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 in the office of the Board of Education on Monday, April 18, 2022 at 6:30pm. Board members present were Mrs. Mandy Rieman, Mrs. Holly Farley, Mr. Jason Kuhl, Mr. Bill Meinhart, Mr. Brady Shull and Mrs. Mandi Utley. Members absent: Mr. Jerry L. Jed Earnest.
All votes are considered unanimous unless otherwise noted.
Mandy Rieman called the meeting to order.
Agenda was approved as presented.
Mandy Rieman asked for recognition of guests and public comments, there were none.
Election of New Board Officers:
Approval of the nomination of Mandy Rieman for the Office of President.
Approval of the nomination of Bill Meinhart for the Office of Vice President.
Approval of the nomination of Holly Farley for the Office of Secretary.
Approval of the nomination of Misty Heath for the Office of Treasurer.
Approval of the nomination of Janet Benefiel for the Office of Recording Secretary through June 30, 2022. Due to Janet’s retirement, Laura Volk will be Recording Secretary effective July 1, 2022.
Approval to set the time and place for regular meetings. This will stay the same being on the third Monday of each month at 6:30pm in the Board of Education Office.
There were no FOIA Requests for the month of March.
Approval of the Consent Agenda:
Regular and Closed Minutes from March 21, 2022
Bills, Payroll and Monthly Financial Reports,
Destruction of closed session recording for March 21, 2019
Donations:
$136 from Newton Athletic Boosters for 8th Regional Champion shirts
$500 from Newton Athletic Boosters to Athletic Donations for meals for the officials
$810 from Newton Athletic Boosters to Athletic Donations for Live Streaming Cameras
$2000 from an anonymous donor for the NCHS Chorus Activity Account
$2000 from an anonymous donor for the NCHS Academic Foundation
$1000 from the Newton Athletic Boosters for the NCHS Bass Team
$310 from the Newton Athletic Boosters for the NCHS Athletics-Baseball & Softball L Screen purchase
120 Costumes from the musical Beauty and the Beast declared as surplus.
Technology items declared as surplus
Approval of the OPAA Food Service Contract Renewal for the 2022-2023 school year. This will be year number 4 with OPAA.
Approval of the IESA Annual Membership for the 2022-2023 school year. This is for dues and fees to represent the JCCU1 district for our Junior High Athletic Programs and our Newton Elementary Programs.
Approval of the 2022-2023 School Calendar with a Teacher’s Institute on Wednesday, August 10, 2022 and first day of student attendance on Thursday, August 11, 2022. The official 2022-2023 calendar will be posted soon.
The Classified Salary Proposal was tabled until the May 16, 2022 meeting.
Approval of Collective Bargaining Agreement Extra Duty Schedule to add to the FY23-FY26 CBA. Main change is the extra duty table extends to year 15, it has been maxed out at year 10 for many years.
Approval of the JCJH Athletic Officials increase in pay to begin with the 2022-2023 school year making our pay rate the same as other districts in the LEIC Conference. The district currently pays JCJH officials $60 per official/contest for every sport at JCJH. The recommendation is to pay $75 per official/contest. It is becoming harder to find officials and the raise in pay will entice them to officiate games for our student/athletes. Thanks to Ryan Klier, JCJH Athletic Director for his research on this matter.
Approval to pay Lori Rauch, Carie Shinn, Jenna Funneman and Jaime Newkirk as student teachers in the district for the upcoming 2022-2023 school year.
Approval of the NCHS track repair quote and project proposal through HSC Pavement Maintenance out of Albion IL for a cost of $49,893.00 with the work being done this summer.
Agreed to table until the May 16, 2022 board meeting, Central States Bus Sales lease to purchase Financing Agreement for FY23’.
Approval of the Cooperative Agreement for IESA between Jasper County Junior High and St. Thomas for the purpose of Girls Softball, Boys and Girls Cross Country, and Girls Basketball during the 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 school year.
Approval of Memorandum to Adopt English Language Arts/Reading Curriculum. The Newton Elementary ELA Curriculum Team has worked diligently this school year to review ELA Programs and find a program that would best fit our students and district. The team is recommending McGraw-Hill Wonders (2023 Edition, K-5 & 2020 Edition, 6) to be implemented beginning the 2022-2023 school year. This will be paid through grant funds.
Approval of a leave of absence for Stacey Pickens, 2nd Grade Teacher at Newton Elementary, effective August 15, 2022 and anticipated return date will be October 24, 2022.
Approval of the resignation of Karen Kerner, JCJH/NCHS Paraprofessional, effective at the end of the 2021-2022 school year.
Approval to transfer Brandon Collins from the JCJH/NCHS full-time sub teacher to NCHS Credit Recovery certified position starting with the 2022-2023 school year.
Approval to post a full-time substitute teacher at NCHS/JCJH starting August 2022.
