Anna Jonesboro Community High School District 81 Board of Education met March 20.
Here are the minutes provided by the board:
The Anna Jonesboro Community High School held its regular meeting on March 20, 2023, it was called to order by President Dr. Blakely. Upon roll call at 6:00 p.m. the following members were present: Dr. Blakely, Mr. McGrath (by phone), Mr. Vosburgh, Mr. Hughey, and Mrs. Thompson. Mr. Bailey arrived at 6:07 and Dr. Reach arrived at 6:04.
On motion by Mrs. Thompson and seconded by Mr. Vosburgh to approve the Agenda. All members present voting yes. Motion carried.
On motion by Mr. Hughey and seconded by Mrs. Thompson to approve the Consent Agenda which contained the following items: approval of board minutes on 2/21/23; approval of closed session minutes; approval of payment for bills, acceptance of financial reports, renew IHSA Membership, and accept resignations of Jamie Norris (business teacher) and Janice Osman (cheer coach). On roll call, all members present voting yes. Motion carried.
Recognition of visitors and correspondence: none
Student Council: Good evening, my name is Kansas Craig and I am the Freshman Representative for the student council. On February 22, there was a blood drive and we collected 72 pints of blood out of the 92 people that tried giving. On March 9th Mrs. Fitz and Mrs. Eastman took 26 seniors and officers to the LEDSC District convention at the SIU Student Center. We made a Hall of Ideas Display and Brochure to showcase our activities throughout the year. Avery Osman received a pillar award in leadership and Madelynn Eastman received a pillar award in dedication. Student council will be hosting the district convention in 2025. The Student Council is selling peeps for a peep for a dollar that will be delivered before spring break. Our last blood drive of the year will be August 26 please book your appointment now. If we collect 70 units of blood it will jump to the fourth tier for a given scholarship. Thank you.
Wildcat Student Advisory Council: Members highlighted the following on our brag board: the students who won awards in the scholastic art competition, the aj bowling team’s successful season, the FBLA students advancing to state, the wrestling team’s achievements, the dance team for its first performances, and ACES. Council members also recognized the following faculty and staff for contributions: Mrs. Blumleve for going the extra mile when explaining, Mrs. Hase and Mrs. Cleghorn for organizing the Teacher Appreciation Week, Mrs. Treece for the idea of the dance team, Mrs. Richbourg for creative lessons, Mrs. Sommer for her extra help to students, and to Mr. Young for making a positive first impression for a new teacher. The idea was brought up to implement some sort of incentive plan to promote good grades and good behavior. Some ideas presented were off-campus privileges or having lunch delivered to the school. Discussions continued about expanding the water bottle selection. We were pleased to find out that there is the potential to expand the selection and are now trying to find acceptable choices. A student asked if it would be possible to have more school wide assemblies. Students inquired about the potential for an AJ news station and or newspaper. Chess Club was also mentioned. Students asked about allowing school appropriate stickers on the chrome books. The discussion eventually came around to inquiring whether or not seniors could do so because they are taking their chrome books upon graduation. Students asked about getting updates on the meeting schedule and the lunch/breakfast menu. As a result, Mr. Finders has began to send out a school wide update. There was a continuation of discussion on whether or not the students should be able to paint their parking spots. We have much of the preliminary work in preparation for the talent show. Including sign ups, posting advertisement flyers, and scheduling auditions. A subcommittee was formed to procure judges and an EMCEE and gather prizes.
Teachers Notes: The Southern Illinois Future Teachers Coalition (SIFTC) has been recognized with the Award of Special Recognition in the Team category through the Those Who Excel and Teacher of the Year program from the Illinois State Board of Education. SIFTC is a regional collaborative partnership working to address the teacher shortage that is being experienced both state and nationally with targeted programming at the local level in Southern Illinois. The SIFTC partnership is between John A. Logan College, Shawnee Community College, Southern Illinois University Carbondale, the Illinois State Board of Education, and fourteen Southern Illinois high schools including AJCHS. Mrs. Sommer is the sponsor of our Educators Rising club. Our club currently has 34 students interested in becoming teachers!!! Melanie Lasley, Senior Lender from AJ National Bank spoke with Mrs. Hase’s Resource Management class about building credit, basic banking and getting loans. She answered all of their banking questions. Officer Jason Leek also spoke to her senior classes on all of the laws that you need to know when you turn 18. The music department participated in IHSA Solo & Ensemble Contest. 15 entries received a Division I rating and 17 entries received a Division II rating. We are currently ranked 14th in the state in Class B. AJ FFA competed in the Section 24 Livestock Judging competition and won 1st place in the section out of 10 Schools. 2 Students placed in the top 5 out of 46 students in the section. Hunter Chapman placed 6th out of 75 students for the whole competition. The team placed 3rd out of the 20 teams present. The Math Team competed at the Regional Math Team Contest on Saturday, February 26th. The Junior/Senior 2-Man (Eric Chen and Jessi Sartin) team placed first in the competition, qualifying them for the State Math Team Competition in Bloomington on Saturday, April 22nd. TJ Taylor placed 2nd in Algebra 1 and Eric Chen placed 2nd in Algebra 2. TJ Taylor and Eric Chen also qualify in their individual events for the State Math Team Competition in Bloomington. The Math Team will next compete at the SIUC Math Field
