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. Janet Smith, Mrs. Millicent Roth,
and Mrs. Cheryl Jackson, Board President.
Mr. Uvaldo Herrera and Mr. Keith Davis were 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. Michelle Steinbacher, The Pantagraph.
Mrs. Jackson
presented the Minutes for approval. It was moved by Mr. Dirks, seconded by Mr. Hanson
that the Minutes of the Regular Meeting held on
Mrs. Cindy Helmers, Bloomington High School (BHS)
Principal
introduced Dr. Steve Poznic,
Bloomington Area Vocational Center (BAVC) Director, Mr. Michael Ripsch and Ms. Cathy
Ponder of the BAVC. They introduced BHS/BAVC student, Reena Tandon. Reena recently competed
in the SkillsUSA State Leadership competition and placed 2nd in the Job
Interview category. SkillsUSA is a national organization serving vocational
education students. The 1st place winner cannot attend, so Reena will be
representing the State of
BHS science teacher and Science Olympiad sponsor, Mrs.
Mary Sutter,
announced that the team recently finished 5th in the State. Jennifer and Janis
Nix placed 1st in Experimental Design. Chris Kelly and Sawyer Campbell placed
2nd in the Bottle Rocket design. Jennifer Nix and Erin Jones placed 2nd in
Qualitative Analysis. Jennifer Nix and Lindsey Titus placed 3rd in Science of
Fitness. Chris Kelley and Sawyer Campbell placed 3rd in Storm the Castle. Team
members also included: Drew Alfrey, Dustin Cain, Troy Earley, Anthony
Filippini, Dustin Hill, Amruta Mate, Tabrez Mohammed,
BHS
science teacher and Scholastic Bowl sponsor, Ms. Deb Voorhees introduced members of the Junior
Varsity (JV) and Varsity team. The JV team won Intercity and the Varsity team
placed 2nd at Intercity, 1st at Regionals, and 2nd at Sectionals. JV team
members included: Vikram Karandikar, Michael Lieder, Alexandr Paci, Jack Steinman,
Peter Waldorf and Kristina Warren. Varsity members included: Tyler Apple, Shane
Bohbrink, Ryan Clark, Sarah DeMeritt, Elizabeth Gros, Anthony Gardner, Michael
Lieder, Vikram Karandikar, Bhavita Mandava, Josh O'Driscoll, Alexandr Paci,
Jack Steinman, Reena Tandon, Peter Waldorf, Kristina Warren, Alex Whitworth and
Katherine Wiley. Mrs. Jackson congratulated the teams and Ms. Voorhees and
asked them and any parents in attendance, to come forward and receive personal
congratulations from the Board.
Dr.
Sue Silvey, BJHS Principal, introduced teacher Ms. Rhoby Hamblin, coach of the
8th grade girls' Volleyball team. The 14-member team finished the season with a
Board Meeting
Page 2
24-2 record and placed 3rd
at the State Tournament. The team also won the Intercity and Lexington
Tournaments. Team members present were: Hannah Maurer, Ashley Beyer, Paige
Steffen and Katie Hynes. Mrs. Jackson congratulated the team and Ms. Hamblin
and asked them and any parents in attendance, to come forward and receive
personal congratulations from the Board.
Dr.
Silvey introduced Coach Bryan Wolfe and members of the BJHS Wrestling squad.
The team finished as the State Runner Up and earned their 3rd State trophy in a
row. The team went 38-0 over the course of the regular season and currently
have gone undefeated four straight years. This year's finishers include: Jacob
Lehr 1st place at 126lb., Kenny Buchanan 2nd place at 126lb., Jacob Erdman 2nd
at 65lb., Scott Miller 4th at 80lb., Marcus Johnson 4th at 112lb., and Tom Cole
6th at 70lb. Mrs. Jackson congratulated the team and Coach Wolfe and asked them
and any parents in attendance, to come forward and receive personal
congratulations from the Board.
Dr.
Silvey introduced Ms. JoLynn Plato and Ms. Kim Hall, math teachers at BJHS. Ms. Plato and Ms. Hall
recently received a $10,000 Math SMART (Maximizing Achievement Through Home and
School Mergings by Applying Research and Technology) grant from
Mrs.
