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, DECEMBER 10, 2003 AT 7:12 P.M. AT THE PAXTON-BUCKLEY-LODA HIGH SCHOOL IN PAXTON, ILLINOIS.
President Mike Short called the meeting to
order at 7:12 p.m.
Upon roll call, the following board members
answered present: Steve Bloomstrand, David Dowling, Jeff Jarboe, Jean Schwartz,
Al Schweighart, and Michael Short. Dean
Swan was absent.
Others present were Marvin Barger, Andy
Bennett, Mike Brehm, Vicki Brehm, Nick Brehm, Will Brumleve, Eric Burton and
family, Adam Carlson and family, Kendall Cox and family, Stan Daro, Eric Funk
and family, Trent Eshleman, Jim Flaherty, Cliff McClure, Bill Lee, Tom Pacey
and family, Lynn Rubarts, Brian Taylor, Bud Taylor, Thomas Vaughn, and Marilyn
Weber
Mr. McClure introduced Mike Brehm and the
Junior High boys cross country team and presented them with a plaque congratulating
them on their state championship the first ever in the PBL School District.
All Cross Country team members and families
left at 7:15 p.m.
Mr. McClure introduced Bob Loughren from the
Knights of Columbus organization. He
presented the PBL School Board with a check for $1,966.38 for the PBL Special
Education Department.
David Dowling moved to approve the minutes of
the previous meetings. Al Schweighart
seconded the motion. Upon roll call, all
members present voted aye, there being no nay votes the motion carried.
Jean Schwartz moved to approve the
Treasurer’s Report. Steve Bloomstrand
seconded the motion. Upon roll call, all
members present voted aye, there being no nay votes the motion carried.
Steve Bloomstrand moved to approve payment of
all current bills. Jeff Jarboe seconded
the motion. Upon roll call, all members
present voted aye, there being no nay votes the motion carried.
Al Schweighart read a resignation letter from
Brenda Anda as High School Cook.
Mr. McClure introduced Brian Taylor and Bud
Taylor from the Skillman Corporation.
Brian Taylor updated the board on the progress of the New Junior High
project. The electrical and telephone
service relocation is finished and the contractors are still working on getting
the gas relocation finished. The rock at
the Pells St. extension has been installed.
The construction schedule is still “on schedule”. The Pells street entrance and road to the
back high school parking lot should be open on Monday, December 15th. A letter will be going out to the staff to
inform them of this change.
Mr. McClure informed the board that the
weekly progress meeting will be at the Skillman Trailer on Thursday, December
11th at 10:00 a.m. On
December 23rd there will be a construction progress meeting at 10:00 at the
Skillman Trailer and a building committee meeting at 11:30 at the Unit
Office. Mr. McClure also stated that the
district has received the first payment from the Capital Development Board for
the construction project.
Jeff Jarboe made a motion to approve the 2003
tax levy. Steve Bloomstrand seconded the
motion. Upon roll call, all members
present voted aye, there being no nay votes the motion carried.
Mr. McClure discussed the Special Education
Behavioral Intervention Policy that was provided by Rick Brackmann. Mr. Brackmann will be at the January board
meeting to answer any questions. Mr.
Brackmann would also like the board to approve the intervention policy at the
January meeting.
Brian Taylor and Bud Taylor left the meeting
at 7:27 p.m.
Mr. McClure discussed the PBL Cost Reduction
Plan. The finance committee has met
twice regarding this reduction plan. The
committee has discussed ways in which the district could reduce
expenditures. Reductions could include
both certified and non-certified staff, extra-curricular programming, board
expenses, etc. The district could also
increase revenue by implementing additional fees and increase lunch
prices.
Dean Swan arrived at 7:42 p.m.
Bob Loughren from Knights of Columbus left at
7:44 p.m.
Mr. McClure explained the policy that was in
question regarding advertising in generating income and that no action or
change should take place to the current policy.
Mr. McClure recommended the board appoint two
board members to present diplomas at the 2004 High School graduation. Jean Schwartz and David Dowling were
appointed to present the 2004 High Graduation Diplomas.
John Rawdin arrived at 7:49 p.m.
Mr. McClure introduced Bill Lee to explain
the curricular mapping that the district is developing. The district started to develop curricular
maps at the end of last year and the teachers were asked to fill out an outline
on what they actually teach in their classroom all year. They then met in grade levels to look at each
other’s maps to see if they were teaching the same curriculum on the same time
frame. These maps will help the teachers
develop plans to determine what they need to prepare for in the future to
prepare the students for the next grade level.