Day on Tuesday, March 28th. Mu Alpha Theta decided to celebrate Pi Day by completing random acts of kindness from Valentine’s Day through Pi Day. Their goal was to complete 314 random acts of kindness because Pi is 3.14. The student members performed 312, so Mrs. Sommer completed the last two for a Pi Day Miracle :) Mrs. Hase and Ms. Cleghorn really enjoyed putting together the AJ Faculty and Staff Appreciation week and party. Throughout the week 55 faculty and staff members participated in the gift exchange and we had 110 at breakfast on that Friday morning. We had a total of 65 faculty and staff members and their dates show up at Kiki’s for our end of the week party. A lot of fun was had by all! We are looking forward and have already started planning for next year's fun filled week! Mrs. Norton, Mr. and Mrs. Vancil and Mr. Stamp would like to thank the Board, administration and employees that supported the AJCHS Spring Musical “The Wizard of Oz” this past weekend! Over 50 students were involved in the production as cast, crew or in the pit band. While illness hit us in the final weekend, our students were amazing in covering each other and working together to keep the show going. The adults involved this weekend commented how this group of Cast and Crew were not “cliquey” at all. The line between cast and crew was blurred, but in a healthy and beneficial way. We are thankful the District values and supports the arts for our students. Ms. Maze’s classes have finished their service learning project. They created informational posters, social media posts, and added information to the school website. Their focus was on informing students and the community about the comfort closet and its needs. They have also started a food/hygiene drive to help replenish the Comfort Closet.
Curriculum Director Finders spoke about the School Report Card Data Comparison. Principal Detering spoke about failure reports, senior shindig, and discipline.
Superintendent Wright reported on our financial accounts and investments with our local bank and on increasing entry fee budgets for sports programs for next year.
Public Comments: Paula Hasty
On motion by Dr. Reach and seconded by Mrs. Thompson for the Board to enter into closed session at 6:42 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) Litigation, when an action against, affecting or on behalf of the particular public body has been filed and is pending before a court or administrative tribunal, or when the public body finds that an action is probable or imminent, in which case the basis for the finding shall be recorded and entered into the minutes of the closed meeting. 5 ILCS 120/2 (c)(11) On roll call, all members present voting yes. Motion carried.
On motion by Mr. Bailey and seconded by Mrs. Thompson to return to regular session at 7:40. On roll call, all members present voting yes. Motion carried.
On motion by Mr. McGrath and seconded by Mrs. Thompson to approve Michelle Stevens (Assistant Principal) contract as presented. On roll call, all members present voting yes. Motion carried.
On motion by Mr. Hughey and seconded by Dr. Reach to approve Brien Moore (Maintenance Director) contract as presented. On roll call, all members present voting yes. Motion carried.
On motion by Mr. Bailey and seconded by Mrs. Thompson to approve Brooke Frank (Nurse) contract as presented. On roll call, all members present voting yes. Motion carried.
On motion by Dr. Reach and seconded by Mr. Hughey to approve Heather Craig (Administrative Assistant) contract as presented. On roll call, all members present voting yes. Motion carried.
On motion by Mr. Bailey and seconded by Mrs. Thompson to approve Laura Ebersohl (Hearing Interpreter) contract as presented. On roll call, all members present voting yes. Motion carried.
On motion by Mr. Hughey and seconded by Mr. Vosburgh to approve Rick Livesay (Athletic Director) contract as presented. On roll call, all members present voting yes. Motion carried.
On motion by Dr. Reach and seconded by Mr. Bailey to approve Joint Agreement with Five County Regional Vocational System. On roll call, all members present voting yes. Motion carried.
On motion by Mr. Bailey and seconded by Mrs. Thompson to approve Resolution 23-03-20A Reference the Dismissal of David Dawley. On roll call, all members present voting yes. Motion carried.
On motion by Mr. Vosburgh and seconded by Mr. Bailey to grant tenure to Aaron Roberts. All members present voting yes. Motion carried.
On motion by Mr. Bailey and seconded by Dr. Reach to hire Jessica Sawyer as School Social Worker. On roll call, all members present voting yes. Motion carried.
On motion by Mr. Bailey and seconded by Mr. Hughey to hire Mariza Charicata as School Social Worker contract as presented. On roll call, all members present voting yes. Motion carried.
On motion by Mr. Hughey and seconded by Mr. Vosburgh to adjourn the Regular Meeting at 7:51 p.m. All members present voting yes. Motion carried.
https://aj81.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/March-2023-Minutes.pdf
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