone and screen control of our computers going through tons information. It went well considering she had so much information to go over. The new system will allow us to do so much more and so many more types of reports. It will be great once we have full understanding of the programs. Margie has done the first payroll and all went smooth. All in all, it was a pretty easy transition. Mr. Climer thanked Margie and Paula for all their work they put in to the transition.
Mr. Fritch stated there was nothing new to report with the septic system. President Hansen stated he would still like to get on the City Council agenda to speak with them.
Mr. Fritch stated the SRO is back in place and was working daily until our closure. President Hansen thanked the County Commissioners and all that was involved in getting the SRO in place. Hogg asked if the SRO was still getting paid during the closure like the rest of the employees. Mr. Fritch stated he would check on this.
Under Other School Business, Mr. Fritch stated we have been awarded the Maintenance Grant. He stated he will notify the contractors and try to get them started on the doors and windows during our closure.
Member Hogg asked if Hometown Heroes are far enough along with their project to complete it. Mrs. Hosfeldt, who was in attendance, stated it is still a go and currently still working on it. The sign design is being developed and if we do not come back, Mrs. Graves and she will see that it gets completed.
With no further business to be discussed, a motion was made by Wallace and seconded by Simmons to adjourn the meeting until the next regular meeting to be held on Thursday, April 16, 2020 at 7:00 pm in the J.H. Hobbs Memorial Library. If changes need to be made to this schedule, everyone will be notified. All members present voted yea.
Meeting adjourned at 7:42 pm.
http://www.popek12.org/UserFiles/Servers/Server_2554242/File/Board%20Minutes/March%2019%202020.pdf
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