Southern Illinois News

Pope County Community Unit School District #1 Board of Education met April 21.

Here are the minutes provided by the board:

Meeting was called to order at 7:00 pm by Board President Hogg and the following members were present: Kizziar, Aly, Schuchardt, Wallace, Simmons, and Hogg. Walker was absent.

Motion was made by Wallace and seconded by Simmons to approve the agenda. Roll call vote: all ayes.

Motion was made by Wallace and seconded by Aly to approve the consent agenda including the following: 1) Approve Minutes of Board Meetings on 3/17/2022; 2) Approve Closed Session Minutes; 3) Approve Bills for Payment; 4) Accept Financial Reports; and 5) IHSA Membership Renewal. Roll call vote: all ayes.

Recognition of Correspondence of thanks from the Dugan family and Mrs. Kristy Duncan. President Hogg thanked the Board for the plant in memory of his grandmother.

Under Administrative reports, Mr. Blankenship reported the following: 1) Letters concerning possible retentions have been mailed; 2) Aimsweb Spring screenings started on April 20th; 3) 8th grade orientation will take place on the morning of Friday, April 22; 4) The Spring Pre-School screenings will be done on Tuesday, April 3rd; 5) PTO “Fun Day” is scheduled for Friday, May 6th; 6) The 8th grade Graduation will be on May 12th at 6:00 pm; 7) Kindergarten program is scheduled for Wednesday, May 25th at 9:00 am; and 8) Current enrollment 327 as of April 18th.

Mr. Graves reported the following: 1) Hometown Heroes will be working on and installing equipment in the Golconda City Park on May 5th. Some of it is on backorder however; 2) The SAT was given on May 23rd. The make-up session is April 26th; 3) The Illinois Science Assessment is April 28th; 4) Art Club is traveling to The St. Louis Botanical Gardens on April 22nd; 5) Senior Semester Exams are May 10th and 11th. Freshman-Junior Exams are the 25th and 26th; 6) Kylie Arnold and Chanton Lee signed letters of intent for speech and music at SIC; 7) Award/Scholarship Recognition Day for Seniors is May 3rd at 9 am; 8) Prom is May 7th at Blooms and Gard’N’s in Paducah, KY; 9) 8th Grade Orientation is April 22nd; 10) Graduation is May 13th at 6 pm. Student pictures begin at 5:15, Board of Education picture at 5:40, and graduate group picture outside at 5:45; and Current enrollment is 176.

Mr. Fritch reported the following: 1) Law makers approved the budget for the upcoming FY which includes more money for K-12 education. They added 350 million into the Evidence-Based Funding (EBF) model. And 10% increase in early childhood. Along with money in the mandated categorical areas; 2) We received a 3rd transportation payment for this year; 3) ESSER III grant received final approval. I am moving forward with ordering items included in the grant. Mr. Fritch distributed the summary budget page to each member outlining the purchases; salaries and benefits, purchase services/subscription, supplies/curriculum, Driver’s Ed vehicle, two new buses, $481,000 to replace waste water system, camera system in the high school, locking outside doors with key fob entry at high school, district phone system; QNS is currently working on quote, and HVAC project for the high school gym; 4) ISBE sent notification out recently that there had been a coding error in the EBF model from FY19-FY22 which resulted in us receiving less money than we should have received. ISBE will be sending us approximately $58,000 in lost revenue over the next two months; 5) Contract work has started on our HVAC project. Gym floor will begin the week after graduation; and 6) Door and window project at the grade school is nearing completion.

Motion to enter executive session for the purpose of personnel performance, procedures, and employment was made by Wallace and seconded by Kizziar. Roll call vote: all ayes. Board entered at 7:30 pm.

Motion to return to regular session was made by Simmons and seconded by Aly. Roll call vote: all ayes. Board returned at 8:23 pm.

Under New Business, motion to authorize superintendent to amend FY 2021- 2022 budget was made by Wallace and seconded by Simmons. Roll call vote: all ayes.

