Pope County Community Unit School District #1 Board of Education met Feb. 17.
Here are the minutes provided by the board:
Meeting was called to order by President Hogg at 7:00 p.m. The following members were present: Kizziar via Zoom, Walker, Aly, Wallace, Simmons, and Hogg. Schuchardt was absent.
A motion was made by Wallace and seconded by Walker to approve the agenda. Roll call vote: all ayes.
A motion was made by Wallace and seconded by Simmons to approve the consent agenda including the following items; 1) Approve Minutes of Board Meeting on 1/20/2022; 2) Approve Closed Session Minutes; 3) Approve Bills for Payment; and 4) Accept Financial Report. Mr. Fritch commented there are two bills for large amounts; the QNS bills is for computers that were purchased with grant funds and the Baysinger bill is the first payment on the high school gym floor project. With no further comments, roll call vote: all ayes.
President Hogg called Mrs. Jessica Wagner to the floor to speak to the Board regarding the morning drop off. Due to more parents driving their children to school and more high school students driving to school, there has been a major back up on the highway in both directions for approximately ten minutes every morning school is in session. She stated that this is a safety hazard and worries it may cause an accident. Once traffic begins to move again, it goes pretty quickly with the help of administrations and Sherriff Suits directing traffic. She distributed a handout explaining the current situation with possible solutions, and maps of the school grounds. After much discussion and brainstorming, the Board decided that more discussion needs to take place. Member Wallace stated he would call IDOT to see if they could help.
Under Administrative reports, Mr. Blankenship reported the following: 1) The Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IRA) testing will take place between March 7th and April 22nd; 2) The Illinois Science Assessment has to be given between March 1st and April 29th; 3) Pre-K Screenings will take place on May 3rd; 4) The 3rd quarter grading period will end on March 11th and report cards will go out on March 15th; 5) Hunter Steele was named to the Little GEC All-Conference team for Boys Basketball; 6) The Jr. High Volleyball team has started their season. They will play their first home game on Tuesday, February 22nd; 7) The Jr. High Scholar Bowl team will be competing in the state series tomorrow on February 23rd; and 8) Current Enrollment 326 as of February 14th. Mr. Blankenship also added that Mrs. Jessica Bevis applied for the Touch Tone Energy Grant and congratulated her on receiving $1,000. She is wanting to purchase a new Smart Board. If the Board agrees to pay for shipping, she will have enough for the purchase. Member Walker added the volleyball team is doing great and kudos to Coach Amber Hall; she is doing a great job. Mr. Fritch added that the doors and windows project will resume on Tuesday or Wednesday of next week.
Mr. Graves reported the following; 1) Progress Reports went out on February 14th due to the snow days; 2) Our Scholar Bowl team has won the GEC Tournament; 3) Vance Hertter is state bound for speech competition where he will be awarded the Heart of the Arts IHSA Award, the single winner of this award in the entire state; 4) Speech team did great at regionals and has advanced six events to sectionals; 5) The play Moana will take place on March 9th at 6 pm; 6) Senior Night was held on February 10th for basketball and cheerleading; 7) The Girls Basketball team is playing Goreville in the Goreville Regional championship game Friday night. Tipoff is at 7 pm; 8) The Boys Basketball team will start their Regionals at Carrier Mills Saturday night. Tipoff is at 6 pm; 9) The SAT has been scheduled for March 23rd. A big thanks to Mr. Climer for getting it set up; 10) Several Freshman and Sophomores have taken the Accuplacer test for college classes; 11) The after school credit recovery has started. Ms. Chell and Mr. Reeder are hosting them on Tuesdays and Thursdays for an hour after school. We have 9 students enrolled, several of which being seniors that now have the potential to graduate on time if they complete the program; and 12) Enrollment: 179.
