Pope County Community Unit School District #1 Board of Education met Nov. 15.
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, Schuchardt, Wallace, Simmons, and Aly. Walker and Hogg were absent.
A motion was made by Wallace and seconded by Simmons to approve the agenda. Roll call vote: all ayes.
A motion was made by Wallace and seconded by Schuchardt to approve the consent agenda including the following items; 1) Approve Minutes of Board Meeting on 10/20/22; 2) Approve Closed Session Minutes; 3) Approve Bills for Payment; 4) Accept Financial Report; 5) Publication of Annual Statement of Affairs. Member Wallace asked about the phone system and Baysinger bills. With no further comments, roll call vote: all ayes.
Under Administrative reports, Mrs. Allen reported the following: 1) New morning drop off seems to be going well; 2) Progress reports for the 2nd quarter will be mailed out on November 16th; 3) Picture re-takes and clubs/sports pictures will be taken on November 22nd; 4) Student Council have organized Red Ribbon Week 10/24-10/28, Spirit Week is 11/14-11/17 students are dressing up, and tentative dance scheduled for 12/16, 6-8 pm in the elementary gym; 5) Jr High boys and girls basketball and cheerleading is in full swing; 6) All annual drills for the 2022-23 school year are complete; 7) November Student of the Month: Inclusiveness. PTO will award 20 students (PK-8) with a gift card; 8) Spelling Bee is set for 11/17 @ 1:00; 9) Thirty K-8 students attend after-school tutoring program every Tuesday/Thursday; 10) Social Emotional Learning SEL Cohort #2 Team Members for the 2022-23 year: Paula Allen & Seth Graves – Co-leaders, Ryan Fritch – administrator, Seth Graves – parent, Patty Ferrell – teacher, Teresa Dunning – community member, Candy Fatheree – mental health provider, and Tiffany Hynes – other; 11) Donations for Incentive Program, Kathy Simmons – 3 Pirate cups, Anonymous donation - $1,000, Ricky Williams - $100, Shotgun Eddy’s – three $25 gift cards, Legacy Excavating - $75; 12) Current Enrollment 321 as of November 15th.
Mr. Graves reported the following; 1) Progress Reports are due tomorrow, November 16th; 2) Student Council attended the Little Egypt District of Student Councils fall workshop and will be volunteering their time to help Main Street sell items at the Deer Fest Pageant on Friday evening; 3) The Deer Pageant is back and will be held in the high school gym Friday evening; 4) The freshmen class will be hosting a Cookies and Cocoa with Santa on December 3rd in the community room. Tickets go on sale Friday; 5) Picture retakes as well as club and sports picture day is November 22nd; 6) Choir is hosting “Let’s Sing Some Christmas” on Thursday December 15th at 6 pm; 7) The new camera system is being installed and is progressing well; 8) This Thursday, November 17th, Mr. Swinford and Mr. Reeder are taking Juniors and Seniors to SIC CTE Days; 9) Both Boys and Girls CC won the conference; 10) Ahry Comer won Sectionals and placed 8th in State as well as Eason Comer qualifying to run at State; 11) Vape Detectors have been ordered and are being programmed; 12) The Speech Team has
competed and have placed in top 5 in their recent tournaments; and 13) Enrollment: 168.
Mr. Fritch reported the following: 1) Sound system in the high school gym has been fixed and is completed; 2) Finding a temporary heat source for the elementary gym for this winter has been a challenge, Scotty Hargrove and the architects have been working on finding something that will work efficiently; 3) Another Digital Equity Grant has been released for $24,000, looking to replace some of the older teacher computers; 4) IEPA was here back in August and we were hammered on our septic system, with several findings. IEPA told us we need a new system and the best choice was to move it to the City of Golconda’s lagoon. Mr. Fritch is on the City Council agenda for December 5th meeting. The City and Armon Asaterian, who is working with us on this project, are on board; and 5) Elementary and high school both received “Commendable” from ISBE for our test scores and would like to thank the teachers for their hard work.
A motion was made by Kizziar and seconded by Schuchardt to enter closed session for the purpose of personnel performance, procedures, employment, and litigation. Roll call vote: all ayes. Board entered closed session at 7:23 p.m.
A motion was made by Schuchardt and seconded by Kizziar to return to regular session. Roll call vote: all ayes. Board returned at 8:46 pm.
Mr. Fritch distributed the tentative tax levy and directed the members to the pages pertaining to the levy rates. He is proposing the levy remain at the 4.99%, as in the past, and stated all the funds that can be maxed out, have been. He also mentioned the tax rate comparison sheet showing we have the lowest tax rate in probably the entire state. Motion to approve intent to levy taxes and to display tentative tax levy was made by Simmons and seconded by Wallace. Roll call vote: all ayes.
Motion to post for high school Ag teacher for the 2023-24 SY was made by Simmons and seconded by Schuchardt. Roll call vote: all ayes.
Track Coach position and stipend was tabled for a later date.
Motion to post for elementary secretary was made by Simmons and seconded by Wallace. Roll call vote: all ayes.
Motion to post for social worker/counselor was made by Kizziar and seconded by Schuchardt. Roll call vote: all ayes.
Mr. Fritch explained that Ben, Central States Bus Sales Representative, sent pictures of the buses we were interested in and said they had rust on the bottom and underneath due to being from a northern Illinois district. He stated he had some 2020s that were coming off lease this summer that are Blue Bird gasoline with 30 – 40,xxx mileage.
Motion to secure 3, 2020 off lease buses from Central States Bus Sales to be purchases in the summer of 2023 was made by Wallace and seconded by Simmons. 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, December 15, 2022 at 7:00 p.m. in the J.H. Hobbs Memorial Library was made by Wallace and seconded by Simmons. Meeting adjourned at 9:03 pm.
https://cdn5-ss6.sharpschool.com/UserFiles/Servers/Server_2554242/File/Board%20Minutes/Nov%2015%202022.pdf
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