MINUTES -
REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION
October 11, 2006 6:30 P.M. Educational
The Board of Education of
the
Mrs. Janet Smith, Board President, established
a quorum and the following Members were present: Mr. Joseph Butcher, Mrs.
Cheryl Jackson, Mr. John Dirks, Mr. Keith Davis and Mrs. Millicent Roth.
Present from the administrative staff
were Mr. David Wood, Mr. Barry Reilly, and Mrs. Teresa Hill.
Ms. Linda
Aschenbrener, Public Relations Facilitator, was also in attendance.
Present
from the news media was Ms. Sharon Wolfe, The Pantagraph, Mr. Eric Stock, WJBC
Radio and Ms. Nora Cushing, TV10.
It
was moved by Mrs. Smith, seconded by Mrs. Jackson, that Ms. Aschenbrener be
appointed Secretary Pro Tem. Upon a roll
call vote, all Members present voted “Aye”.
Motion carried.
Mrs.
Smith asked to move Board Action A: Resolution To Fill Vacancy on Board of Education
to this point in the meeting.
It was moved by Mrs. Smith, seconded by
Mr. Dirks, that Mr. Michael Harrison, Sr., be appointed to fill the vacancy
created by Mr. Uvaldo Herrera’s resignation to be effective 6:30 p.m.,
Wednesday, October 11, 2006 until the next regular school board election at
which time there will be a 4-year term that must be filled. Upon a roll call vote, all Members present
voted “Aye”. Motion carried. See with
Original Minutes,
Attachment 10-11-06/1)
Mrs.
Smith asked Mr. Harrison to come forward and asked him to recite the Oath of
Office as required by the State, which became effective July 1, 2006. Mr. Harrison stated the following:
“I, Michael Harrison, do solemnly affirm that I will faithfully
discharge the duties of the office of Member of the Board of Education of the
Bloomington Public Schools, District #87, in accordance with the Constitution
of the
I further affirm that I shall respect taxpayer interests by
serving as a faithful protector of the school district's assets;
I shall encourage and respect the free expression of opinion by my
fellow Board Members and others who seek a hearing before the Board, while
respecting the privacy of students and employees;
I shall recognize that a Board Member has no legal authority as an
individual and that decisions can be made only by a majority vote at a public Board
Meeting; and I shall abide by majority decisions of the Board, while retaining
the right to seek changes in such decisions through ethical and constructive
channels.”
Mr. Harrison joined the other Board
Members at the Board table.
Board Meeting
October 11, 2006
Page 2
Mrs. Smith welcomed Mr. Harrison to the Board.
Mrs. Smith presented the Minutes for
Approval. It was moved by Mr. Davis,
seconded by Mr. Butcher, that the Minutes of the Regular Meeting of the
Board of Education on September 27, 2006, the Minutes of the Closed Meeting of
the Board of Education on September 27, 2006, the Minutes of the Special
Meeting of the Board of Education on October 3, 2006, the Minutes of the Closed
Meeting of the Board of Education on October 3, 2006, the Minutes of the
Special Meeting of the Board of Education on October 4, 2006 and the Minutes of
the Closed Meeting of the Board of Education on October 4, 2006 be approved. Upon
a roll call vote, Mrs. Jackson, Mrs. Roth, Mr. Davis, Mr. Dirks, Mr. Butcher
and Mrs. Smith voted “Aye”. Mr. Harrison stated “Present”. Motion carried.
Mr.
Reilly stated that Members of ShareFest are in attendance tonight. The group
helped District 87 in the following ways:
Mrs.
Smith thanked the group for their hard work and volunteering their time and
efforts to District 87. She asked them
to come forward and receive personal appreciation from the Board Members.
Mr. Butcher stated he planned on attending the upcoming Area Vocational Center Board Meeting.
Mrs.
Jackson reported that she attended the fall meeting of the insurance committee
a couple of weeks ago and they are going to look into adding vision and dental
insurance to the plan which will be voluntary for the employees.
Mrs.
Smith stated she attended the McLean County Regional Planning Committee Meeting
the first Wednesday of October. Mr.
Butcher attended also. There was a presentation
of what the role of a regional planning commissioner is. She stated that we are
working towards Mr. Butcher being the District’s representative, beginning in
January.
Mrs.
Roth stated she attended the Evergreen Cemetery Walk and one of the characters
highlighted on the walk this year was Ms. Eva Jones who was the first African
American District 87 Board Member. She
also discussed making tough financial decisions during that time. It was right
after the one and only strike in D87 when she was elected
Mrs.
Smith stated she attended a Partners in Planning Seminar last Thursday, and
they talked about poverty and how it impacts students in education. It was very interesting. Mrs. Smith stated that she has materials from
the seminar to share with those who are interested.
Ms.
Stephanie Ramsey, Gorenz & Associates, reported on the District 87 Audit
for 2005-06. In summary:
October 11, 2006
Page 4
Other
highlights:
Total
cash received: $48,685.920, up $2,229,183 over 2005
Total
cash expenditures: $45,471,937, up $1,457,645 over 2005
Excess
cash revenue received: $3,213,983, up $771,538 over 2005
Sources
of Operating Revenues:
Real Estate Taxes – 62%
Federal
& Flow Through – 9%
General
State Aid – 7%
Other
Local Sources – 15%
Other
State Sources – 7%
Total Operating Funds: $45,471,937
Ms.
Ramsey stated the audit went very well.
District 87 has a good administration and staff. She stated there is very good internal
control. She also congratulated the
Board for exhibiting concerns that make things go forward.