Eventually this information will become a database to look at the
curriculum as a whole. This will also
help to integrate the classrooms and subjects and help with preparing students
for the ISAT tests.
Mr. McClure discussed the School Library Per
Capita Grant. This grant provides an
extra $1,000 per year in revenue. Jean
Schwartz made a motion to approve the School Library Per Capita grant. David Dowling seconded the motion. Upon roll call, all members present voted
aye, there being no nay votes the motion carried.
Mr. McClure announced the official
Superintendent evaluation period has started.
Board members need to give their evaluations to Steve Bloomstrand once
they have been completed. The
evaluations will be discussed at the January meeting.
Mr. McClure introduced Jim Flaherty to
discuss increasing the Music Credit to a ˝ credit per semester and one per
year. Band and Chorus grades would not
be averaged into the grade point average.
Graduation requirements would not be increased by the proposal. The High School distributed a survey to the
students this fall regarding study halls.
The data from this survey shows that quite a few students are enrolled
in two or more study halls. Mr. Flaherty’s
recommendation would require that a student couldn’t have more than one study
hall per year. A decision on the study
hall issue and music credit increase will be decided at the January meeting.
Mr. McClure, Jeff Jarboe, David Dowling and
Al Schweighart attended the Triple I School Board conference in Chicago. Each person gave an update on the sessions
that they attended at the conference.
In other business, Mr. McClure provided a
book to all the board members entitled “A Long Way From Chicago”. The PBL Education Foundation has implemented
a program for everyone in the community to read this book, which is called “One
Book, One Community”. There will be
some activities to follow in February regarding this book.
Mr. McClure handed out the school report card
and he reported that all of our schools met adequate yearly progress under the
No Child Left Behind act. The PBL
graduation rate is below the state average.
Mr. Flaherty provided a handout to the Board regarding the graduation
rate and he discussed with the board the reasons for the graduation rate being
lower than the state average. The
school report card and school improvement plans are available on the PBL
Website.
Mr. McClure announced that the Clara Peterson
Christmas Concert would be held on Thursday, December 18th at 7:00 p.m. at the
High School. The High School Choral and
Band concert will be on Sunday, December 14th at 2:00 p.m. in the
High School gym.
Mr. McClure informed the board that the PBL
Education Foundation raised $7,850 at their annual auction.
Dean Swan made a motion to go into closed session
to discuss employment of specific employees, pending litigation and discussion
of minutes of meetings lawfully closed.
David Dowling seconded the motion.
Upon roll call, all members present voted aye, there being no nay votes
the motion carried.
Closed session began at 8:37 p.m.
Jeff Jarboe moved to come out of closed
session. Al Schweighart seconded the
motion. Upon roll call, all members
present voted aye, there being no nay votes the motion carried.
Closed Session ended at 10:15 p.m.
Mr. McClure recommended the board accept the
resignation of Brenda Anda as High School cook. Jean Schwartz made a motion to accept the
resignation. Steve Bloomstrand seconded
the motion. Upon roll call, all members
present voted aye, there being no nay votes the motion carried.
Mr. McClure recommended the board transfer
Rick Vaughn from Junior High custodian to Clara Peterson custodian. Dean Swan recommended the board approve the
transfer of Rick Vaughn. Al Schweighart
seconded the motion. Upon roll call, all
members present voted aye, there being no nay votes the motion carried.
Mr. McClure recommended the board approve
releasing the following closed session minutes:
January 15, 2003, April 7, 2003, June 11, 2003, July 16, 2003, and
August 13, 2003. David Dowling made a
motion to approve the release of the above mentioned closed session
minutes. Steve Bloomstrand seconded the
motion. Upon roll call, all members
present voted aye, there being no nay votes the motion carried.
Mr. McClure recommended the board approve the
irrevocable resignation and retirement agreement between Al Manhart and the
board. Jean Schwartz made a motion to
approve the irrevocable resignation and retirement agreement. Al Schweighart seconded the motion. Upon roll call, all members present voted
aye, there being no nay votes the motion carried.
Jean Schwartz made a motion to adjourn. Dave Dowling seconded the motion. Upon roll call, all members present voted
aye, there being no nay votes the motion carried.
Meeting adjourned at 10:22 p.m.
_____________________________________ _________________________________
President, Board of Education Secretary, Board
of Education