Motion to hold Public Hearing on FY 2021-2022 amended budget on May 19th at 6:45 pm was made by Kizziar and seconded by Aly. Roll call vote: all ayes.

Motion to authorize superintendent to prepare FY 2022-2023 budget was made by Simmons and seconded by Kizziar. Roll call vote: all ayes.

Mr. Fritch distributed a handout summarizing and highlighting the collective bargaining agreement. After a brief discussion, motion to approve collective bargaining agreement for school years 2022-23 and 2023-24 was made by

Wallace and seconded by Schuchardt. Roll call vote: Kizziar, Aly, Schuchardt, Wallace, and Simmons; all ayes, Hogg abstained. Motion carried.

Motion to hire Raeghan Goins for high school drama sponsor was made by Simmons and seconded by Kizziar. Roll call vote: all ayes.

Motion to hire Jessica Bevis for Jr. High Student Council was made by Wallace and seconded by Aly. Roll call vote: all ayes.

Motion to hire Sheyann Broadway for 5th grade teacher was made by Kizziar and seconded by Simmons. Roll call vote: all ayes.

Hiring for Jr. High cross country coach, Jr. High baseball coach, 3-5th grade Special Education teacher, and high school student council sponsor was tabled.

Motion to post for Jr. High school volleyball assistant coach was made by Aly and seconded by Schuchardt. Roll call vote: all ayes.

Motion to post for high school volleyball assistant coach was made by Kizziar and seconded by Simmons. Roll call vote: all ayes.

Motion to post for potential high school special education teacher was made by Simmons and seconded by Kizziar. Roll call vote: all ayes.

Mr. Fritch explained the Administrative Leave Days – COVID-19. The bill was passed April 5th that all vaccinated employees would receive paid administrative leave if they met the following criteria; tested positive with COVID-19, was excluded, or had to stay home to care for someone with COVID-19. This is unfair to unvaccinated employees. Our school attorney sent out a form for all staff to complete to allow them to receive their days lost from COVID-19. Once the form is completed, they will receive their days and any pay that was lost.

Motion to approve contract for Mrs. Paula Allen, Elementary/Jr. High Principal, as presented in closed session was made by Simmons and seconded by Aly. Roll call vote: all ayes.

Motion to approve leave request as discussed in closed session was made by Kizziar and seconded by Wallace. Roll call vote: all ayes.

Motion to approve out-of-state field trip for FFA to attend Gibson County Antique Machinery Show in Princeton, IN was made by Wallace and seconded by Simmons. Roll call vote: all ayes.

Motion to approve over-night field trip for FFA to attend State Convention in Springfield, IL was made by Kizziar and seconded by Aly. Roll call vote: all ayes.

Under Old Business, Mr. Fritch explained we did not receive a bid from Lewis Bakeries due to the discontinuation of service in our area. Mrs. Bonnell is ordering bakery products from our food distributors.

Mr. Fritch has a bid from Yewell Insurance that is considerably less for worker’s compensation than what we are currently paying. We are going to go through the bidding process and notify PSIC.

Mr. Fritch distributed a handout of a brief that was released by ISBE to help ad in the completing of the Economic Statement of Interest forms. Please complete form and return to Paula.

Mr. Fritch stated we have still not received our Annual Financial Report from the auditors, which was due in October. This is going to be a problem if we do not receive it soon. This item was tabled again.

Under Other School Business, Mr. Graves stated he attended an online class regarding the dangers of vaping. 1 in 4 high school students vape. We will receive some free vape detectors once the students complete a 3-week class. Once we receive the vape detectors, they will be placed in areas in the high school. Mr. Graves stated he is also trying to get some vape testing kits which test the chemicals in the vape itself.

With no further business to be discussed, a motion to adjourn meeting until the next regular scheduled meeting to be held on Thursday, May 19, 2022 at 7:00 pm in the J.H. Hobbs Memorial Library was made by Wallace and seconded by Simmons. All members present voted aye.

Meeting adjourned at 8:55 pm.

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