MINUTES - REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION

 

October 26, 2005            6:30 P.M.       Educational Services Center

 

The Board of Education of the Bloomington Public Schools, School District 87, McLean County, Illinois, met in Regular Session.

 

Ms. Marianne Clancy, Board Secretary, established a quorum and the following Members were present: Mrs. Janet Smith, Mrs. Cheryl Jackson, Mr. John Hanson, Mrs. Millicent Roth, Mr. Uvaldo Herrera, Mr. Keith Davis and Mr. John Dirks, Board President.

 

Present from the administrative staff were Mrs. Sally Tucker, Mr. David Wood, Mr. Barry Reilly and Dr. Robert Nielsen.

 

      Ms. Linda Aschenbrener, Public Relations Facilitator, was also in attendance.

 

      Mr. Dirks presented the Minutes for approval.  It was moved by Mrs. Jackson, seconded by Mrs. Smith, that the Minutes of the Regular Meeting of the Board of Education held on October 12, 2005 and the Minutes of the Closed Meeting of the Board of Education held on October 12, 2005 be approved.   Upon a roll call vote Mr. Dirks, Mrs. Smith, Mr. Hanson, Mrs. Roth, Mr. Davis and Mrs. Jackson voted “Aye”.  Mr. Herrera abstained from voting as he was not in attendance at those meetings.  Motion carried.

 

Dr. Sue Silvey, Bloomington Junior High School (BJHS) Principal, introduced BJHS Cross Country Track Coach, Ms. Melissa Oke. Ms. Oke introduced the team members who participated in the State meet this year. They were James Clay, 7th grade, Lucas Dinkins, 7th grade, Leah Mullenix, 7th grade, and Victoria Martinez, 8th grade (not present for the recognition).  Ms. Oke said it was a pleasure to coach and work with these students and that they were very well behaved.

 

Mr. Dirks congratulated the team members and the coaches and asked them, along with any parents present, to come forward and receive congratulations from the Board.

 

Mrs. Cindy Helmers, Bloomington High School (BHS) Principal, introduced Mr. Drew Moore, BHS math teacher, who received a Milken Family Foundation National Educator Award on Monday, October 24 during a surprise school assembly. The Milken program provides public recognition and financial rewards to educators who are furthering excellence in education. By honoring outstanding educators, the program strives to attract, develop, motivate and retain talented people to the challenge and adventure of teaching. For their efforts the Milken Foundation awards each recipient with an unrestricted cash award of $25,000. Mr. Moore is one of only 100 educators in the nation who will receive this prestigious award, dubbed, "The Oscars of Teaching."  Mr. Moore has been teaching at BHS since 2001. He also serves as the school's Head Freshman Football coach.

 

Mr. Moore stated that it was an honor to receive the award as well as an honor for the school and District.  He stated that he was unsure how he was going to use the $25,000.

 

Dr. Nielsen commended Mrs. Helmers for pulling the award ceremony together at BHS.

 

Mr. Dirks congratulated Mr. Moore and asked that he and his wife come forward and receive congratulations from the Board.

 

Mrs. Jackson reported that she attended the Illinois Association of School Boards (IASB) Cornbelt Division fall dinner meeting on October 19, 2005 at Ridgeview High School in Colfax.  It was not very well attended but was a nice dinner.  The IASB will be canceling the winter governing meeting for the Cornbelt group and will be working on planning things that the whole area may be interested in. 

 

Mrs. Jackson reminded the Board that the Triple I Conference this year is November 18-20.  Mrs. Jackson stated that the Resolutions for the Delegate Assembly are not much different from last year.  There is an issue involving military recruitment in schools.  The resolution that they are proposing does two things:  1) It rejects the part of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) that requires schools districts to allow military recruiters the same access to students that colleges have if the school district wants to receive Federal Funds. 2) They want to replace the “opt out” burden on the parents with an “opt in” provision by the parents to authorize the schools to disclose student information to military recruiters.  Mrs. Jackson stated that right now parents have to tell the school not to give recruiters any information.

 

Mr. Dirks stated that the first part of the resolution regarding military recruiters would urge Congress to change the law.  He stated that he has seen the military provide some wonderful opportunities for people who wouldn’t have otherwise had them and it can be a great thing educationally.  He stated that he is disappointed that the IASB feels they need to put this in there.

 

Mrs. Jackson stated that she agrees with Mr. Dirks.  It is her understanding that the legislative people in the IASB thought the way it was written would be a problem. When it came to the Resolutions Committee there was basically no comment about it at all which lead her to believe that no one on the Resolutions Committee has much military background.  Mrs. Jackson stated with respect to the rest of the resolutions she would recommend as the District 87 delegate, she will vote along with the recommendations made by the IASB Resolutions Committee.  With respect to the recruiters resolution, she respectfully suggests that we vote against adopting this resolution.

 

The Board Members were in agreement with Mrs. Jackson. 

 

Mrs. Jackson suggested that anyone who has not gone on the Chicago Schools Tour offered at the Conference should try it.  It’s very interesting.  

