Southern Illinois News

Community Unit School District #201 Board of Education met April 23.

Here are the minutes provided by the board:

CALL TO ORDER

On April 23, 2024 at 6:33 p.m. President Hoover called to order the regular meeting of the Community Unit School District 201 Board of Education.

Roll Call

Members Present: Adina Hoover, Whitney Rogers, Carlos Hevia, Angela Steketee, Kevin Marren, Leah Conover

Members Absent: Jessica Radogno

Also present: Superintendent Jack Baldermann, Business Manager, Anthony Ruelli, the Superintendent’s Administrative Assistant, Shannon Cossairt.

Pledge of Allegiance

Adina Hoover led the Assembly in the Pledge of Allegiance.

CLOSED SESSION

Motion by Mr. Hevia, second by Mr. Marren, to enter closed session for the purpose of discussing personnel issues, student discipline and review of closed session minutes.

Ayes: Rogers, Marren, Conover, Steketee, Hevia, Hoover Nays: None.

Motion Carries.

The Board entered closed session at 6:34 p.m.

The Board returned to open session at 7:09 p.m.

Due to presentations to the Board, the CUSD 201 Board of education is going move to item Approval of Minutes, item “D”, on the agenda. The Board will return to Procedural/Action Items, item “C”, later in the meeting.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

April 9, 2024

Motion by Mr. Hevia, second by Ms. Rogers, to approve the minutes of the April 9, 2024, regular meeting of the Board of Education, as presented.

Ayes: Rogers, Marren, Conover, Steketee, Hevia, Hoover Nays: None.

Motion Carried.

April 9, 2024 - Closed

Motion by Ms. Stekee, second by Mr. Marren, to approve the minutes of the closed session of the April 9, 2024, regular meeting of the Board of Education, as presented.

Ayes: Rogers, Marren, Conover, Steketee, Hevia, Hoover

Nays: None

Motion Carried.

PUBLIC COMMENT

The following individuals presented public comment to the Board: Tom McDowell, CAPAOW Club (Hailey Butusov, Lana Phung, Riyah Varghese, Zoe Abington), Norma Martinez, Kelly Schnell, Cory Robbins.

CONSENT AGENDA

Motion by Mr. Marren, second by Ms. Ms. Conover, to approve the consent agenda as presented:

1. Personnel Recommendations:

a. Rebecca Borg, WJHS EL Teacher

b. Emilee Huntley, Coordinator of Student Services

c. Paul Sebedyn, WHS Spanish Teacher

d. Christopher Jeziorny, WJHS SPED Teacher

2. Approval of April 2024 Expenditure Report

3. Ratification of March 2024 Regular Payroll

Ayes: Hoover, Rogers, Marren, Conover, Stgeketee, Hevia

Nays: None.

Motion carried.

INFORMATION and DISCUSSION

RFQ for Construction Manager Presentation Group A

Lance Tritsch, Nick Cosek, Kirk Beutke, Jeff Dvoark, Tom Sanderson, with Pepper Construction, presented to the Board information about their company and discussed how they would work with the District if picked to be the construction manager. They gave information on different timelines when going out on a referendum, life cycle and efficiency costs, cost option analysis, quality management, and project communications. Pepper Construction answered questions from the Board.

First Reading of Proposed Student Handbook Revisions

Adam Kordalewski, WHS Assistant Principal, gave the board an overview on changes to the handbooks. He shared with the Board some different items that would be updated or changed for the elementary, junior high, and high school handbook. The changes will be presented for a second time at the May 14th Board meeting and presented for approval at that time.

RFQ for Construction Manager Presentation Group B

Bill Farley, Joe Nicholas, and Dave Torres of Nicholas Construction presented to the Board information about their company and discussed how they would work with the District if picked to be the construction manager. They discussed the company’s background, their education clients, in-house resources, appropriate budget assessment, communication process, and their referendum based experience. They answered questions from the Board.

Working Cash Interest Transfer

Anthony Ruelli, Business Manager, discussed how historically the Board has approved the transfer of interest from the Working Cash Fund to the Education Fund. This is because the District can not do expenditures from the Working Cash Fund. As of April 23, 2024, the Working Cash Fund has generated $33k. The approval for the transfer will be presented at the May 14, 2024 Board meeting for approval.

Capital Projects Transfer

Anthony Ruelli, Business Manager, is recommending the transfer of $1,472,366 from the Capital Projects Fund to the Operations and Maintenance Fund for the fiscal year 23-24. The approval for the transfer will be presented at the May 14, 2024 Board meeting for approval.

