Pope County Community Unit School District 1 Board of Education met Feb. 20.
Here is the minutes provided by the board:
Meeting was called to order at 7:01 pm by Board President Hansen and the following members were present: Walker, Aly, Schuchardt, Wallace, Simmons, Hogg and Hansen.
Motion was made by Schuchardt and seconded by Hogg to approve the agenda. Roll call vote: all ayes.
Motion was made by Hogg and seconded by Wallace to approve the consent agenda including the following: 1) Approve Minutes of Board Meetings on 1/16/2020; 2) Approve Closed Session Minutes; 3) Approve Bills for Payment; 4) Accept Financial Reports; and 5) Accept resignations of Anne Light as Individual Aide and Candice Potts as Student Council Advisor. After some discussion, roll call vote: all ayes.
President Hansen recognized the Hometown Heroes representatives at this time. Seniors, Ethan Jarvis, Ryan Greenwood, and Jazmin Williams along with Freshmen, Ella Aly, Cori Vickery, and Connor Shults presented a PowerPoint to the Board giving them an update on their project and the total amount raised to date. President Hansen thanked them for a great presentation and taking the challenge he presented to them at the beginning of the year and running with it. They have exceeded their expectations and we are all looking forward to the outcome of this project.
Under Administrative reports, Mr. Blankenship reported the following: 1)The Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR) testing will take place between March 11th and April 24th; 2) The Illinois Science Assessment has to be given between March 1st and April 30th; 3) Pre K spring pictures are scheduled for March 4th (all other grades are scheduled March 25th); 4) Pre K Screenings will take place on March 11th; 5) Jennifer Broadway will be starting on Vision screenings for Kindergarten, 2nd, and 3rd grades. She will also be doing Hearing screenings for Kindergarten, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grades; 6) The 3rd quarter grading period will end on March 13th and the report cards will go out on March 17th; 7) 5th and 6th grade boys will be hosting a shootout on Saturday, February 29th; 8) The Jr. High Scholar Bowl team will be competing in the state series tournament on February 26th; and 6) Current Enrollment is 357 as of February 19th.
Mr. Fritch reported the following: 1) Hosting the IHSA Scholar Bowl Regional here on March 9th; 2) Congrats to Vance Hertter and Ryan Greenwood for advancing to the IHSA Speech Sectionals last week; 3) High School Cheerleaders placed 1st in the GEC Tournament Cheer Competition; 4) Boys Basketball team finished in 3rd place in the GEC Tournament; 5) Girls Basketball also finished in 3rd place in the GEC Tournament; 6) Honoring of the 70’s Regional Championship Team and Dustin Turner was a huge success. I would like to thank all of the staff that helped put this together; and 6) Enrollment: Freshmen – 54, Sophomores – 42, Juniors – 25, Seniors – 42, Total 163. Congratulations to Trinity Taber who advanced to State in the 3-Point Shoot Contest tonight. She will be shooting in Redbird Arena on February 27th. President Hansen also stated he received a call from Dustin Turner who was very appreciative of the recognition and wanted to thank everyone.
Mr. Climer reported the following: 1) The recognition of the 70’s Basketball team and Dustin Turner was a huge success and thank you to everyone that helped with making that happen; and 2) I would like to thank Mr. Fritch and Mr. Blankenship for the guidance on the District-wide illness dismissals. The highest absence was 157 student and staff. In all my years as a superintendent, I have never had to deal with closing due to wide-spread illness. They both handled the situation very well and the custodial staff went the extra mile to make our buildings germ free.
Motion to enter executive session for the purpose of personnel employment, performance, and procedures was made by Wallace and seconded by Aly. Roll call vote: all ayes. Board entered executive session at 7:44 pm.
Motion to return to regular session was made by Hogg and seconded by Schuchardt. Roll call vote: all ayes. Board returned at 9:05 pm.
All members were asked to complete the Statement of Economic Interest forms and return to Paula.
Motion to authorize superintendent to solicit bids for services (bakery products, dairy products, tires, and pest control) was made by Simmons and seconded by Wallace. Roll call vote: all ayes.
Motion to accept firm bid from Southern FS for fuel for August 1, 2020 to January 31, 2021 was made by Wallace and seconded by Walker. Roll call vote: all ayes.
Motion to reassign Autumn Jackson for Jr. High history teacher was made by Simmons and seconded by Schuchardt. Roll call vote: Walker, Aly, Schuchardt, Wallace, Simmons, Hogg: all ayes; Hansen abstained.
Motion to hire Jessica Bevis for Jr. High languages arts teacher was made by Walker and seconded by Wallace. Roll call vote: all ayes.