Approval to hire Grace Hartrich as a Newton Elementary School teacher starting with the 2022-2023 School Year.
Approval to hire Speech/Language Pathologist Jennifer Eaton for Fourth to Fifth and Fifth to Sixth Grade Additional Summer Bridge/Summer School Teacher starting in June 2022. This is grant funded.
Under the Superintendent’s Report – Tuesday, May 3, 2022 IASB Wabash Valley Governing Board Meeting at Richards Farm beginning at 6:00pm, let Janet know if you wish to attend.
Bill Meinhart gave a presentation on the Facilities Projects Overview / Updates. The district is striving to take care of these projects with grant funds, fund balances, CSFT (1%) sales tax revenue, and if needed a HLS bond.
Items discussed were:
Elevator addition at JCJH/NCHS from Basement, First Floor, Second Floor, allowing students access to Biology Labs and Foods Kitchen starting in June per board approval in May, then finished by December 2022. Elevator project – proposing to utilize HLS fund balance, CSFT revenue, and a school maintenance matching grant ($50,000.00).
HVAC upgrades at Newton Elementary, JCJH/NCHS the majority of this project covered by ESSR Grants. District is researching the following methods to pay the expenditure of this upgrade (ESSER II revenue approximately $500,000 – which must be spent by September of 2023 / ESSER III (ARP) revenue approximately $800,000 – which must be spent by September of 2024, Fund balance (amount to be determined) / CSFT (averaging 73,000 / month in revenue currently) / remaining balance could potentially seek HLS bonds (only if needed). District should know more about the cost of this project in the near future – hopefully by July 1, 2022 if not sooner.
Long Term Facility Planning Considerations addressing Health Life Safety issues at SME and Willow Hill, aide. DO NOT desire to put money into those facilities if the district is going to close them in the future.
Roof project update – Garland and Farnsworth are working on plans for proposal to the board – roof replacement rotation is what the district is striving to put into place. Projects could potentially begin as early as summer 2022. Expenditure is still in the works. Information will be provided soon for roof updates. Potential methods of funding these projects: fund balance, CSFT, Grants, or HLS bonds.
NCHS Chemistry room remodel project. Adding onto the Early Childhood Center, which would eliminate repairs and maintenance at SME. The savings on this move to town and close down SME have been and are continuing to be researched and reviewed. This project would be potentially paid for by the CSFT revenue, fund balances, HLS bonds, and/or debt certificates / bonds.
Upgrade NCHS Science room, JCJH/NCHS Skilled Trades expansion, JCJH/NCHS Gymnasium, JCJH/NCHS Cafeteria/Kitchen Renovation, JCJH/NCHS Band/Chorus room renovation. Potential usage of the following resources to pay for this project: CSFT revenue, fund balances and / or debt certificates / bonds.
The board and administration are working diligently to find ways to complete the facility project needs without increasing property taxes. Fortunately at this point, the fund balances, CSFT revenue and grant money will take care of some of the work being considered. However the need for more resources to complete everything that is in need of renovation / expansion will likely need to be addressed by utilizing a borrowing mechanism of some sort (i.e. debt certificates, bonds – likely HLS eligible items, possibly debt certificates for any new construction if approved in the future).
April 25-29 Spring Benchmark Testing at Newton Elementary
April 28 R.E.A.D. Distribution (grades 1-3)
May 3 Fifth & Sixth Grade Band & Chorus Concert @ 9:30am
May 3 Senior Awards Banquet -7:30am at the ECC Building
May 4 Fifth Grade Health Jam & 3LP & 3JM Field Trip to Ballard Nature Center
May 5 Fifth & Sixth Grade Field Trip
May 6 Second Grade Field Trip to the Park & Fourth Grade Field Trip to Vincennes, IN
May 9 Third Grade Field Trip to Ballard Nature Center
May 12 First Grade Walking Field Trip & Sixth Grade Field Trip to Sam Parr
May 13 Last Day of Attendance for Pre-K
May 13 Strong Boys & Strong Girls Run (AM) & Grades 4 & 5 Park (PM)
May 14 NCHS Graduation 7:00pm
May 16 Last Day of Attendance for Kindergarten
May 17 Carnival (Grades 1-3) & Ice Cream Truck to NES (Grades 1-6)
May 17, 18 Preschool Screenings and Kindergarten Pre-Registration
May 18 Last day of Attendance for 1st– 11th grade Students
May 19 Teacher’s Institute
The board went into executive session at 8:17pm for 5 ILCS 120/2 ( c ) ( 1 ) – To consider information Regarding Appointment, Employment or Dismissal of Individual Employees.
Approval to return to open session at 8:50pm.
Meeting adjourned at 8:50pm. Next regular meeting is scheduled for Monday, May 16, 2022 at 6:30pm at the Board Office.
