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, May 17, 2021. Board members present were Mr. Gordon Millsap, Mrs. Mandy Rieman, Mrs. Holly Farley, Mr. Bill Meinhart, Mr. Jason Kuhl, Mr. Jerry L. Jed Earnest and Mr. Brady Shull. Members absent: None.
All votes are considered unanimous unless otherwise noted.
Gordon Millsap called the meeting to order.
Agenda was approved as presented. Jerry L. Jed Earnest voted no. Motion carried 6-1.
Under the Superintendent’s report:
Mr. Johnson said THANK YOU to all board members, staff and volunteers for being such an amazing part of our children’s lives this school year – we appreciate all of you!
Congratulations to board member Mandy Rieman for being elected to the Board of Directors with IASB. Also let Janet know by June 1 if you wish to attend the school board convention in Chicago November 19, 20 and 21, 2021.
Summer hours in the district office will start the week of May 24 running through the summer until school resumes in August. Office hours will be from 8am to 4pm Monday through Thursday, closed on Fridays.
Mr. Johnson asked for a FY22′ School Update from the board members. Brady Shull would like to see the school start back in August to a normal schedule before the pandemic, preferably no masks and no remote learning option. Board members agreed. That is the goal depending on the State COVID regulations/requirements for the 2021-22 school year.
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Aaron Kurtz, technology director reported on SOPPA (Student Online Personal Protection Act). Effective July 1, 2021, school districts will be required by the Student Online Personal Protection Act to provide additional guarantees that student data is protected when collected by educational technology companies, and that data is used for beneficial purposes only. School districts must annually post a list of all operators of online services or applications utilized by the district, provide teachers with the list of online operators that are safe and approved for use and several other requirements.
Check out our new district website at www.jaspercountyschools.net which went live May 17, 2021. Thanks to Brent Emmerich, Aaron Kurtz, Adrian Guzman and Luke Zuber. A new item is the breakfast/lunch menu through Nutri Slice/OPAA with several more features in the works.
Katy Conder, Director of Social Services/NE Assistant Principal along with Sherry Slankard, counselor at JCJH gave a presentation on the district’s social emotional programs future goals and vision such as curriculum alignment, Tier 1 Implementation, Student Connections, Staff Wellness, Individual Student Success Plans and Data Driven Tier II & III. Counselors are Rickie Steber at SME, Jessie Smith, social worker at NE and PASS teacher, Jordyn Biggs at NE, Sherry Slankard at JCJH, Kat Carey at NCHS, Jessie
Schumacher and Nikki Fehrenbacher with SESE and Dr. Melissa Semple. All district staff will participate in a zoom presentation on SEL from Doug Bolton and Dan Cates (potential consultants dealing with Social Emotional Learning programs / initiatives). The administration will seek input from all staff on next steps for this program,
Friday, May 21 will be the last day of school for teachers. The administrators and board members will serve lunch to all staff at Peterson Park from 11:30am to 1pm. We will also honor our retirees and celebrate the success of the FY21′ school year.
Mr. Johnson gave an update on our staff member who was injured in a bus accident on Friday, May 7. Employee is home and doing well. District is interested in creating a video to emphasize to the public the importance of safety when traveling near school buses. We continue to have individuals pass our school buses when stopping to pick up or drop off students and the stop arms are out. Please, please, please be aware of the activities around our school buses – our students’ lives are dependent on you!!!
Mr. Johnson gave thanks to Chris Parr, Buildings and Grounds/Transportation Director for his dedication to the district since 2001. Chris’s last day will be June 30 as he is going to Mattoon School District to be their Transportation Director.
Gordon asked for Recognition of Guests and Public Comments. There were none.
There were no FOIA requests.
Jerry L Jed Earnest asked to separate the April 26, 2021 regular and closed session minutes from the consent agenda. Approval to accept the April 26, 2021 regular and closed session minutes. Nays: Earnest. Motion carried 6-1.
