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 Dirks, Mr. John Hanson, Mrs. Cheryl Jackson, Mr.
Uvaldo Herrera, Mr. Keith Davis, Mrs. Millicent Roth and Mrs. Janet Smith,
Board President.
Present
from the administrative staff were 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. Rebecca Loda from The Pantagraph,
Ms. Melissa Dunton, WEEK TV and Mr. Kevin Hankis, WJBC Radio Station.
Mrs.
Smith presented the Minutes for approval. It was moved by Mr. Davis, seconded
by Mr. Dirks that the Minutes of the Special Meeting held on February 5, 2004,
the Minutes of the Closed Meeting held on February 5, 2004, the Minutes of the
Special Meeting held on February 9, 2004, the Minutes of the Closed Meeting
held on February 9, 2004, the Minutes of the Regular Meeting held on February
11, 2004, and the Minutes of the Closed Meeting held on February 11, 2004 be
approved. Upon a roll call vote, all Members
present voted “Aye”. Motion carried.
Mrs. Jackson reported that she recently
met with the Insurance Committee and the group authorized the hiring of an actuary
to review the plan expenses and to make recommendations for next year's rates.
The group expressed concern over Blue Cross/Blue Shield (BC/BS) glitches that
have occurred with the switch to the BC/BS plan . Mrs.
Jackson stated that the committee is scheduled to meet again on April 15.
Mrs. Jackson reported that she will
attend the Illinois Association of School Boards (IASB) Leadership Conference
in
Mrs. Jackson reminded Board members
about the upcoming Corn Belt Division Semi-Annual Conference and Dinner Meeting
on March 9th at
Mr. Davis
thanked Mrs. Jackson for attending the Insurance Committee meeting. He was unable to attend. Mr. Davis stated that he and Mr. Dirks will meet with Dr. Nielsen
and the Board Policies Committee in April regarding recommended policy changes.
Mr. Davis also reminded Board members to
submit their Superintendent evaluations.
Mrs. Roth announced that the Minority Teacher Recruitment Program
will meet on March 17 to review an application.
Mr. Lue Walters, community member and Dr. JoAnn Walters’ husband, and Mr. Mike Williams,
President of the B/N Chapter of the NAACP spoke regarding the reassignment of
Dr. JoAnn Walters, Director of Title I,
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Mr. Walters
and Mr. Williams insisted the Board consider the following options:
1) Offer early retirement to Mrs. Tucker, Asst. Supt. of Curriculum and
Instruction and place Dr. Walters in the position
2) Reassign Mr. Reilly to his former position of Principal at Bloomington High School
(BHS) and place Dr. Walters in the position.
3) Enforce a pay cut for all 27 administrators
4) Reduce all 12 month administrators and directors to 11 or 11.5 month
5) Assign Dr. Walters to a principalship
Ms. Collyssa Jones, age 7, expressed support for Dr. Walters.
Ms. Willie Holton Halbert, community member,
stated that placing Dr. Walters into a classroom would restrict the district's
resources.
Mr. Herrera announced that he
attended a National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials
conference last weekend in
Mr. Hanson attended the recent Illinois State Scholars Banquet at BHS
and thanked Dr. Nielsen and his staff for their organization of the event.
Several other Board members also attended and enjoyed the event.
Mrs. Smith presented the Consent Agenda
for consideration. It was moved by Mr. Davis,
seconded by Mrs. Jackson that the Consent Agenda (Personnel Report, Bills,
Treasurer’s Report, Financial Summary and the 2004-05 Final List of Planned
Construction Projects) be approved. Upon a roll call vote, all Members present,
voted “Aye”. Motion carried. (See
with Original Minutes, Attachment 02-25-04/1)
It was moved by Mr. Davis, seconded by Mr. Dirks that the Board approve the Five Year Maintenance Plan. Upon a roll call vote, all Members present,
voted “Aye”. Motion carried. (See
with Original Minutes, Attachment 02-25-04/2)
It was moved by Mr. Davis, seconded by
Mrs. Jackson that the Board approve the the Deficit
Reduction Plan.
Mr. Dirks stated that there are no easy
options. We have been studying this plan
for two years and in my view the measuring stick has to be the most direct
impact on kids and learning. If we are
cutting teaching positions, we have to cut administrators. I see the realistic options here as reassigning
an administrative position or cutting two to four teachers out of the
classroom. That would be the worst thing
we can do for kids.
Mrs. Jackson thanked everyone who has
taken the time to come here tonight and those who have personally contacted her
to 1. express their recognition of the difficulty of
making budget cuts of this magnitude, 2. their
recognition of the necessity of these budget cuts and 3. their
support for this administration and the plan it has proposed.
Mr. Herrera stated that as he looks back
to what he’s been through and where he is today, it’s always been a teacher
that has influenced me, not an administrator.
Mr. Herrera echoed Mr. Dirks comments and
stated that he hasn’t seen anyone step up
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and mourn the loss of the teachers that we have lost and are
losing. Those are the ones that are
impacting our children. He stated that
he can’t vote to eliminate teachers and talk about not eliminating a
reassignment at the District office.
Mrs. Roth stated that after weeks of
research, she was voting "Nay". Mrs. Roth stated that the
reading program had been important enough that it was
placed under a Reading Specialist but now because of the reduction of
one grant and the non-funding of another we are eliminating this department and
this makes a bad statement. Mrs. Roth stated this comes at a time
when our federal government has told us that we can’t leave any child
behind. Mrs. Roth stated that she knows that we are stewards
and we are asked to make responsible financial decisions on
behalf of the taxpayers, but I don’t have that business background, I have
a compassionate background. We have to
have the community’s trust and I think that the reassignment of Dr. Walters and
cutting teachers is a loss.
Upon a roll call vote, Mr. Hanson, Mr.
Dirks, Mrs. Jackson, Mr. Herrera, Mr. Davis and Mrs. Smith, voted “Aye”. Mrs. Roth voted “Nay”. Motion carried. (See with Original
Minutes, Attachment 02-25-04/3)
At this time, members of the audience
sang, "We Shall Overcome."
It was moved by Mr. Hanson, seconded by Mr.
Davis that the Board approve the 2004-05 School
Calendar. Mrs. Jackson stated that there
was still ongoing discussion about this calendar as late as yesterday
afternoon. Upon a roll call vote, all
Members present, voted “Aye”. Motion
carried. (See with Original Minutes, Attachment 02-25-04/4)
Several community members
spoke in opposition of eliminating the position of Director of Title I,
It was moved by Mr. Hanson, seconded by Mrs. Jackson that the
Board go into Closed Session to consider the appointment, employment,
compensation, discipline, performance, or dismissal of specific employees of
District 87, including hearing testimony on a complaint lodged against an
employee to determine its validity; and to consider a student disciplinary case. Upon a roll call vote, all Members present
voted “Aye”. Motion carried.
At this time, members of the
audience sang, "We Shall Overcome."
It was moved by Mr. Davis,
seconded by Mr. Dirks 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:
ATTEST:
_________________________________
President
Secretary