Southern Illinois News

Alden-Hebron School District 19 Board of Education met July 17.

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 7:01 P.M.

ROLL CALL

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

ABSENT: Mr. Eskridge (in @ 7:08pm)

ALSO PRESENT:

Tiffany Elswick-Superintendent, Katie Beck-SpEd/Business Manager, Eric Slocum-ES Principal, Aaron Butler-MS/HS Principal, Ray Stalker, Nick Ciccotosto, Adam Klein, Rebecca Klein

Correspondence

None

COMMUNICATIONS

Public Comments:

None

Staff Comments

None

Board Comments

Mr. Winkelman stated that he hopes everyone is enjoying summer and time with their families. He urged everyone to continue to support students who are attending athletic and academic camps, and their families who make it possible for the students to attend during busy summer family time.

Consent Agenda

*A. Approval of June 26, 2024 BOE Regular and Executive Session Minutes

* B. Recap of June 2024 Expenditures

*C. Treasurer’s Report for June, 2024

*D. Approval of Current Invoices & Payroll

*E. Personnel Report

*F. Budget: Request to Publish Notice of Public Hearing for tentative Budget on 9/18/24 at 7:00pm in the MS/HS Auditorium

*G. Resolution for Transporting Children for Serious Safety Hazard

Mr. Misiek moved; Mr. Berg seconded to approve the Consent Agenda as presented

Ayes: Mrs. Smith, Mr. Winkelman, Mr. Madsen, Mr. Misiek, Mr. Berg, Mrs. Johnson

Abstain: None

Nays: None

Absent: Mr. Eskridge (in @ 7:08)

Motion Carried

BUSINESS

ADMINISTRATION

Mrs. Tiffany Elswick- Superintendent – as presented

Mrs. Elswick added:

• The District is currently undergoing its annual audit—it is going well

• D19’s annual Safety meeting was held this evening at 6:00 with local law, fire, and emergency agencies in attendance

• The next consolidated election will be held on 4/1/2025. D19’s BOE has 5 out of 7 seats that will be up for election/re-election: four 4-year seats and one 2-year seat

• Future agenda items requested from the 6/26/24 meeting:

➢ Student representation at BOE meetings will be discussed at the August 2024 BOE meeting pending further research/discussion by the committee

➢ Use of Contingency Funds will be a recurrent agenda item on March agendas moving forward so assessment may be made for future summer projects

• Restricting Middle School cell phone usage:

➢ Mrs. Johnson cited research by the Surgeon General regarding the negative impact social media has on children and adolescents—social/emotional, as well as academic. She suggests entertaining the idea of putting personal devices “away for the day” as they do in the Elementary School. In addition, she believes D19 should consider implementing a “screen-free” lunch period, thereby encouraging students to engage with one another rather than an electronic device.

➢ Discussion ensued regarding restricting personal electronic devices. BOE members agreed that the policy should be revised and placed on the next BOE agenda for approval.

Aaron Butler-MS/HS Principal – as presented

• Mrs. Johnson commented that June was very busy for families with athletic and academic camps and inquired how it was decided to schedule Band Camp and Robotics Camp in June. Mr. Butler stated that the schedule for those camps was developed to coincide with Summer School.

• Mr. Butler shared a presentation displaying MS and HS growth based on data garnered from both IReady and IAR testing. Making comparisons from the last few years.

ES Principal Report – as presented

• Mrs. Smith asked Mr. Slocum to explain “Thinking Classrooms” for math instruction, as mentioned in his report. He responded that a “thinking classroom” engages students in creative ways, causing them to think about how and why they have come up with a solution to a problem as opposed to memorization and repetitive calculations.

• Mr. Slocum shared his data presentation with multi-year comparisons for the ES based on IReady and IAR results.

SPECIAL EDUCATION-as presented

FINANCE-as presented

• Mrs. Beck stated that the annual audit is going smoothly, thanks in large part to Mrs. Alfonso, District Bookkeeper

• She shared her monthly dashboard with the BOE

PHYSICAL STRUCTURES/MAINTENANCE-as presented

Mrs. Elswick added:

• There have been a few applicants for the position of Buildings and Grounds Director; interviews will be held at the end of next week.

• The electrical issue at the ES has been repaired

• The recent storms caused a few leaks which have been addressed

CURRICULUM AND POLICY

1st Reading of Policies

2:70 Vacancies on the School Board–Filling Vacancies

2:125 Board Member Compensation; Expenses

2:160 Board Attorney

4:15 Identity Protection

4:40 Incurring Debt

4:70 Resource Conservation

4:80 Accounting and Audits

4:140 Waiver of Student Fees

5:130 Responsibilities Concerning Internal Information

5:180 Temporary Illness or Temporary Incapacity

5:200 Terms and Conditions of Employment and Dismissal

5:285 Drug and Alcohol Testing for School Bus and Commercial Vehicle Drivers

5:310 Compensatory Time-Off

6:110 Programs for Students At Risk of Academic Failure and/or Dropping Out of School and Graduation Incentives Program

6:140 Education of Homeless Children

6:150 Home and Hospital Instruction

6:230 Library Media Program

7:170 Vandalism

The C & P Committee, consisting of Mrs. Elswick, Mrs. Johnson, and Mr. Misiek, met this afternoon for the first reading of policy updates from IASB for June, 2024. Mr. Misiek stated that most of the suggested updates were due to a 5-year review. Of note, policy revisions were in regard to Districts setting resource conservation goals and identity protection.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Village of Hebron

No report

Alden Township

No report

Hebron Township

No report

COMMUNICATIONS

Public Comments:

None

Staff Comments

None

Board Comments

• Mr. Misiek thanked Mr. Slocum and Mr. Butler for their data presentations, and all staff who are doing the summer work for the District.

• Mrs. Smith thanked Mrs. Beck and Mrs. Elswick for their continual work on writing grants to benefit D19.

• Mrs. Johnson encouraged everyone to use and take advantage of the District Google Calendar.

Executive Session

Mr. Eskridge moved; Mr. Berg seconded to go into Executive Session at 8:57pm for the appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance, or dismissal of specific employees; semi-annual review of Executive Session Minutes; student disciplinary cases; litigation; internal auditing controls. .

Ayes: Mrs. Smith, Mr. Winkelman, Mr. Madsen, Mr. Misiek, Mr. Eskridge, Mr. Berg, Mrs. Johnson

Abstain: None

Nays: None

Absent: None

Motion Carried

Returned to Open Session at 10:05pm

Actions resulting from Executive Session:

Mr. Berg moved; Mr. Misiek seconded to approve the release of Executive Session minutes from 1/17/24 and 2/21/24.

Ayes: Mrs. Smith, Mr. Winkelman, Mr. Madsen, Mr. Misiek, Mr. Eskridge, Mr. Berg, Mrs. Johnson

Abstain: None

Nays: None

Absent: None

Motion Carried

Adjournment

Mr. Berg moved; Mr. Misiek seconded to adjourn the meeting at 10:05pm.

Motion Carried.

https://core-docs.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/documents/asset/uploaded_file/860/Alden_Hebron_School_District_19/4735924/7-17-2024_minutes.pdf