MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE PAXTON-BUCKLEY-LODA COMMUNITY UNIT DISTRICT NO. 10 BOARD OF EDUCATION OF FORD, CHAMPAIGN, VERMILION, IROQUOIS AND LIVINGSTON COUNTIES OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS HELD WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2003 AT 7:00 P.M. IN THE PAXTON-BUCKLEY-LODA HIGH SCHOOL IN PAXTON, ILLINOIS.
Vice President Steve Bloomstrand called the
meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.
Upon roll call, the following board members answered present: Steve Bloomstrand, David Dowling, Jean Schwartz, Al Schweighart, and Dean Swan. Jeff Jarboe and Mike Short were absent.
Others present were Marvin Barger, Andy
Bennett, Rick Brackmann, Mike Brehm, Trent Eshleman, Jim Flaherty, Bill Lee,
Cliff McClure, Allen Meyer, Marcia Meyer, John Rawdin, Lynn Rubarts, Brian
Taylor, Bud Taylor, Thomas Vaughn, and Marilyn Weber.
Jean Schwartz moved to approve the minutes of
the previous meetings. David Dowling
seconded the motion. Upon roll call, all
members present voted aye, there being no nay votes the motion carried.
Al Schweighart moved to approve the
Treasurer’s Report. Dean Swan seconded
the motion. Upon roll call, all members
present voted aye, there being no nay votes the motion carried.
Jean Schwartz moved to approve payment of all
current bills. David Dowling seconded
the motion. Upon roll call, all members
present voted aye, there being no nay votes the motion carried.
Mr. Allen Meyer addressed the board regarding
the distribution of t-shirts at half time of football and basketball
games. Mr. Meyer and his wife are co-owner’s
of Body Tech in Paxton and they offered to pay the cheerleaders to distribute
the t-shirts and possibly hand out free admission to ball games as prizes. Mr. McClure informed the board that there is
a policy in place that does not allow outside organizations to pass out items
advertising their place of business. The
board will look over the policy and will bring it back to next board meeting as
to where the policy stands.
Jean Thackery and Will Brumleve arrived at
the meeting at 7:06 p.m.
Mr. Meyer also asked the board about the
situation regarding the gifted program and why that program is no longer being
offered at the PBL school district. Mr.
McClure informed Mr. Meyer that there are state regulations that the district
must follow in regards to this program.
Mr. McClure introduced Brian Taylor and Bud
Taylor from the Skillman Corporation.
Mr. Brian Taylor gave an update on the revised construction
schedule. The construction crew is
starting to set the manholes. The
re-routing of utilities electric and telephone will begin within the next four
weeks. Mr. Taylor informed the board
that the main concerns right now is the weather and the on-going coordination
of utilities. A master schedule will be
available at the construction meeting on the 24th of October. Mr. McClure informed the board that it would
be an advantage to pay for the movement of the electric utilities up
front. If the district does not pay up
front it will have to be paid out of the O&M fund for the next three years,
if the construction cost is paid up front it will be paid out of the site and
construction fund. There is money
available in the site and construction budget and the district would be saving
$700.00 per month over the next three years.
Jeff Jarboe arrived at 7:17 p.m.
Mr. McClure introduced Rick Brackmann. Mr. Brackmann informed that board that he has
received official notification that the Special Education Cooperative will be
receiving a compliance visit and there are three parts to this visit. The first part is a self-study, which GCMS,
PBL and the Cooperative will have to do individually. These studies will need to be completed and
turned in by February and then there will be a two-day visit by the compliance
officers in April. If there are areas
that they find need improvement, the cooperative will have to write a report on
how they intend to improve in these areas.
Mr. McClure informed the board that there was a Special Education
meeting today (October 15). Mr.
Brackmann informed Mr. McClure that PBL would be receiving additional money
from an additional grant.
Mr. McClure reminded everyone that the school
board conference in Chicago is November 20-23, 2003.
Brian Taylor, Bud Taylor, Allen Meyer, Marcia
Miller and Rick Brackmann left the meeting at 7:27 p.m.
Mr. McClure gave a presentation regarding the
preliminary 2003 levy figures.
Mr. McClure introduced Trent Eshleman to give
an update on the recent Teacher Institute Day.
The first teacher school improvement day began with a meeting with the
entire PBL staff to discuss the purpose of the writing design teams. Each building met on their own to discuss
what they wanted to accomplish. Clara
Petersen developed a uniform assessment in writing and also developed quarterly
writing assignments. They are keeping a
portfolio of writing and that will help them measure how well they are
doing. Loda Grade School’s writing team
developed a writing handbook and curriculum ideas. The handbook is designed for both teachers
and students. The Junior High has also
designed a handbook for both students and teachers. The High School has developed a rough draft
of their handbook. The high school has a
tougher road ahead of them due to the complexities of the discipline of their
classes. Overall, the feedback was very
good from the teachers regarding this writing design team. The steering committee now has a charge to
have a district wide handbook for all buildings so there will be consistency
throughout the district. Mr. McClure
discussed the Ford County Institute Day that was held on Friday, October 10th.at
the GCMS High School. It was entitled
Create a Culture of Change. The Regional
Office of Education organized the program.
