MINUTES - REGULAR MEETING OF
THE BOARD OF EDUCATION
March 14, 2007 6:30 P.M. Educational
The Board of Education of the
Ms. Marianne Clancy, Board Secretary, established
a quorum and the following Members were present: Mr. John Dirks, Mr. Michael
Harrison, Mr. Keith Davis, Mr. Joseph Butcher and Mrs. Cheryl Jackson. Mrs.
Janet Smith and Mrs. Millicent Roth were absent.
Present
from the administrative staff were Dr. Robert Nielsen, 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 and Mr. Jim Ensign, The Pantagraph.
Mrs. Jackson presented the Minutes for approval.
It was moved by Mr. Dirks,
seconded by Mr. Butcher, that the Minutes of the Regular Meeting of the
Board of Education held on February 28, 2007, be approved. Upon a roll call vote, all Members
present voted Aye. Motion carried.
Bloomington Junior High School (BJHS) 8th
grader, Prathyusah Chengi, was recognized for winning the McLean County
Spelling Bee. She will advance to the
Regional Competition at the end March.
Mrs. Jackson congratulated Prathyusah
and asked her and any relatives present to come forward and receive personal
congratulations from the Board.
BJHS Wrestling Coach Mr. Bryan Wolfe,
introduced members of the BJHS Wrestling team who won the State Championship on
Saturday, March 10, beating the second place team by nearly 70 points. The
Knights had a record number 8 medal winners. Placing 4th was Alex Bee. Placing
3rd were Luke McAvoy and Justin Brooks. Placing 2nd were Parker Johnson, Daniel
Thul and Kyle McAvoy. Kylor Sorensen and Jeff Drake were State Champions. This
is the team's fifth state trophy in 6 years.
Mrs. Jackson congratulated the team
members for all their successes and asked them, Mr. Wolfe and any parents
present to come forward and receive personal congratulations from the Board.
Bloomington
High School (BHS) Boys Swim Coach, Mr. Bob Loy, introduced State Qualifiers Justin Wolfe and Jared Bradd
for recognition.
Mrs. Jackson congratulated the
two swimmers for all their successes and asked them, Mr. Loy and any parents
present to come forward and receive personal congratulations from the Board.
BHS Chess Coach Lonny
Miller, introduced Members of the Chess team and Mr. Chase Johnson who assisted
him with the team. Team members include:
Adem Aydoner, Abhi Bhyravajjula, Harsha Bhide, Cameron Johnson, Ben Leihfeit,
Jayanth Madheswaran, Jimmy Risoli, Scott Schmidt, Josh Strong and Nick Wiese.
Board Meeting
March 14, 2007
Page
2
Mrs. Jackson congratulated the team
members for all their successes and asked them, the coaches and any parents
present to come forward and receive personal congratulations from the Board.
Mr. Dirks stated that he
attended a Facilities meeting last week to discuss the renovations to the
Mr. Dirks stated that the Beyond the Books Educational Foundation is undertaking a fundraising effort and letters will be going out to generate donations.
Mr. Davis stated that he and Mrs. Smith will be attending the Judge John M. Scott Trust meeting next week.
Mr. Butcher stated that he attended the Regional Planning Commission Meeting last Wednesday and it was very informative.
Mr. Ben Ambler and Mr. Mark Anderson, Industrial Technology teachers at the Area Vocational Center (AVC), along with several students, made a presentation on the Project-Lead-the Way (PLTW)program at the AVC.
Goals for the Program are:
§ Prepare high school students for the rigors of engineering study.
§ Instill in students the importance of math and science in their high school career.
§ Reverse the trend of fewer students entering engineering and engineering technology.
§ Reduce drop out rate at engineering schools.
§ Increase the number of minority students and females entering engineering studies.
Courses in the PLTW program are:
§ Introduction to Engineering Design *
§ Principles of Engineering *
§ Civil Engineering and Architecture *
§ Digital Electronics
§ Computer Integrated Machining
§ Biomedical and Biotechnical Engineering
§ Aerospace Engineering
§ Engineering Design and Development
Student, Emma Rust,
talked of her classroom/lab activities in Principles of Engineering; Students
Shane McGann and Julie Carpenter handed out their portfolios for Introduction
to Engineering Design; and Students Cory Hainlen and Brad Zelnio presented
design concepts from the MaGill Hotel in
Mr. Tom Frazier, Bloomington Area Vocational Center Director, introduced
Mr. John Meek, who is the Chair of the Community Partnership Team with
PLTW.
Board Meeting
March 14, 2007
Page 3
Mr. Meek stated that engineers are looking for students who have been
inspired by this program. He stated that
the training from this program is providing students experience
which will allow them to enter college curriculums a step ahead of their
peers.
Mr. Meek thanked the Board for funding the program and hopes they will
continue to do that, as well as expand it.
Mr. Ron
Howard, First Student Senior Region Vice-President, and Mr. Jason Sherman,
First Student Contract Manager, addressed the Board regarding First Student transportation
safety, passenger management and communication. In summary:
Information
on Safety:
Bus
Inspections
IDOT @ 6
Months (under state law)
Unannounced
Annual Inspections by IDOT Division of Safety (most recent check was March 7,
2007, no safety problems were found)
Maintenance
Daily
Periodic
Child
Check & Other: This year First Student is going to install Child Checkmate,
which helps prevent a child being left on the bus, and Theftmate, which will
also help deter leaving any children on the bus and help prevent theft or
vandalism to the bus, to all buses by August 1, 2007.
