MINUTES
- REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION
The Board of Education of the
Ms. Marianne
Clancy, Board Secretary, established a quorum and the following Members were
present: Mr. John Hanson, Mr. Keith Davis, Mr. Uvaldo Herrera, Mr. John Dirks,
Mrs. Millicent Roth and Mrs. Janet Smith, Board President. Mrs. Cheryl Jackson was absent.
Present from
the administrative staff were Dr. Robert Nielsen, Dr. Roger Kilpatrick, Mr.
Barry Reilly and Mrs. Sally Tucker.
Ms. Linda Aschenbrener, Public Relations Facilitator, was also in attendance.
Present from
the news media was Ms. Michele Steinbacher from The Pantagraph and Mr. Russ
Eisenberger from WJBC Radio Station.
Mrs. Smith
presented the Minutes for approval. It was moved by Mr. Hanson, seconded by Mr.
Dirks that the Minutes of the Special Meeting held on September 15, 2003, the
Minutes of the Closed Meeting held on September 15, 2003, the Minutes of the
Special Meeting held on September 17, 2003, the Minutes of the Closed Meeting
held on September 17, 2003, the Minutes of the Regular Meeting held on
September 24, 2003 and the Minutes of the Closed Meeting held on September 24,
2003 be approved. Upon a roll call vote,
all Members present voted “Aye”. Motion
carried.
Mr. Stan Geison was
recognized for his leadership and service to the District's Citizens' Advisory
Council (CAC). Mr. Geison has been a part of the CAC since 1995 and has
Co-Chaired the CAC for the past six years. Mrs. Smith asked Mr. Geison and his
wife to come forward and receive well wishes from the Board.
Mr. Dirks attended the CAC
kickoff meeting on September 25 where he heard reports by the Facilities and
Achievement sub-groups. Mr. Dirks also reported that a recommendation for
principles for multicultural education was presented by the Multicultural
subgroup. The group is working on a template and survey in fact gathering. The
next meeting for the CAC will be in November.
Mr. Herrera attended a Minority Teacher Recruitment Program (MTRP)
meeting on
Mrs. Smith attended a Judge John M. Scott Investments meeting in early
October. Mrs. Smith mentioned that the last negotiation meeting occurred on
September 18th and the next meeting will occur during the week of October 14.
Mr. Herrera informed the
Board that he has been invited to attend a conference on school board
governance in
Mrs. Roth added that she
continues to receive support from the community regarding her appointment to
the Board.
Mr. Dirks attended the
Academic Achievement Celebration at Bloomington High School (BHS) on Monday,
October 6 and remarked on how successful and well planned the
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event
was. Mr. Dirks also attended the Illinois Association of School Board (IASB)
Corn Belt Chapter meeting at
Mr. Hanson also attended the
Academic Achievement Celebration at BHS and echoed Mr. Dirks' sentiments. Mr.
Hanson encouraged everyone to attend Homecoming activities at BHS this week.
Dr. Nielsen presented the
District's Deficit Reduction Principles and Timeline. Our District needs
to cut $1.5 million from next year's budget.
Guiding principles
• Maintaining direct instructional services to students will be of the highest
priority
• Reductions in programs are preferable to the elimination of programs
• Reductions should be equitable across the K-12 program.
• The safety of our students and staff will not be jeopardized as a result of
our reductions
• Grant funds will be used to pay teacher salaries the greatest extent possible
Board of Education (BOE) Timeline
September 24, 2003
• BOE adopts budget for 03-04
• Budget has a 1.5 million dollar gap (deficit) between revenues and expenses
October 8, 2003
• Board adopts Deficit Reduction Principles and Timeline.
October 22, 2003
• Staffing predictions based on enrollment projections and class size
guidelines
• Set administrative/student/teacher ratios
November 12, 2003
• Proposed programmatic changes for 2004-2005
• Set tentative Tax Levy
December 10, 2003
• Tax Levy hearing and adoption
January 14 and January 28, 2004
• Discussion and input
February 11, 2004
• Administrative Reports in the Five Year Maintenance Plan, Curriculum
Summary, Technology Summary, Life Safety, Spring Supplies Order and Special
Projects along with the Bid Matrix will be presented.
February 25, 2004
• Discussion and input
• Final recommendations to Board on reductions and revenue enhancements
• Approval of the Five Year Maintenance Plan, Curriculum Summary, Technology
Summary, Life Safety, Spring Supplies Order and Special Projects with the Bid
Matrix and authorization to seek bids and purchase supplies and materials for
the 04-05 budget
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in
the spring with payments after
• Reduction in Force
• Draft budget for 2004-2005
Mr. Davis stated that he would like the District to try to avoid tax or fee increases and only as a last resort, implement a plan to increase the financial burden on our taxpayers and our people.
Mrs. Smith asked all Board members to make every effort to attend all
Board meetings as we go through this process.
Mrs. Smith presented the Consent Agenda for consideration. Mr. Davis asked that Item B, Bills, be pulled. It was moved by Mr. Dirks, seconded by Mr. Hanson that the Consent Agenda (Personnel Report, Payroll, Student Assistance Program Agreement with Chestnut Health Systems Inc.) be approved. Upon a roll call vote, all Members present, voted “Aye”. Motion carried. (See with Original Minutes, Attachment 9-08-03/1)
It was moved
by Mr. Dirks, seconded by Mr. Hanson that the Board approve the Deficit
Reduction Plan Timeline. Upon a roll
call vote, all Members present, voted “Aye”.
Motion carried. (See with Original Minutes, Attachment 10-08-03/2)
It was moved by Ms. Roth, seconded by Mr.
Dirks that the Board approve the Deficit Reduction Plan Guiding Principles.
Upon a roll call vote, all Members present, voted “Aye”. Motion carried. (See with Original
Minutes,
Attachment
Mr. Davis
stated that on page 2 of the Bills, the second line down, $3,454.93 goes to
W.D.Boyce Council and asked Dr. Kilpatrick if that had to do with Outdoor
Education? Dr. Kilpatrick stated that
that was his understanding but he would confirm that and let the Board know
before the next Board meeting.
It was moved
by Mr. Davis, seconded by Mr. Herrera that the Board approve the Bills. Upon a
roll call vote, all Members present, voted “Aye”. Motion carried. (See with Original Minutes,
Attachment 10-08-03/4)
It was moved by Mr. Davis, seconded by Mr. Herrera that the Board go into Closed Session to consider collective negotiating matters between the District and the Bloomington Education Association (BEA) and the Bloomington Education Support Personnel (BESP), or deliberations concerning salary schedules for one or more classes of employees; and to consider an action against, affecting or on behalf of the District that has been filed and is pending before a court or administrative tribunal, or when the District finds that an action is probable or imminent, in which case the basis for the finding shall be recorded and entered into the minutes of the closed meeting.. Upon a roll call vote, all Members present voted “Aye”. Motion carried.
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It was moved by Mr. Hanson, seconded by Mr. Davis that the Board return to the Regular Meeting. Upon a roll call vote all members present voted “Aye”. Motion carried.
There being no further business to come before the Board, Mrs.
Smith adjourned the meeting.
APPROVED:
_________________________________
President
ATTEST:
_______________________________
Secretary