Minutes
COMBINED MEETING OF THE DISTRICT 87 AND UNIT 5 BOARDS OF EDUCATION
Special Session
May 31, 2006
The Boards of Education of Community Unit School District No. 5 and Bloomington
District No. 87 met in a special joint session on May 31, 2006, at
approximately 7:00 p.m. at the McLean County Farm Bureau Building, 402 N.
Hershey, Bloomington, Illinois.
1.0 Roll Call
Unit 5 Board Members present: Gail Ann Briggs, Scott Lay, Meta Mickens-Baker,
John Puzauskas, and Jay Reece. Members absent: Martin O’Connor and Steve
Whittington
District 87 Board Members present: Joe Butcher, Keith Davis, John Dirks, Uvaldo
Herrera, Millicent Roth, and Janet Smith. Members absent: Cheryl Jackson
Also present: Senator Bill Brady, Representative Dan Brady, Representative
Keith Sommer, Unit 5
Superintendent Dr.
Superintendent of Operations/Human Resources John Pye, District 87 Assistant
Superintendent of Human
Resources Barry Reilly, Unit 5 Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and
Instruction Jim Braksick,
District 87 Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum (as of July 1, 2006) Teresa
Hill, Unit 5 Chief Financial
Officer/Treasurer Tod Altenburg, District 87 Chief Financial and Legal Officer
David Wood, Donna Evans
(Clerk of the Unit 5 Board as of July 1,2006), Colleen Attebury, Vickie Mahrt,
Meghan Leiseberg,
Christina Rogers, Donna Lutkehaus, Parker Lawlis, Charles Bartlett, Andrea
Wilson, Michelle Steinbacher
from The Pantagraph, and others.
2.0 Pledge of Allegiance
The Pledge of Allegiance was recited.
3.0 Statement of Purpose
Lay welcomed everyone to the first Legislative Forum held jointly by Unit 5 and
District 87. Superintendents for both districts had previously discussed and
organized the forum for the purpose of sharing dialog relative to education and
current state legislative issues and how they impact the districts on a daily
basis. Lay indicated that all four state legislators representing Unit 5 and
District 87 were invited and expressed appreciation to Senator Brady,
Representative Brady, and Representative Sommer for attending. Herrera also
expressed appreciation to the legislators, administration, and board members
for both districts.
4.0 Legislator Presentations
Senator Brady (44th District) expressed his appreciation for the invitation to
speak to the joint forum. Topics Brady commented on included but were not
limited to:
* Local government control in relation to education
• Class size reductions and Pre-K programs
• Disadvantages and advantages to funding education with increased taxes
• Increasing revenue through additional job opportunities
• Reduction of property taxes and its affect on education
• School construction grant resources
• Illinois pension debt and the need to refinance the pension debt
Defined benefit program vs. defined contribution pension program
Representative Brady (88th District) introduced Colleen Attebury, Deputy
Director of Education for the House Republican staff. Brady shared his comments
on the following additional topics regarding legislation relative to education:
* Kindergarten through 3Td grade class size reduction pilot program
• Pre-School For All program
* School principals’ mentoring program
* School voucher bill
• Six percent salary increase for the Teachers Retirement System
Representative
Sommer (I Q6tb District) thanked the Boards of Education for the opportunity to
speak at the Legislative Forum. Sommer presented observations on topics
including but not limited to the following:
• Lobby groups and the value of their representation of various educational
groups such as administration, teachers, support staff, etc.
• Importance of school visitations by legislators to provide the best
representation
• Professional cooperation between District 87 and Unit 5
Importance of establishing involvement between individual taxpayers and the
school district
5.0 Board of Education
Dr.
• Mission Statement
• Strategic Plan
• Curriculum initiatives
• Population and enrollment projections
a Potential school sites
a Budget reports, summaries, and financial projections
Dr. Robert Nielsen summarized District 87’s Financial Review report.
(Attachment 4 2) Nielsen also highlighted topics on:
a District 87 student achievement and assessments
• Bilingual program
a Curriculum programs
• Graduation percentages from Bloomington High School
a Additions to Bloomington Jr. High School and improvements to other existing
buildings
a Full day kindergarten
• Enrollment stability
• Achievement Gap Task Force
a Technology available to schools
6.0 Questions — Discussion
Board members, administrators, and legislators entered into a question and
discussion period for approximately one hour. Topics discussed, questions
raised and observations included but were not limited to the following:
• Will school construction grants and funding be available in the future as
they have been in the past? Concerns were expressed about where funding for
these grants would come from. Currently there are no capital funds to support
school construction. Legislators stated that there would be state legislative
support for this program if funding guidelines were established and managed
properly.
• How would legislation have to be structured to promote the acceptance of a
restructured taxing system? Discussion followed on how funds should be used,
the property tax system and local control of funds available to school
districts.
• Addressed were class size reduction proposals and how these proposals would
result in additional costs to hire more teachers and provide new classrooms.
Board members stated that school districts need to retain the ability to make
decisions in the best interest of students and community in regard to how funds
are spent. Concerns from the legislators were expressed that some items such as
the class size proposals would become mandated categoricals and funds for these
pilot programs would not be available.
• Board members expressed concern that the State would attempt to reduce debt
by adding more financial responsibility to the school districts. Legislators
indicated to the Boards that holding these forums provide an opportunity for
problems and concerns to be addressed to their state legislative
representatives. Legislators are listening and understand the school districts’
concerns.
• Questions and concerns were expressed regarding the proposal to sell the
• Addressing proposals in the veto session was discussed. Legislators expressed
concern that this offered more media focus for political reasons rather than
focusing on working together in the best interest of education.
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•
Concerns were discussed regarding allocation of funds among school districts.
Questions were raised on how school districts throughout the state will use
these funds. It was also noted that funding for higher education, especially
downstate, has dropped considerably.
7.0 Public Comments
None.
8.0 Announcements
Chapman and Nielsen expressed appreciation to Senator Brady, Representative
Brady and Representative Sommer for their participation in the Legislative
Forum. Chapman noted the struggles that school districts face trying to provide
quality education services with the resources available. Chapman stated that he
would like to see the state take a bigger role in contributing so that there is
less of a burden on the districts’ taxpayers. Nielsen added that it is very
important that the community understand that District 87 and Unit 5 are working
together for the common goal of providing the best possible education for its
students. It was recommended that some time in the future, the legislative
forum reconvene.
9.0 Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 9:00 p.m.
Approved:
_______________________________
President
ATTEST:
__________________________________
Secretary
Board
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