Information
on Passenger Management:
Driver
Training and Responsibilities (drivers are expected to keep an orderly
atmosphere on the bus) Disciplinary problems are reported to a supervisor or a
district administrator no later than the day following the incident.
Assigned
Seats and
Growing
Respect on Your Bus (A campaign First Student implemented to combat
bullying on the school bus.)
Bus
Conduct Report or Return to School should an incident warrant this
Dispatch
often helps in accessing the problem and determining the best action that
should be taken
Working
with Principals
Information
on Communication:
Who to
Contact
Work
with Principals to
Work
with District to Revise Student Handbooks
Provide
District with Information
Parent
Calls
Bus
Conduct Reports
Maintenance
Logs
Mr. Howard
stated that calls coming in to First Student are handled as quickly as possible
with the intent of the best outcome.
Board Meeting
March 14, 2007
Page 4
Mr. Colin Manahan, Director of Facilities
Management, presented a Bloomington High School Renovations Update.
Mr. Manahan stated that the north parking lot will
be reconstructed with the existing west curved driveway eliminated. This area
will be replaced with a green space detention area and the existing parking lot
will be reconfigured to serve as the bus loading area and to provide student
parking. The North Entrance will change from entering the building at the lower
level to now entering the building at the first floor level. This will be accomplished by backfilling the
existing entrance, adding structural walls to support this area, adding a new
airlock room, adding a covered canopy, and new entrance doors will be placed at
what is now the first floor of the school. The new entrance will feature new
exterior pole lighting, a new canopy and courtyard utilizing concrete and
exposed aggregate. The design is intended to look similar to the new south
courtyard. New floor tile, suspended
ceilings and recessed light fixtures will be added inside the school's north
entrance. The Area Vocational Center (AVC) entrance will receive new exterior pole
lighting and a new canopy.
Mr. Manahan stated that this work will be funded by
the Operations & Maintenance (O & M) fund as well as by revenue
generated from the life safety bonds and the funding bonds that were issued by
the district a few years ago.
Dr. Nielsen stated that a group from Sesquicentennial Committee is
working on a list of BHS graduates to be inducted into a Wall of Fame which
will include personalized plaques for those winning the award. This will be located in the new
Dr. Nielsen presented the Board of
Education Policies: 2.010 School
District Governance; 2.020 Powers and Duties of the School Board; 2.040 School
Board Membership; 2.080 Board Member Oath and Conduct; 2.110 Qualifications,
Term, and Duties of Board Officers; 2.130 BoardSuperintendent Relationship; 2.140 Communications To and From the Board; 2.150
Committee Organization; 2.200 Regular Meetings; 2.202 Closed Meetings; 2.206
Special Meetings; 2.208 Emergency
Meetings; 2.210 Organizational School Board Meetings; 2.220 Agenda; 2.222
Voting Method; 2.224 Minutes: Regular, Special, Adjourned, Emergency, Closed; 2.240
Board Policy Development; 6.235 Access to Electronic Networks, for First
Reading. There were numerous changes
suggested and it was decided that a Board Policies Meeting should be scheduled
to go over these policies rather than going over each individual policy at the
Board Meeting.
Mrs. Jackson presented the Consent Agenda for Approval. It was moved by Mr. Harrison, seconded by Mr. Davis,
that the Consent Agenda (Human Resources Report, Bills, Payroll, Resolution:
Review of Verbatim Tapes of Closed Sessions, Bent School Main Entrance Repair
Bid Recommendation, District Renovation Work Bid Recommendation, Sheridan
School Roof Replacement Bid Recommendation, New Health/Life Safety Amendments,
Regional Office of
Board Meeting
March 14, 2007
Page
5
Education Application for
Building Permits be approved. Upon a roll call vote, all Members present voted
Aye. Motion carried. (See with Original Minutes, Attachment 3-14-07/1)
Dr. Nielsen stated that
April 5 will be the kickoff of the Sesquicentennial Celebration in the
schools. There will be activities at
each school, special cookies will be delivered and District pencils will be
given out. BHS drama students will be
visiting the elementary schools representing a significant historic figure for
each school.
It
was moved by Mr. Davis, seconded by Mr. Dirks, that SHOR 06-07-3 be approved.
Upon a
roll call vote, all Members present voted Aye. Motion carried. (See with
Original Minutes, Attachment 3-14-07/2)
It was moved by Mr. Davis, seconded by Mr. Butcher, that the
resolutions for Reduction in Force be
approved. Upon a roll call vote, all Members present
voted Aye. Motion carried. (See with Original Minutes, Attachment 3-14-07/3)
Mr. Samuel Graham, District
87 grandparent, stated that he thought it was nice that the District sent out a
transportation satisfaction survey to the entire District. He also stated that Mrs. Vickie Slagell,
Stevenson Elementary Principal, should be commended for riding one of the buses
in response to an incident that happened.
Mr. Graham also stated that he thinks the communication between the bus
company and the schools has improved a great deal in the past couple of
weeks.
It was moved by Mr. Davis, seconded by Mr.
Harrison, that the Board go into Closed Session for the purpose of considering
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; and to consider
the purchase or lease of real property for the use of the public body,
including meetings held for the purpose of discussing whether a particular
parcel should be acquired. 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.
APPPROVED: ATTEST:
______________________ ___________________________
President Secretary