Anna Jonesboro Community High School District 81 Board of Education met Sept. 19.
Here are the minutes provided by the board:
The Anna Jonesboro Community High School held its budget meeting, it was called to order by President Dr. Blakely. Upon roll call at 5:55 p.m. the following members were present: Dr. Blakely, Mr. Vosburgh, Mr. Bailey, Mr. Hughey, Dr. Reach, and Mrs. Thompson.
Public Hearing for FY2022-23 School District Budget. No public comments were made.
On motion by Dr. Reach and seconded by Mrs. Thompson to adjourn the Budget Meeting at 6:12 p.m. On roll call, all members present voting yes. Motion carried.
MINUTES
The Anna Jonesboro Community High School held its regular meeting on September 19, 2022, it was called to order by President Dr. Blakely. Upon roll call at 6:12 p.m. the following members were present: Dr. Blakely, Mr. Vosburgh, Mr. Bailey, Mr. Hughey, Dr. Reach, and Mrs. Thompson.
On motion by Mr. Bailey and seconded by Mr. Hughey to approve the Agenda. All members present voting yes. Motion carried.
On motion by Mr. Hughey and seconded by Mr. Bailey to approve the Consent Agenda which contained the following items: approval of board minutes on 8/15/22; approval of closed session minutes; approval of payment for bills and acceptance of financial reports. On roll call, all members present voting yes. Motion carried.
Recognition of Visitors and Correspondence – Cody Roberts
Reese Reynolds spoke about items for student council: To start our school year here at AJ, we gave each staff member a stylus pen with inspirational quotes and a highlighter with a tag that read Wishing you a Bright school year. Student Council also put words of encouragement on their lockers to welcome students back. Officers helped with parking during registration and helped show students around. Student Council bought every member a t-shirt designed by one of our members. We are getting ready for our 2022 Let’s get wild Homecoming. Parade will be on September 30th @ 1:00, we already have 75 entries. Coronation will take place during halftime at the football game. Homecoming dance will be Saturday starting @ 6:30 outside on the patio.
Mrs. Marggraf and Mr. Roberts spoke about items from teachers: Ms. Maze invited several community members and mental health supporters to the first GSA meeting on Sept 1. The students were made aware of the resources that are available to them in the building and within our community. Ms. Maze and Mrs. Treece attended the GSA Summit sponsored by Rainbow Cafe on Sept 10 at SIUC. AJCHS had 5 students who also attended the summit where they learned about their rights in the school district, how to grow our GSA club, and networked with other area schools. The students and advisors are excited about the upcoming school year. Ms. Maze’s civics classes are learning about citizenship, the impact immigrants have made on our nation, and the process immigrants must take in order to become naturalized citizens. Next week students will be assigned the role of an immigrant and will learn about the process first hand as they try to navigate through a new nation's immigration laws/policies. Mrs. Sommer’s Educators Rising club has 30 members this year! We are excited to inspire and encourage our students to consider a career in education and to hopefully stay in Southern Illinois to help alleviate the teacher shortage in the future. Mrs. Marggraf’s PV Eng. 2 class is focused on reading and analyzing informational text. After reading an article on the dangers of distracted driving, the students created Public Service Announcement videos aimed at educating their fellow teens about the dangers of texting while driving. Mrs. Misener’s BioMed class had a visit from Dr Ulrich Reichard, a biological anthropologist from SIU. Dr Reichard shared about the anthropology programs at
SIU. He also brought skulls of several primates for the students to explore. One of the skulls that the students were allowed to hold was 4 million years old. Mrs. Misener also hosted Saluki Science representatives who discussed the science major offerings at SIU. A recruiter, a graduate student, and an undergraduate student from the team shared their experiences at SIU. The students were able to ask the team questions related to science and SIU. They learned about the application process, scholarships, degrees, and even different types of cancer research being conducted on campus. Mrs. Richbourg took her bio 2 classes of juniors and seniors to Mrs. Misener’s room to hear from the SIU science representatives as well. Mrs. Houseman’s Title English 3 classes are currently analyzing the first season of the Serial podcast. Because Adnan Syed’s conviction is currently under review, students are now working to determine the other two people believed to be involved in the 1999 death of Hae Min Lee. Mrs. Frownfelter and the National Honor Society are hoping to conduct a drive to collect goods to donate to the Comfort Closet. This drive is in the works and details and dates are yet to be determined. NHS hopes to conduct the drive later this month to correspond with the September word of the month, Compassion.