Motion to reassign Lorna Kirby for high school math teacher was made by Wallace and seconded by Hogg. Roll call vote: all ayes.
Motion to hire Carlin Flannery for Jr. High math teacher was made by Schuchardt and seconded by Simmons. Roll call vote: all ayes.
Motion to hire Jacob Lane for Jr. High/High School Social Studies teacher was made by Hogg and seconded by Simmons. Roll call vote: Walker, Schuchardt, Wallace, Simmons, Hogg, and Hansen: all ayes; Aly abstained.
Motion to hire Kelly King for high school baseball coach was made by Simmons and seconded by Hogg. Roll call vote: all ayes.
Motion to hire Tyler Presser for high school baseball assistant coach was made by Aly and seconded by Simmons. Roll call vote: all ayes.
Motion to post for High School Student Council Sponsor position was made by Wallace and seconded by Hogg. Roll call vote: all ayes.
Motion to approve Mr. Seth Graves’ contract, High School Principal, as discussed in closed session was made by Simmons and seconded by Walker. Roll call vote: all ayes.
Motion to set 8th Grade Promotion for May 14, 2020 to begin at 7 pm and High School Graduation for May 15, 2020 to begin at 7 pm was made by Wallace and seconded by Hogg. Roll call vote: all ayes.
Motion to amend SY 2019-2020 calendar to reflect two emergency days for absences due to illness was made by Hogg and seconded by Wallace. Roll call vote: all ayes.
Mr. Fritch presented the proposed 2020-2021 school year calendar. He met with the Teacher Union Calendar Committee and they have all agreed upon this proposed calendar. We have added some half days for teacher improvement for collaboration on curriculum in the afternoons. A motion was made to approve the proposed 2020-2021 SY calendar by Wallace and seconded by Hogg. Roll call vote: all ayes.
Mr. Fritch discussed some ideas for consideration regarding the softball field concession building. This has been on the radar of building improvements for some time. The highest cost of the project will be moving the electrical service and lines. The electric inside the building has been fixed but the outside still needs repairs. President Hansen stated the Youth League might be willing to help out with some of the cost. He asked Mr. Fritch to get some quotes on a portable/pole barn type building and the Board will continue to keep this on the agenda.
Mr. Fritch discussed the phone system and stated he has been in contact with QNS on getting a bid together for the replacement of all current phones and to add more if needed. He has also contacted Shawnee Telephone Company to get a quote on replacing the lines coming in the building since we have been having so many issues with Frontier lines. He stated he will continue to reach out to them and have more information at the next meeting.
Mr. Fritch distributed the inventory list of the old band instruments prepared by Lisa Reed. Mrs. Reed has a potential buyer and would like to sell the instruments. The funds received would be put in the current music program. All members agreed to let Mrs. Reed handle the sale of these instruments.
Under Old Business, Mr. Fritch discussed the updates on the septic system. Mr. Fritch stated he has been approached by a City Council member that would like more information on the project. President Hansen stated he would get on the City Council agenda to speak with them.
Mr. Fritch stated the new School Safety Resource Officer, Mr. Ronnie McGill, started on Tuesday, February 18, 2020 working daily from 7:30 am to 3:30 pm. We are very pleased with him and happy to have him. A huge THANK YOU goes out to Sherriff Suits for all his work and assisting us with the SRO initiative.
Mr. Fritch discussed the update on the doors and windows replacement. There has been lack of communication between the project manager and the contractor that has delayed the project. There was a problem with the door size and it not being ADA approved. Mr. Climer stated he made a call to the project manager expressing his disappointment and is not impressed with the handling of this project. Since then, the materials have been ordered and a start date will be set once the materials come in.
Under Other School Business, Member Hogg asked about the gym issues. Mr. Fritch stated he has no new information to share at this time but the bleachers are in very bad shape and another one broke just last week. They will need to be replaced in the coming year or two.
Member Schuchardt stated the senior pictures hanging in the gym look awesome. He asked about the grate in the gym floor since two ball players have recently hit it causing injuries. Mr. Fritch stated he will find something to cover it with for ball games.
With no further business to be discussed, a motion was made by Wallace and seconded by Schuchardt to adjourn the meeting until the next regular meeting to be held on Thursday, March 19, 2020 at 7:00 pm in the J.H. Hobbs Memorial Library. All members present voted yea.
Meeting adjourned at 9:43 pm.
http://www.popek12.org/UserFiles/Servers/Server_2554242/File/Board%20Minutes/Feb%2020%202020.pdf
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