Following is a summary of minutes of a regular meeting of the Board of Education of Jasper County Community Unit School District No. 1 held on Monday, May 20th, 2024 in the office of the Board of Education. Board members present were Mrs. Mandy Rieman, Mrs. Holly Farley, Mr. Bill Meinhart, Mr. Brady Shull, Mr. David Blecha and Mrs. Jackie Schackmann. Board members absent were Mrs. Mandi Utley.
All votes are considered unanimous unless otherwise noted.
Mandy Rieman called the meeting to order.
Approval to Adopt Agenda.
Mandy asked for Recognition of Guests and Public Comments. There were none.
There was one FOIA Request from SmartProcure. This is a quarterly FOIA request for information dealing with district purchases.
Approval of Consent Agenda as presented.
Regular Minutes and Closed Session Minutes for April 15th, 2024,
Bills and Payroll,
Presentment of monthly financial reports,
Approval of Jordan Hartigan and Amanda Hartigan as volunteers for NCHS drumline for 2024-2025,
$1,500 from Jasper County Youth Soccer to Athletic Donations for the Focus Flex Camera,
$910 from the Newton Athletic Boosters to the NCHS Cheer Squad for camp,
$5,000 from Apex Clean Energy Holdings, LLC to the Newton FFA,
$5,000 from Apex Clean Energy Holdings, LLC to go towards the new greenhouse,
$1,000 from Julie Chapman in Memory of Thomas Hannaman to the NCHS Golf Team,
$1,000 from Julie Chapman in Memory of Thomas Hannaman to the NCHS Bass Fishing Team,
$750 from Agracel, Inc. to the NCHS Baseball Team for bats for a Tournament,
$600 from Newton Athletic Boosters to the JCJH Girls Basketball Team for summer shootouts/tournaments,
$7,135 from parents, businesses, and churches for post prom.
Disposition of Surplus items from Newton Elementary,
Disposition of Surplus Technology items,
Approval of Second Reading of PRESS Policy Updates-Changed,
Under the Superintendent’s Report, Mr. Sornberger discussed the goals for the FY 2024 Budget. The District will hold an amended budget hearing on June 17, 2024 at 6:20 p.m. at the District Office. The amended budget hearing is to discuss updates to the original budget. Once approved, the amended budget will be sent to the Illinois State Board of Education. The amended budget overall looks good. The main concern for the amended budget is the Transportation Fund. Jasper County is the largest land mass district in the State of Illinois. With this, a great cost is spent on transportation. The State of Illinois continues to prorate payments to school districts for transportation. Basically, the state is not fully funding transportation. When this happens, Districts must use other funds to help offset these costs. As for revenue, the Jasper County School District has used ESSER and Community Partnership Grants to pay for several school and community projects. The grants will end this summer.
Approval of the Handbooks for Newton Community High School, Jasper County Junior High, Newton Elementary School and Saint Marie Elementary for the 2024-2025 School Year.
Approval of entering into discussions with the Jasper County Board for a School Resource Officer.
Approval of the Dual Credit Agreement with Illinois Eastern Community Colleges.
Approval of the Contract with Frontier for Fiber Telephone Service.
Approval of Regular Board Meeting Dates and Times for the 2024-2025 School Year.
Approval to enter executive session at 7:05 p.m. for 5 ILCS 120/2 (c) (1) – To Consider Information Regarding Appointment, Employment, Compensation, Performance or Dismissal of Individual Employees; 5ILCS 120/2 (c) (21) – To discuss minutes of meetings lawfully closed under the open meetings act (July 1, 2022 – December 31, 2022); 5 ILCS 120/2 (c) (5) – 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.
Approval to return to open session at 7:31 p.m.
Approval to keep closed the Closed Session Minutes from July 1st, 2022 to December 31st, 2022.
Approval to accept the resignations from Alexandra Boggs as a NES 6th Grade Teacher effective June 30, 2024, Stephenie Weaver as a NCHS FCS Teacher at the end of the 2023-2024 School Year, Madison Healy as a NES Elementary Teacher immediately and Hannah Turner as a NCHS Art Teacher at the end of the 2023-2024 School Year.
Approval to employ Sharon Schackmann as a Speech Language Pathologist for the 2024-2025 School Year, Caddie Howard as a NES Elementary Teacher for the 2024-2025 School Year and Chelsea Cox as a NES Elementary Teacher for the 2024-2025 School Year.
Approval to employ Jill Michl as a Summer Help Worker for the Transportation Department, Emma Nadler as a Summer Help Worker for the IT Department, Nathan Smith as Summer Help Worker for Building Maintenance and Brad Powers as a staff member for District Maintenance.
Approval of the leave of absence for Morgan Lidy, a NES Resource Teacher, beginning on August 19, 2024 and returning on September 5, 2024.
Meeting adjourned at 8:29p.m. Next regular board meeting is scheduled for Monday, June 17th, 2024 at 6:20 p.m. at the Board of Education Office located at 1401 Clayton Avenue.