Mr. Fritch reported the following: 1) The ESSER III grant is funding the after school tutoring/credit recovery programs; 2) National Federation of High Schools have provided the streaming services for our indoor athletic programs. The cameras are being installed; and 3) The Governor’s mask mandate has been overturned and currently there is no mask or testing mandate in place for the State. He has appealed the ruling and the judge will soon release the ruling on the appeal. As of Sunday, the plan put in place by IDPH expired. The legislators voted down the new plan until a ruling is made on the appeal. There is only one school district in the entire state that are still wearing masks. Rumor has it that this is the end of mask wearing and testing.
A motion was made by Walker and seconded by Simmons to enter closed session for the purpose of personnel performance, procedures, and employment. Roll call vote: all ayes. Board entered closed session at 7:59 p.m.
A motion was made by Aly and seconded by Walker to return to regular session. Roll call vote: all ayes. Board returned at 8:20 pm.
Under New Business, the Statements of Economic Interest will be passed out at a later date for members to complete.
Paula distributed the fuel bid summary. Southern FS was the only bid received. After some discussion, a motion to accept the firm fuel bid from Southern FS was made by Wallace and seconded by Simmons. Roll call vote: all ayes.
A motion to authorize Superintendent to solicit bids for services (bakery products, dairy products, tires, and pest control) was made by Walker and seconded by Aly. Roll call vote: all ayes.
Mr. Fritch stated he spoke with the HVAC company that will be working in the high school gym, and they requested to get in the gym by May 9th to begin demo work.
Having graduation early, May 5th and 6th, will allow for them to begin when requested. Prom is scheduled for May 7th so it will be a busy weekend for our seniors. Member Aly asked if the 8th graders and seniors will have time to complete their course work by this time. Mr. Blankenship and Mr. Graves stated the students would be completed with course work by this time. After some discussion, a motion to set 8th Grade Promotion to May 5, 2022 to begin at 6 pm and High School Graduation for May 6, 2022 to begin at 6 pm was made by Walker and seconded by Wallace. Roll call vote: all ayes.
Mr. Fritch reminded the Board of the problems we had last year with trying to solicit bids for a new insurance provider. We need to pass a resolution to withdrawal from PSIC effective July 1st and send it to the Board President of PSIC. We have received a quote from Mr. Don Yewell estimated at $89,000 plus some additional insurance may be needed. There are basically three insurance companies that provide school districts with insurance, PSIC, ISDA, and WCSIT. They all provide different amounts of coverage so it’s difficult to compare. After some discussion, a motion to pass resolution of withdrawal from PSIC effective July 1, 2022 was made by Walker and seconded by Aly. Roll call vote: all ayes.
A motion for superintendent to solicit bids for Property/Casualty/Workman’s Compensation Insurance was made by Wallace and seconded by Simmons. Roll call vote: all ayes.
Under Old Business, Mr. Fritch stated we still have not received the Annual Financial Report from our auditors. They said they would try to have it to us by the end of this month. This was tabled. The Board discussed the possibility of shopping for a new auditor.
Under Other School Business, President Hogg stated we are anticipating having some openings in positions for next school year. Member Wallace made a motion to post for anticipated Elementary/Jr. High Principal position; seconded by Simmons. Roll call vote: all ayes.
A motion to post for anticipated Jr. High English and/or Social Science Teacher was made by Wallace and seconded by Aly. Roll call vote: all ayes.
Mr. Graves stated the graduation dates may be a problem for Project Graduation activities with having Prom the next day. The Board discussed the options further and Member Wallace made a motion to revise the graduation dates to May 12 and May 13; seconded by Aly. Roll call vote: all ayes.
With no further business, a motion to adjourn the meeting until the next regular meeting to be held on Thursday, March 17, 2022 at 7:00 p.m. in the J.H. Hobbs Memorial Library was made by Simmons and seconded by Walker. Roll call vote: all ayes. Meeting adjourned at 9:10 pm.
http://p6cdn4static.sharpschool.com/UserFiles/Servers/Server_2554242/File/Board%20Minutes/Feb%2017%202022.pdf
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