2024-2025 Student Fees

Mr. Ruelli asked the Board if they had any questions on the 24-25 student fees that were presented at the April 9, 2024 meeting. The District will not be raising any student fees at this time except for the fees that apply to food service. There will be no cost to parents for transportation. The Board will be voting on the fees later in the meeting.

Crown Castle Contract

Mr. Ruelli asked the Board if they had any questions regarding the Crown Castle contract presented at the April 9, 2024 meeting. The Board did not have any questions. The contract will be presented for approval later in the meeting.

Verifent

Mr. Ruelli asked the Board if they had any questions about the Verifent contract since it was presented at the April 9, 2024 meeting. Verifent is an online system the District will use for the processing of Faith’s Law background checks. The contract will be presented for approval later in the meeting.

PROCEDURAL/ACTION ITEMS

Election of Officers

The chair entertained nominations for Board President.

Motion by Mr. Hevia, second by Mr. Marren, to name Adina Hoover as Board of Education President for a one-year term.

Ayes: Marren, Conover, Steketee, Hevia, Hoover, Rogers

Nays: None.

Motion Carried.

The chair entertained nominations for Board of Education Vice President.

Motion by Mr. Marren, second by Ms. Steketee, to name Leah Conover as Vice President of the Board of Education for a one-year term.

Ayes: Steketee, Conover, Hevia, Hoover, Rogers, Marren

Nays: None.

Motion Carried.

The chair entertained nominations for Board of Education Secretary.

Motion by Mr. Hevia, second by Mr. Marren, to name Angela Steketee as Secretary for a one-year term.

Ayes: Conover, Steketee, Hevia, Hoover, Rogers, Marren

Nays: None.

Motion Carried.

Appointment of Board Committees

For many years, the Board of Education has maintained committees to work with the administration examining certain key elements in the CUSD 201 operation. The committees have been Finance, Policy, Strategic Planning, Facilities and Public Relations. As designed, the committees have been actively involved in several important areas. The administration has appreciated this type of Board involvement. Tonight the Board will sign up for the committees they would like to represent for next year.

Establishment of Board Meeting Dates, Times and Places

The Board discussed the different options of Board calendars. They would like to continue to hold Board meetings as they have in the past but have a new start time of 6:30 p.m. The new start time will allow any committees to meet prior to the Board meeting.

Motion by Ms. Steketee, second by Ms. Conover, to approve the regular meetings of the Community Unit School District 201 Board of Education be held as identified on the Notice Schedule of Regular Meetings Option B of the Board of Education of Community Unit School District 201, as presented.

Ayes: Steketee, Hevia, Hoover, Rogers, Marren, Conover

Nays: None.

Motion Carried.

Appointment of IASB Representative

Motion by Ms. Steketee, second by Ms. Conover, to approve the appointment of Carlos Hevia as cCommunity Unit School District 201’s Illinois Association of School Board’s Delegate.

Ayes: Heiva, Hoover, Rogers, Marren, Conover, Steketee

Nays: None.

Motion Carried.

ACTION ITEMS

Approval of 2024-2025 Administrator Contracts

Motion by Ms. Conover, second by Mr. Marren, to approve the 2024-2025 administrator annual contracts for the following

administrators: Jayda James, Lindsay Pietrzak, Michael Lipinski, Amy Quattrone, Laura Lopez, Adam Kordalewski, Tiffanie Torrisi, Carla Braun, Edith Courington, Kevin Weck, and Samantha Sinovich, as presented.

Ayes: Rogers, Marren, Conover, Steketee, Hevia, Hoover

Nays: None.

Motion Carried.

Amendment of 2023-2024 Contract

Motion by Ms. Conover, second by Mr. Marren, to approve the amendment to the 2023-2024 contract of Nadine Norris, as presented.

Ayes: Marren, Conover, Steketee, Hevia, Hoover, Rogers

Nays: None.

Motion Carried.

Approval of Retirement Contract for Administrator

Motion by Ms. Steketee, second by Ms. Conover, to approve the Retirement Contract for Administrator Nadine Norris, as presented.

Ayes: Conover, Steketee, Hevia, Hoover, Rogers, Marren

Nays: None.

Motion Carried.

Approval of Multi Year Contract for Administrator

Motion by Ms. Conover, second by Mr. Marren, to approve the Multi-Year contract for Anthony Ruelli, 2025-2027, as presented.

