Southern Illinois News

Alden-Hebron School District 19 Board of Education met Oct. 18.

Here are the minutes provided by the board:

President Smith called the regular meeting of the Board of Education of Alden-Hebron Community Consolidated Unit School District #19 to order at 7:00pm.

Roll Call

PRESENT: Mrs. Smith, Mr. Madsen, Mr. Misiek, Mr. Eskridge, Mr. Berg, Mrs. Johnson

ABSENT: Mr. Winkelman

ALSO PRESENT:

Tiffany Elswick-Superintendent, Katie Beck-SSC/Business Manager, Aaron Butler-MS/HS Principal, Eric Slocum-ES Principal, Tracy Campbell-HS Science Teacher with HS Robotics Team, Alexandra Buseski HS Agriculture Teacher/FFA Advisor with FFA Officers

Correspondence

• 10/10/2023: Thank you note from the family of Peter Bloom for the flowers sent for his funeral.

• 10/11/2023: FOIA from Michael Rost of Allium Data, requesting the renewal summary for the District’s property and casualty insurance as well as the renewal summary for employee benefits. Information requested to include policy terms, limits, deductibles, premiums, and exclusions. Satisfied on 10/11/2023.

COMMUNICATIONS

Public Comments

None

Staff Comments

None

Board Comments

• Mrs. Smith explained reasons why a BOE member may “abstain” from a vote during an open meeting.

• Mr. Misiek thanked the BOE members for putting their trust in him to take over the vacant seat left by Mr. Fritsch’s passing. He expressed admiration for Mrs. Nielsen, who at the last meeting extolled the great character of Mr. Fritsch. He stated that he intends to continue with the ideals Mr. Fritsch brought to the board; to be of service and dedication to the students and families of the District and the Community.

Consent Agenda

The following items were reviewed under the Consent Agenda

*A. Approval of October 4, 2023 Regular and Executive Session Meeting Minutes

*B. Recap of September 2023 Expenditures

*C. Treasurer’s Report for September 2023

*D. Approval of Current Invoices and Payroll

Mr. Eskridge moved; Mr. Berg seconded to approve items A through D of the consent agenda with Item “E. Personnel Report” removed as there are no personnel updates at this time.

AYES: Mrs. Smith, Mr. Madsen, Mr. Misiek, Mr. Eskridge, Mr. Berg, Mrs. Johnson

NAYS: None

ABSENT: Mr. Winkelman

Motion Carried

BUSINESS

ADMINISTRATION

Eric Slocum-ES Principal – as presented

Aaron Butler-MS/HS Principal – as presented

Mr. Butler added:

• Mrs. Kolnik, Middle School Teacher, is organizing a District Turkey Trot. Apparently, he and Mr. Slocum will be enjoying a pie-eating contest, and Admin team may come in festive costume.

• He introduced Ms. Alexandra Buseski, who presented the Officers of the new Alden-Hebron FFA Club. The Officers then introduced themselves and shared a brief description of what they will be doing. They also announced that they will be having a Crandall’s Fundraiser on December 11; more information will be forthcoming.

• Mr. Butler then introduced Mrs. Tracy Campbell, who in turn introduced the new AHHS Robotics Team. The teammates shared a slideshow of their goals and demonstrated some of the items they have been working on.

Mr. Berg commented that it is great to see the students becoming interested and involved in the new clubs being offered. He thanked Mr. Butler for the work to get these clubs started that have the students excited to participate in.

Mrs. Johnson, Mrs. Smith, and Mr. Misiek inquired and got clarification on several of the items in Mr. Butler’s report: PLC’s vs. SIP, the block schedule at the MS level, SAT practice.

Mrs. Tiffany Elswick-Superintendent – as presented

Mrs. Elswick added:

• Admin team will share their SIP’s (School Improvement Plans) at November’s meeting

• Thank you to the students and their advisors who came to the meeting tonight and shared what they are working on.

• Discussion regarding time limit for “Public Comments”; 3 minutes seems to be the general consensus with the BOE members. Will be further discussed and voted on at a future meeting.

• Woodstock Schools would like their students to be able to participate in District 19’s FFA club. This would necessitate an intergovernmental agreement between Districts. The details of which would need to be determined and voted on by both.

• The agenda for the Triple I Conference (November 17, 18, 19) in Chicago will be shared with the BOE at the next meeting.

• Mrs. Grace Eskridge, retired District employee is still working on getting funding to update the blacktop at the Elementary Playground notified Mrs. Elswick that Hoops will be hosting a meat raffle on 12/9/23 to help fund the upgrade.

• Presented the idea of having student representation at the BOE meetings. Discussion ensued with ideas of how to structure the program. More thought and further research will be needed before starting the process.

• Discussion of Nightlock door safety device installation

➢ Product is 100% Health/Life Safety compliant

➢ Cost-effective, safe alternative to other systems quoted

➢ Requested and received direction to move forward with project

VILLAGE

Mr. Berg attended the VOH meeting. Items discussed included:

• Approval of bills to be paid

• Prairie Ave. water main project (grant funded)

• Public comments regarding pop-up business leaving their signs up 24/7

• Sweeping up of extra pea gravel on roads that have been recently paved with tar and pea gravel

• Updated swimming pool code

• Updated building permit fee schedule coming in January

• VBS Haunted Fun Run/Walk to be held 10/21/23

TOWNSHIP

• Alden Township

Mr. Madsen attended the Alden Township meeting. Items discussed included:

➢ Payment of regular bills

➢ Business as usual

• Hebron Township: Mrs. Johnson attended the Hebron Township meeting. Items discussed:

➢ The Township Highway Commissioner attended a County Highway meeting to advocate for the Township; McHenry County was planning to remove Hebron Township from the list of communities that need assistance with rebuilding of bridges.

➢ Lighting at Township building has been updated

➢ Township has a new website, pictures feature AHHS graduate Colton Vanderstappen and his Eagle Scout project of an antique road grader with landscaping

FINANCE

Mrs. Beck presented the BOE with a graph-view of the monthly treasurer reports. Moving forward, she will have these documents placed on the District website after the BOE meetings so the community can see the District’s finances in a “month-at-a-glance” Finance Dashboard format.

PHYSICAL STRUCTURES/MAINTENANCE-as presented

Mr. Schmidt added that he would be interested in visiting another school that has the Nightlock system installed to see how it works firsthand.

STUDENT SERVICES—as presented

Mrs. Beck added that she wrote for and received a $19,000.00 GEAR grant at the end of September that funded new tables, chairs, furniture, etc. for the Pre K and Kindergarten classrooms.

FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS

• Woodstock participation in AH FFA (December)

• Classroom needs (non-facilities)

COMMUNICATIONS

Public Comments:

None

Staff Comments

Mrs. Elswick thanked the students for coming to present to the BOE this evening.

Board Comments

• Mr. Misiek stated that the students tonight did a great job presenting their new clubs to the Board

• Mr. Berg reiterated the same

• Mrs. Johnson stated that she appreciates the creativity in problem-solving of the Administration— organizing clubs as a way to improve the culture of the District

• Mrs. Smith state that she enjoyed the energy the students exhibited this evening when talking about their participation in the FFA and Robotics Clubs.

Adjournment

Mr. Eskridge moved; Mrs. Johnson seconded to adjourn the meeting at 9:49pm. Motion carried.

https://core-docs.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/documents/asset/uploaded_file/860/Alden_Hebron_School_District_19/3754516/10-18-2023_minutes.pdf