Ms. Stokes’ English III class is reading The Veteran and excerpts of The Red Badge of Courage. The students are focusing on the subject of courage and fear and moving towards realizing a hidden theme of personal growth and self-worth. Last week, English IV read The Sound of Thunder and analyzed the suggested theme that small actions can have big consequences and that everything is connected. Mrs. Treece took her students to the track last Friday to clean up around the bleachers and track prior to the white out game. Ms. Webb and Mrs. Miller from the Student Services Department are excited to have been selected to present at the Illinois School Counseling Association conference in Tinley Park this November on the topic of advocating for and increasing access to mental health services for students in rural communities. They are honored to be asked to present and looking forward to 2 days of conferences where they will meet and network with school counselors from all over Illinois. Speakers this year include national leaders in the mental health and the school counseling field. Our School Counselors were also able to attend the Shawnee Community College School Counselors Articulation on Sept. 13. They were able to gather valuable information to bring back to the school regarding new opportunities for students. Mrs. Miller and Ms. Webb took 82 students to SIU Day on Sept.14. The students enjoyed campus tours, science experiments, and individualized breakout sessions. On Sept 29 the counselors will be taking 40 students to SEMO for an admissions presentation and campus tour. The SEL team has begun SEL word of the month and it is going great! The September word of the month is Compassion and coincides with national suicide awareness month. Students and staff are encouraged to sped compassion and nominate anyone they see displaying exemplary examples of compassion to the Wildcat WOW! Each month one student and staff member will be chosen from the nominations for prizes donated by our community members! All nominees will be acknowledged. All Wildcat WOWs for the year will be displayed in the SEL word of the month cabinet outside the counseling office! We encourage you to stop and take a look when you are in the building! They are also happy to have Niki Barlow as the new Student Services Administrative Assistant/Registrar and are looking forward to an exciting year of new opportunities! Spanish Club is celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month. Each morning, during announcements, one student shares a fact about Hispanic Heritage Month. Spanish Club plans to support the Pulsera Project as our service/outreach activity. We will sell bracelets and purses to offer financial support the Fair Trade business artisans in Nicaragua. Mrs. Treece has completed the transformation of her locker room. Mrs. Treece would like to thank the administration and board of education for providing the paint and supplies needed for Mrs. Treece to complete this locker room update. She is happy to report that her students love it. Please see the handouts sent by Mrs. Treece to note the before and after pictures. Beta Club had their first volunteer opportunity this past Saturday at the Anna Fire Department. The city is going to be hosting several community outreach events this year and Beta will be volunteering at all of them. The next event is on October 27 at the Anna City Park.
Curriculum Director Finders had submitted a report about Wildcat Student Advisory Council and College and Career Pathway Endorsements.
Principal Detering spoke about failure reports, discipline, homecoming, and new policy updates.
Superintendent Wright spoke about a possible football coop with Dongola, Board candidate packets for upcoming elections, IASB meetings, ISBE maintenance grants, DAEOC and the military use of our facilities in the summer, Safe Celebration, and our energy contract.
Public Comments: Paula Hasty and Ginger Meyer.
On motion by Mr. Hughey and seconded by Dr. Reach for the Board to enter into closed session at 7:13 p.m. for the following reasons (1) the purpose of appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance, or dismissal of specific employee of the public body or legal counsel for the public body, including hearing testimony on a complaint lodged against an employee of the public body or against legal counsel for the public to determine its validity. 5ILCS 120/2(c)(1) Collective negotiating matters between the public body and its employees or their representatives, or deliberations concerning salary schedules for one or more classes of employees. 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(2) On roll call, all members present voting yes. Motion carried.
On motion by Dr. Reach and seconded by Mr. Bailey to return to regular session at 7:54 p.m. On roll call, all members present voting yes. Motion carried.
On motion by Mr. Hughey and Mrs. Thompson to approve the Adoption of FY 2022-23 School District Budget. On roll call, all members present voting yes. Motion carried.
Administrator and Teacher Salary and Benefits Report was presented by Mr. Wright.
On motion by Dr. Reach and seconded by Mrs. Thompson to approve the contract for Speech Services with Julie Draper. On roll call, all members present voting yes. Motion carried.
On motion by Mr. Bailey and seconded by Dr. Reach to approve contracting with First Student to provide special education transportation services. On roll call, all members present voting yes. Motion carried.
1st Reading of Board Policy Updates.
Planning Committee updated the Board on today’s earlier proceedings.
Discussion about accessibility issues at the Soccer Complex.
On motion by Mr. Bailey and seconded by Mr. Hughey to adjourn the Regular Meeting at 8:33 p.m. On roll call, all members present voting yes. Motion carried.
https://aj81.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/September-2022-Minutes.pdf
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