Jackson announced that Dr. Nielsen received the Van Miller Distinguished Practitioner-Scholar Award from the Illinois
Association of School Administrators (IASA) and the
Mr.
Hanson reported
he recently attended the McLean County Regional Planning Commission meeting
where the 2004-2005 budget was presented.
Mr. Dirks reported he and Mr. Herrera met with members of the
Citizens' Advisory Council's (CAC) leadership team regarding the group's
mission. The final meeting will be on May 27.
Mrs. Jackson reported that she, Mrs. Roth, Mrs. Smith, and Dr. Nielsen
attended the Cornbelt Conference Planning Meeting dinner last week, where we volunteered
to host the Spring Governance dinner next year at BHS on March 8. Mrs. Jackson
reported that she will be attending the Board of Directors’ Meeting for the
Illinois Association of School Boards this weekend in
Mrs. Roth attended
Dr. Nielsen presented a “First Reading” of the following Proposed Board
Policies.
The proposed policies include:
5.010 Equal Employment Opportunity and Minority Recruitment
5.280 Educational Support Personnel
Board Meeting
Page 3
6.160 Bilingual Education
7.015 Student and Family Privacy Rights
7.100 Health Examination, Immunization, and Exclusion of Students - Mrs.
Jackson stated that there is a typo in the second full paragraph, next to the
last line, the word assistance should be assistant.
Dr. Nielsen stated these
proposed policies will be posted on our website and they will be brought back
at the next Board Meeting for a “Second Reading”.
Dr. Kilpatrick presented the Amended Budget for 2003-2004. Dr. Kilpatrick explained that since we
have sold $20,000,000 in School Safety and Fire Prevention Bonds, and have
started contracting for work to be done this fiscal year, we need to
incorporate those revenues and expenditures within the Amended Budget. Also, we
have received additional grant funds for supplies, equipment, and training
primarily for technology that need to be incorporated within the budget.
The Amended Budget reflects a
potential deficit of $1,381,513 in the Education Fund, which is close to our
original budgeted operating deficit last fall. Dr. Kilpatrick estimates that
the final numbers will be even closer to our original budget after we allow for
the tax amnesty funds. However, there are a number of uncertainties that remain
for this year.
Dr. Nielsen presented a 2nd reading of the following Proposed Board
Policies.
The proposed policies include:
2.100 Board Member Conflict of Interest
2.105 Ethics and Gift Ban – Dr. Nielsen stated that this is a statutory
requirement that all Boards and governmental bodies adopt this policy however
the enforcement of it becomes an issue.
There is no ability on the part of a school board to sanction its own
members. Dr. Nielsen stated his interpretation
of the policy is that it is trying to prevent any Board member from using
school employees on school time to do campaigning, solicitation of funding, or anything
of a political nature. If this would
happen there would have to be an investigation.
Several Board Members had issues with the policy and it will be put on hold
until it is studied further and we are given direction by District attorneys.
5.120 Ethics
5.130 Limitations on Accepting Gift
6.015 School Accountability
6.145 Migrant Students
6.170 Compensatory and Title I
6.340 Student Testing and Assessment Program
7.050 School Admission
7.275 Orders to Forgo Life-Sustaining Treatment – Dr. Nielsen stated we will
have a three year old in our District next fall who will have a Do Not
Resuscitate Order (DNR) on her. Mrs.
Rebecca Francois, Special Education Director, reported that she attended a
session at a recent conference entitled “Assisting the Medically Fragile
Student Under the IDEA” where a legal framework of the responsibilities of
schools in relation to DNR orders was presented. From a legal standpoint it appears that
parents, in consultation with their physician, have a right to make a decisions
to refuse medical treatment on behalf of their child and the school must honor
that request. Mrs. Francois stated the
following procedure to handle this situation was recommended:
· Review the order received by the school. Assure that it is very specific in what is
prohibited i.e. cardiopulmonary resuscitation, intubation, defibrillation,
cardiac medication. Delineate which
prohibited actions a
Board Meeting
Page 4
school
nurse can perform. These are the
actions that will need to be addressed in the school response plan.