Ayes: Rogers, Steketee, Hevia, Hoover, Marren, Conover

Nays: None.

Motion Carried.

Approval of Non Certified Salary Increases for 2024-2025 School Year

Motion by Ms. Conover, second by Mr. Hevia, to approve the non certified salary increases for the 2024-2025 school year, as presented.

Ayes: Steketee, Hevia, Hoover, Rogers, Marren Conover

Nays: None.

Motion Carried.

Board Action on Closed Session Minutes

Motion by Ms. Rogers, second by Mr. Marren, to approve the Board action on closed session minutes, as presented.

Ayes: Hevia, Hoover, Rogers, Marren, Conover, Steketee

Nays: None

Motion Carried.

Destruction of Verbatim Closed Session Minutes

Motion by Mr. Hevia, second by Mr. Marren, to approve the to approve the destruction of verbatim closed session minutes from March 1, 2022 through August 30, 2022.

Ayes: Hoover, Rogers, Marren, Conover, Steketee, Hevia

Nays: None.

Motion Carried.

Approval of Student Fees for 2024-2025 School Year

Motion by Mr. Marren, second by Ms. Rogers, to approve the student fees fro the 2024-2025 school year, as presented.

Ayes: Rogers, Marren, Conover, Steketee, Hevia, Hoover

Nays: None.

Motion Carried.

Approval of Contract with Verifent

Motion by Ms. Steketee, second by Mr. Marren, to approve the contract with Verifent, as presented.

Ayes: Marren, Conover, Steketee, Hevia, Hoover, Rogers

Nays: None.

Motion Carried.

Approval of Crown Castle Contract

Motion by Mr. Hevia, second by Mr. Marren, to approve the contract with Crown Castle, as presented.

Ayes: Conover, Steketee, Hevia, Hoover, Rogers, Marren

Nays: None.

Motion Carried.

Approval of WJHS Electives

Motion by Ms. Conover, second by Ms. Steketee, to approve the WEstmont Junior High Electives beginning with the 2024-2025

school year, as presented.

Ayes: Steketee, Hevia, Hoover, Rogers, Marren Conover

Nays: None.

Motion Carried.

Approval of Summer School Plans for Summer 2024

Motion by Mr. Marren, second by Ms. Rogers, to approve the 2024 Summer School Plans, as presented.

Ayes: Rogers, Marren, Steketee, Hevia, Hoover, Conover

Nays: None.

Motion Carried.

SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT

Communication

Superintendent Baldermann reported the students have finished testing. He appreciates how hard students and staff worked. Superintendent Baldermann would also like to remind everyone we are in the home stretch for the school year. We need all students in school.

FOIA Request FOIA Requests are attached in BoardDocs.

Update on Meetings The May 14th Board Meeting will have a start time of 6:30 p.m. at Westmont Village Hall. There will be a Facilities Planning Committee Meeting before the meeting starting at 5:30 at Westmont Village Hall.

BOARD REPORTS

Ms. Steketee would like to thank all the volunteers who helped with the jr. high musical. Mr. Marren would also like to give a shout out to the bands at all levels and the great support we are seeing for them and their leadership.

Ms. Steketee would like to invite community members and familiesto the Facilities Planning Committee Meetings. The consulting firm will be putting together a committee and we are inviting the community to attend.

PUBLIC COMMENT

No public comment at this time.

CLOSED SESSION

Not needed at this time.

FUTURE MEETINGS AND EVENTS

WHS Spring Concert

April 24, 7:00 pm

WHS

Miller Grade Level Music Concert

April 25, 6:00 pm

WHS

WHS Honors Recital

April 29, 7:00 pm

SIP Day

May 1

BPAC Meeting

May 7, 6:00 pm

Manning

CUSD 201 Elementary PTO Meeting

May 7, 7:00 pm

Manning

Manning Band and Chorus Concert

May 9, 6:00 pm

WHS

Facilities Planning Committee

May 14, 5:30 pm

Westmont Village Hall

CUSD 201 Board Meeting

May 14, 6:30 pm

Westmont Village Hall

COMMUNICATIONS

None at this time.

ADJOURNMENT

Motion by Ms. Steketee, second by Ms. Conover, to adjourn the April 23, 2024, regular meeting of the Board of Education at 9:26 p.m.

Motion unanimously passed.

https://go.boarddocs.com/il/cusd201/Board.nsf/files/D58P5P62E259/$file/4.23.24%20Regular%20Minutes%20(1).pdf