 

     Dr. Nielsen introduced Mr. Willie Brown, Executive Vice-President of State Farm Insurance Companies, and the Chair for the Achievement Gap Task Force.

 

     Mr. Brown stated that he recently viewed the District 87 School Report Cards and noted that we have a lot to be proud of in District 87. Although gains have been made, especially at Sheridan School, he noted that we also have some areas that we need to work on, especially concerning the achievement gaps for some groups. He realizes that there have already been some initiatives put into place and that both our staff and Board are working hard to close and eliminate that gap. Mr. Brown stated that he believes we are heading in the right direction, but thinks that there is more that we can do as a community to work together to eliminate the gap.

     Mr. Brown along with a Steering Committee of Dr. Nielsen, Mr. Dirks, Dr. Alan Chapman, Unit 5 Superintendent, Mr. Scott Lay, Unit 5 Board of Education President and Mr. Tim Welsh, McKinzie Group, are in the process of formulating a committee who will help us close the achievement gap. When compiled, the committee will look at the data that has been tabulated and try to see where they can make some improvements. Mr. Brown stated that they have the backing of businesses and some community organizations and he thinks that if they all work together they can come up with some solutions, both in the short term and the long term.  Mr. Brown stated that his role as the Chair of the Achievement Gap Task Force Committee is to work with everybody in the community and try to move the two local Districts forward.

      Mr. Brown stressed that it's going to take the commitment of everyone: parents, the community, business leaders, religious leaders and, of course, the Board of Education and teachers, in order to close the achievement gap.

 

     Mr. Dirks thanked Mr. Brown for chairing the Achievement Gap Taskforce committee and for attending tonight’s Board Meeting.

      Mr. Herrera reported that he was invited to Washington D.C. by the National Association for Appointed and Elected Latino Officials (NAELO) from October 11-13.  The NAELO convened 50 Latino School Board Members along with some Congressional Representatives and State Legislators to address the education gap.  Primarily this group addressed the Latino community.  The graduation rates across California, Texas and several other states for Latinos is very low.  Mr. Herrera stated that we tried to identify problems affecting this community and come up with some solutions to the achievement gap problems.

 

      Mr. Erik Stock, WJBC Radio Station, entered the meeting at 6:55 p.m.

 

      Mr. Dirks stated that he attended a seminar recently on the Economic Development of Education, Preparing for the Future presented at State Farm Insurance Companies.  He stated that it was very informative.

 

     Mrs. Helmers and Mr. Tim Moore, BHS Associate Principal presented proposed curricular changes for BHS for the 2006-07 school year.  They include the following:


• Freshman will begin at Pre-Algebra, Algebra or Honors Geometry. The lowest level of math currently offered at BHS, Basic Math, will be removed as an option for regular education students. This will better align with the standards expected for students who will be taking the PSAE/ACT as juniors since 40% of the ACT test is Pre-Algebra/Elementary Algebra, 30% is intermediate Algebra/Coordinate Geometry, and the other 30% is Advanced Geometry.

• The Bloomington Business Academy will increase the level of math courses taken by students in the academy. Therefore, juniors will be ready for the Geometry Application course, following their Pre-Algebra and Algebra Applications sequence.

• Techniques in Reading will increase from one semester to a full year course to address the needs of students who are entering as Freshmen reading below grade level. This course will be in addition to Literature and Composition for all Freshman Essential students. This course will emphasize reading comprehension, vocabulary, study skills and test taking.

• Sophomore Lit/Comp Essentials will increase from one semester to a full year course to better address the needs of students who are still in need of additional reading and grammar support. Speech will be integrated into the course and used as a mechanism for performance assessment.

 

      These proposed changes will be brought back for Board consideration at the November 9, 2005 Board Meeting.

 

Mr. Wood, Financial and Legal Officer for District #87, presented the 2005 Levy Report which included the Levy Calendar as well as the data and assumptions used to establish the 2005 Levy.  As required by law, the Board approved a Resolution which estimated the amount of revenue that is necessary from the property tax for next year’s (2007) budget.  The Resolution also authorized advertisement of a Public Hearing regarding the Levy which is scheduled for December 14, 2005.  Mr. Wood explained that the Levy is important because the property tax is the Districts largest revenue source. It makes up a growing percent of the overall budget and is received early in the year.  The Levy assumes 7% growth in Estimated Assessed Value (EAV) which would reduce the overall tax rate; however, Mr. Wood explained that the District believes actual EAV growth will be closer to 4.5% which will keep the overall tax rate flat at 4.47%.  Mr. Wood indicated that most specific rates remain at the statutory maximums but that the District remains below the statutory maximum rate in total.  The overall Levy is $35,981,807 which is $2.2 million more than the 2004 Extension, a 6.58% increase.