· Convene a Health Care Team
– Parent, Physician (who wrote the order), Teacher, Nurse, and Administrator.
If the physician is unable to attend the meeting, have the physician review and
sign off on the procedures developed.
· Write a very specific health plan/protocol as to
what would happen in the case of an event that would fall under the order. Define as clearly as possible what
constitutes a health crisis that would be covered by the DNR.
· Provide training for staff
to address the question – “How do we know this is an event covered under the
DNR order?”
Mrs. Francois
stated that what is required is that staff engage in a thoughtful process in
developing and administering the policy.
If staff is not comfortable that a medical crisis event is covered by
the DNR, then CPR can be administered. If
they were to proceed with life preservation measures for all medical crises
they would not be considered to be acting in good faith.
Mrs. Francois recommended that any health
plan developed in response to a DNR order be reviewed by the District attorney
prior to implementation.
Mrs. Jackson presented the Consent Agenda
for consideration. Mrs. Roth asked that
the Bills be pulled and moved to Board Action D. It was moved by Mrs. Smith, seconded by Mr.
Hanson that the Consent Agenda (Personnel Report, Payroll, District Maintenance
Vehicle Bid Recommendation, Bent School HVAC Bid Recommendation, Oakland School
HVAC Bid Recommendation, Washington School HVAC Bid Recommendation, Custodial
& Maintenance Supplies Bid Results Recommendation and O & M and Life
Safety Building Permits) be approved. Upon a roll call vote, all Members
present, voted “Aye”. Motion carried. (See
with Original Minutes, Attachment 05-12-04/1)
Dr. Nielsen announced that 200 students are
currently enrolled in the district's Summer School program and thanked Mrs. Vickie
Slagell, Stevenson School Principal, and everyone involved with the program for
their efforts.
Dr. Nielsen announced the
BAVC Culinary Arts Cafe will be tomorrow from
It was moved by Mr. Dirks, seconded by Mrs.
Roth that the Board approve the Amended Budget 2003-04 – Public Display and
Notice of Hearing. Upon a roll call
vote, all Members present voted “Aye”.
Motion carried. (See with Original Minutes, Attachment 05-12-04/2)
It was moved by Mrs. Roth,
seconded by Mrs. Smith that the Board approve the Resolution of Support of the
Coalition for School Funding Program.
Upon a roll call vote, all Members present voted “Aye”. Motion carried. (See with Original
Minutes, Attachment 05-12-04/3)
It was moved by Mr. Hanson,
seconded by Mrs. Smith that the Board approve the SHOR0304-2. Upon a roll call vote, all Members present
voted “Aye”. Motion carried. (See
with Original Minutes, Attachment 05-12-04/4)
Mrs. Roth asked on page 7 of
the larger packet of bills, what is the Child Support payment? Dr. Kilpatrick
stated that it was a withholding from a paycheck of an employee. Mrs. Roth asked on page 11 what is the bus
token payment? Mrs.
Board Meeting
Page 5
Francois stated that the payment is through a
Homeless Grant. If we require those families to go somewhere and get records of
their immunizations we provide those tokens for their transportation. If those families move outside of the
District and it’s difficult to arrange a
school bus to pick them up, then on occasion the parents will ride on the city
bus to school with the child because we need to maintain them in their school
program.
It was moved by Mrs. Roth,
seconded by Mrs. Smith that the Board approve the Bills. Upon a roll call vote, all Members present
voted “Aye”. Motion carried. (See
with Original Minutes, Attachment 05-12-04/5)
Mr. Jonathan
Williams, a parent of a BJHS student, questioned the district's
disciplinary policy as it relates to sexual harassment.
It was moved by Mrs. Smith, seconded by Mr. Dirks 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. Upon a roll call
vote, all Members present voted “Aye”. Motion
carried.
It was moved by Mr. Dirks, seconded by Mrs. Roth 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. Jackson
adjourned the meeting.
APPROVED:
ATTEST:
_________________________________
President
_____________________________
Secretary