Ms.
Ramsey said the opinion on the Audit Report is an unqualified opinion under the
regulatory basis of accounting. It is
adverse under the general accepted accounting principal because we do not have
the GASB 34 reporting in it. Under the
regulatory basis, from the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE), the
District has an unqualified report which is the best report the District can
have.
Mrs.
Smith thanked Ms. Ramsey for her report and stated the Board appreciates the
hard work that Mr. Wood and Mrs. Beverly Keller, Director of Accounting, do.
Mrs.
Cindy Helmers, Bloomington High School (BHS) Principal, presented the details
of what having the BHS graduation at the U.S. Cellular Coliseum involved. The biggest positive is the ability to have
room to allow all students to have all of their friends and family attend this
event. She stated that the senior class
officers and the sponsor were in favor of having the event at the
Coliseum. Many parents have also lent
their support to the idea. Mrs. Helmers
stated that they have worked with representatives from the Coliseum to plan how
the event would be handled and they have been very accommodating to make this
event very special for the graduating seniors.
Mrs.
Helmers stated that graduation would be Sunday, June 3, 2007 at 3:00 p.m.
Mr.
Manahan stated that the District is getting ready to go out for bids to
re-grade and seed the area to the south of the tennis courts. This also includes new sidewalks, new
fencing, and an irrigation system as alternate bids. Mr. Manahan stated that the bid
recommendations for this work will be brought back at the October 25, 2006
Board Meeting for Board consideration. Once
complete, this area will be usable space for a variety of activities to include
band, physical education, and football practice.
Mr. Reilly stated
that on the agenda there are several Board of Education Policies listed for
First Reading: 4.060, Purchases and Contracts; 4.170, Safety Program;
5.090, Abused and Neglected Child Reporting; 5.100,
Staff Development Program; 5.186, Temporary Illness or Temporary
Board Meeting
October 11, 2006
Page 5
Incapacity. They have been reviewed by the BEA and
the Board Policy Committee. He asked the
Board for any changes/suggestions to those and stated that the policies will be
brought back at the October 25, 2006 Board Meeting for second reading and then
be brought back at the November 8 Board Meeting for Board consideration.
Mr. Reilly stated that there are several Board Policies on
the agenda listed for second reading: 2.030, School Board
Elections; 2.040, School Board Membership; 2.200, Regular Meetings; 2.202,
Closed Meetings; 2.210, Organizational School Board Meetings; 2.224, Minutes:
Regular, Special, Adjourned, Emergency, Closed; 4.010, Fiscal and Business
Management; 4.150, Facility Management and
Building Programs. He stated that these will
be brought back at the October 25, 2006 Board Meeting for Board
consideration.
Mrs.
Jackson stated that there was one minor typo on Board Policy 5.090. In the second paragraph, the third word needs
to be “employees”.
Mr.
Davis asked that a copy of the Board Policies which will be under Board Action
at the next Board Meeting be included in the Board Packet.
Mr.
Davis stated that, for everyone’s consideration, in Board Policy 4.060, Fiscal
Management, Purchases and Contracts, it says that we have to follow the law and
we have to spend our money for a recognized purpose of the District, which he
thinks is superfluous.
Mrs. Smith presented
the Consent Agenda for Approval. It was
moved by Mrs. Jackson, seconded by Mrs. Roth, that the Consent Agenda (Human
Resources Report, Bills, Payroll) be approved.
Upon a roll call vote, Mrs. Jackson, Mrs. Roth, Mr. Davis, Mr. Dirks,
Mr. Butcher and Mrs. Smith voted “Aye”. Mr. Harrison stated “Present”. Motion carried. (See with Original
Minutes, Attachment 10-11-06/2)
It
was stated by Mr. Reilly that Dr. Nielsen is in
It was moved by Mrs. Roth, seconded by Mrs.
Jackson, that the Prairie City Soccer League/City of Bloomington/District 87
Soccer Proposal be approved. Upon a roll call vote, Mrs. Jackson, Mrs. Roth, Mr.
Davis, Mr. Dirks, Mr. Butcher and Mrs. Smith voted “Aye”. Mr. Harrison stated
“Present”. Motion carried. (See with
Original Minutes, Attachment 10-11-06/3)
It was moved by Mr. Davis, seconded by Mrs.
Jackson that the SHOR 0607-1, be approved. Upon a roll call vote, Mrs. Jackson,
Mrs. Roth, Mr. Davis, Mr. Dirks, Mr. Butcher and Mrs. Smith voted “Aye”. Mr.
Harrison stated “Present”. Motion
carried. (See with Original Minutes, Attachment 10-11-06/4)
It was moved by Mr. Davis, seconded by Mr.
Butcher that the SHOR 0607-2, be approved. Upon a roll call vote, Mrs. Jackson,
Mrs. Roth, Mr. Davis, Mr. Dirks, Mr. Butcher and Mrs. Smith voted “Aye”. Mr.
Harrison stated “Present”. Motion
carried. (See with Original Minutes, Attachment 10-11-06/5)
A community member spoke about an incident that happened on a bus
last school year and asked the Board Members and the District to address
bullying and harassment in the District.
Board Meeting
October 11, 2006
Page 6
Three District 87 parents addressed two Suspension Hearing Officer
Reports (SHOR) and believed the punishments were too harsh and the appeal
process was not meaningful.
There being no
further business to come before the Board, Mrs. Smith adjourned the meeting.
APPPROVED: ATTEST:
______________________ ___________________________
President Secretary Pro Tem