The main objective of the institute was how to approach kids in a
positive way. All of the staff members
attended an ADD & ADHD workshop also, which was very informative.
Mr. McClure discussed the ISAT/PSAE
scores. The principals and Mr. McClure
would like to bring back a more detailed report at a later meeting. Mr. McClure presented information regarding
the ISAT scores for 3rd grade, 4th grade, 5th
grade, 7th grade and 8th grade and 11 grade PSAE
scores. He would like to present some
trends over the last couple of years and how the district should be addressing
these issues.
Mr. McClure discussed the Illinois Report
Card. It has not been sent to the
district electronically. The district
will send out information about where it is available on-line. Mr. McClure recommended the board approve the
2003 Illinois School Report Card when it is received. Dean Swan made a motion to approve the 2003
Illinois School Report Card once it has been received. David Dowling seconded the motion. Upon roll call, all members present voted
aye, there being no nay votes the motion carried.
Mr. McClure informed the board that Parent
Teacher conferences will be held on November 4th & 6th
from 3:30 to 6:00 p.m. Information will
be sent out to the parents soon on how to schedule their conferences.
Mr. McClure discussed the meeting he had with
building committee regarding the high school gym lighting replacement. The replacement bulbs for the lighting
currently utilized in the gym cannot be purchased any longer. The building committee has looked at
different lighting in nearby school districts.
Mr. Bennett informed the board of the fixtures that the District is
currently purchasing. The school
district lighting that the building committee looked at has not replaced a
fixture for two years. Mr. Bennett has
been working with an individual to submit an energy savings grant to
potentially change out the lighting at the junior high. It could be a significant savings to the
district. Mr. McClure recommended that the
board approve the proposed replacement lighting, without dimmer feature, for
the high school gymnasium. Al
Schweighart made a motion to approve replacement gymnasium lighting, without
the dimmer feature at the high school.
Jean Schwartz seconded the motion.
Upon roll call, all members present voted aye, there being no nay votes
the motion carried.
In other business, Mr. McClure informed the
board that he will be setting up a policy committee meeting in the next couple
of weeks.
Mr. McClure also informed the board that the
Taste of PBL is from 5-8 p.m. on Saturday November 15th.
Mr. McClure will be setting up a Building
committee meeting for either the afternoon or evening of Thursday, October 23,
2003.
Mr. McClure informed the board that Stan Daro
used the Freedom of Information Act to request the letter that Dr. Thomas Vaughn
wrote.
Steve Bloomstrand congratulated the PBL Band
for it’s first place performance at the Mahomet Invitational.
Mr. McClure congratulated Mr. Mike Brehm and
the Junior High Cross Country Team for their first place sectional wins for
both boys and girls cross country teams.
They will compete in the state cross-country meet this Saturday, October
18th in Bloomington.
David Dowling made a motion to go into closed
session to discuss employment of specific employees and pending
litigation. Al Schweighart seconded the
motion. Upon roll call, all members
present voted aye, there being no nay votes the motion carried.
Closed session began at 8:43 p.m.
Al Schweighart moved to come out of closed
session. David Dowling seconded the
motion. Upon roll call, all members
present voted aye, there being no nay votes the motion carried.
Closed Session ended at 9:11 p.m.
Mr. McClure asked to board to revise the
motion regarding the 2003 Illinois School Report Card. The motion should read “approval of the 2003
Illinois School Report Card, when received, pending 5th grade
data”. Jean Schwartz made a motion to
revise the motion regarding the 2003 Illinois School report card. Jeff Jarboe seconded the motion. Upon roll call, all members present voted
aye, there being no nay votes the motion carried.
Mr. McClure recommended the board hire Amy
Genzel as Library Aide at Clara Peterson Grade School and Playground Supervisor
at Clara Peterson and at the Junior High School. Al Schweighart made a motion to approve the
recommendation. Jean Schwartz seconded
the motion. Upon roll call, all members
present voted aye, there being no nay votes the motion carried.
Mr. McClure recommended the board hire Jodi
Lareau as 6th grade Girls Basketball Coach. Dean Swan made a motion to approve the
recommendation. Jean Schwartz seconded
the motion. Upon roll call, all members
present voted aye, there being no nay votes the motion carried.
Mr. McClure recommended the board hire Dwain
Nance as Freshman Boys Basketball Coach.
Dean Swan made a motion to approve the recommendation. Jeff Jarboe seconded the motion. Upon roll call, all members present voted
aye, there being no nay votes the motion carried.
Mr. McClure recommended the board hire Rick
Vaughn as Custodian at the Junior High pending occupational therapy
examination. Jean Schwartz made a motion
to approve the recommendation. David
Dowling seconded the motion. Upon roll
call, all members present voted aye, there being no nay votes the motion
carried.
Al Schweighart made a motion to adjourn. David Dowling seconded the motion. Upon roll call, all members present voted
aye, there being no nay votes the motion carried.
Meeting adjourned at 9:15 p.m.
_____________________________________ _________________________________
President, Board of Education Secretary, Board
of Education