 

     Mr. Reilly, Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources, outlined enrollment projections for the 2006-07 school year.  He is projecting that elementary schools are likely to see a decrease in students next year including Bent and Washington Schools. Irving, Oakland, Sheridan and Stevenson's population should remain stable. A larger 5th grade class will cause BJHS' enrollment to increase slightly and a smaller entering Freshman class will cause BHS' enrollment to dip slightly to 1,503 students. Each year, enrollment projections are calculated in order to project future staffing needs. Projections made last year regarding enrollments have proved to be 99.9% accurate at the elementary level; 97.8% accurate at BJHS and 99.7% accurate for BHS.

 

      Dr. Nielsen summarized the recently released 2005 State Report Cards. The Report Cards for District 87 indicate:

• 84.2% of our district budget is spent on Instruction and Supporting Services, compared to an overall state average of 78.4%.

• Our teaching staff averages 15.4 years of experience, compared to a state average of 13.6 years.

• 100% of our teachers are considered Highly Qualified according to No Child

 

Left Behind benchmarks.

• Our parental contact is 99.8% compared to a state average of 96.7%.

• BHS' overall graduation rate is 92%, compared to a state average of 87.4%. The graduation rate for African American students at BHS is 88.7%, compared to a state average of 77.7%. The graduation rate for Hispanic students at BHS is 94.7%, compared to a state average of 76%. BHS' graduation rate in 2004 was 89.2% and was recorded to be the highest percentage among the three Intercity public high schools. Since 1998, BHS' graduation rate has increased nearly 9%.

• 94.7% of all Hispanic 3rd graders across the district tested "at or above" grade level in math.

• BHS' Composite ACT score is higher than the state average.

• The "achievement gap" at Sheridan School has mostly been eliminated, and even reversed in some cases. Both African American 3rd & 5th graders are now outperforming white students in math and 5th grade African American students are outperforming white students in reading. Results from the Science portion of the Illinois State Achievement Test (ISAT) showed, 76.7% of all Sheridan 4th graders are "at or above grade level," compared to a state average of 71.4%. Sheridan students have increased their test scores dramatically over the past few years and now are nearing or exceeding state averages in all categories and grades tested.

 

      Dr. Nielsen stated that we have a lot to be proud of in our district.

 

      Mr. Reilly reported on new HMO rates for the District.  The current HMO through Health Alliance serves 35 full-time and 8 part-time employees.

Current HMO:

            *70/30 plan with $10, $20, and $40 prescription drug card.

            *Board paid single rate is $388/month

            *Employee + 1 rate = $269

            *Family rate = $ 563.

 

Options for renewal on January 1, 2006 include:

 

Option #1: *Remain at a 70/30 plan with $10, $20, and $40 prescription drug       cards.

           *Board paid single rate increases to $4O4/month (4.1% increase)

     *Employee + 1 rate = $279 (3.7% increase)

     *Family rate = $585 (3.9% increase)

 

Option #2: *Return to an 80/20 plan with $10, $20, and $40 prescription drug card.

           *Board paid single rate increases to $42l/month (8.5% increase)

           *Employee + 1 rate = $291 (8.2% increase)

           *Family rate = $610 (8.3% increase)

 

For comparison, the current Board paid single rate for the group medical insurance is $467.50/month.

 

      Mr. Reilly stated that he will bring back a recommendation for Board consideration at the 11/9/05 Board Meeting.

 

Mr. Reilly reported on a recent change in the law which affects Flex Spending accounts.  This law allows an employer to extend the time frame for employees to spend funds in their Unreimbursed Eligible Expense Account. This change allows an employee to be reimbursed for qualifying medical care expenses incurred during the Plan Year and the period ending on March 15th following the end of the Plan Year. The employee must still apply for reimbursement on or before the 90th day following the end of the Plan Year and any monies left in this account after 90 days are forfeited by the employee. This change would take affect for the 2005 Flexible Spending Plan Year.  There is no expense to the District in relation to this change.

 

Mr. Reilly stated he would bring this back for Board consideration at the 11/9/05 Board Meeting.

 

      It was moved by Mrs. Jackson, seconded by Mr. Hanson, that the Consent Agenda (Personnel Report, Bills, Treasurer’s Report, Financial Summary, Letter of Understanding: Top of Salary Schedule for Program Assistants and Letter of Understanding: BJHS Outdoor Education) be approved. Upon a roll call vote, all Members present, voted “Aye”.  Motion carried. (See with Original Minutes, Attachment 10-26-05/1

 

      It was moved by Mrs. Smith, seconded by Mrs. Roth that the Resolution to Estimate Necessary Property Tax Revenues, 2007 be approved. Upon a roll call vote, all Members present, voted “Aye”.  Motion carried. (See with Original Minutes, Attachment 10-26-05/2

 

      It was moved by Mr. Davis, seconded by Mrs. Jackson that the Board go into Closed Session for the purpose of considering 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 for litigation, when an action against, affecting or on behalf of the particular public body has been filed and is pending before a court or administrative tribunal, or when the public body 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.   

 

     There being no further business to come before the Board, Mr. Dirks adjourned the meeting.

 

APPPROVED:                                ATTEST:

 

 

 

                                   

___________________________               ___________________________

President                                 Secretary