Approval of the consent agenda:
Bills and Payroll,
Presentment of monthly financial reports,
Destruction of closed session recording for March 21, 2019,
$150 Donation from City of Newton to Mrs. Hall’s Fifth Grade Science class at Newton Elementary. This money will be used to purchase science supplies for the classroom and labs. The students, staff and administration of Newton Elementary are very grateful for this donation!
$50 Donation from prom parents to NCHS FBLA
Declare technology equipment and cheerleading uniforms as surplus
Bill Meinhart presented the board with information on Atlantic Research for Board Strategic Planning which was tabled at the April meeting. Approval to again table Atlantic Research was approved. This process has been suggested to our district from the Illinois State Board of Education, due to our lowest performing school designation at the Junior High level in 2018. Since then our designation has improved
but yet is just shy of Commendable. Our staff and administration have implemented and worked (and are still working) with Andy Parker with Atlantic Research for improvements in many areas surrounding the Junior High School educational process. The administration at the JH level recommended a Title 1 Math teacher be added a couple years ago and that was implemented and is proving to be very helpful for our students and staff. We are proud of the staff, administration and students for these improvements. Mr. Johnson suggested the board work on a proposal for the June Board Meeting – this is an important process for our district to reach accountability for ISBE from the District Lea Level. Bill will bring more data to the June board meeting.
Approval of tentative certified assignments for the 2021-2022 school year. This will be posted in the schools on May 21, 2021.
Discussion was held on the summer maintenance list. A couple of the items are, crack fill all asphalt parking lots in the District, oil and chip school bus lot, with lots of internal work to complete.
Approval of the changes to the NCHS/JCIH/NE/SME student handbooks.
Approval of Executive Secretary Contract.
Approval of Memo of Understanding with JCEA regarding Kelsey Millsap returning to work 3 days a week for the 2021-2022 school year. Nays: Earnest, Shull. Motion carried 5-2.
Approval of Additional Licensure Memorandum of Agreement with the ICEA for Erin Niebrugge to take two classes to be able to teach CO-OP at NCHS. Nays: Earnest. Motion carried 6-1.
Approval Intergovernmental Agreement with the Jasper County CEO/CEO Board/Midland for 2021-2022.
Approval to purchase 8 buses from Central States Bus Sales. These should arrive at the end of August 2021. Nays: Earnest. Motion carried 6-1.
Approval to table financing 8 buses through a local bank. Mr. Earnest asked Mr. Johnson to get bids from other banks that are not local.
Approval of fees for lunch, registration and athletics for the 2021-2022 school year. Breakfast and Lunch prices were raised 10 cents. All other fees will stay the same.
Approval of Public School Works Agreement for school year 2021-2024 (June of 2024) this is our mandated training program for employees.
Discussion was held regarding lease/purchase of used mobile classrooms for Newton Elementary. Kuhl, Earnest, Rieman, Millsap, Farley, Meinhart and Shull all voted no on leasing/purchasing mobile classrooms. Plans are to build a wall in the maintenance room to house the PASS program and to keep the mobile library for the 2021-2022 school year.
Approval of the retirement of Craig Carr – NCHS Athletic Director/NCHS Teacher on June 20, 2023, he is eligible for the two year retirement incentive.
Approval of the resignation of Tonya Hall as the Newton Elementary yearbook sponsor effective immediately.
Approval of a leave of absence for Megan Marks, NCHS teacher from September 24, 2021 and return November 29, 2021.
Approval to hire Erin Niebrugge as a part time Business Education Teacher at NCHS and recommended CEO teacher for the CEO board to start with the 2021-2022 school year.
Approval to hire Michelle Weidner as a Kindergarten Teacher at Ste. Marie Elementary to start with the 2021-2022 school year.
Approval to hire Toni Zumbahlen for Kindergarten to First Grade Summer Bridge Teacher, Ashley Bergbower for First to Second Grade Summer Bridge Teacher, Darlene Coffin for Second to Third Grade and Third to Fourth Grade Summer Bridge Teacher, Amy Casey for Fourth to Sixth Grade Summer School Teacher, and Stephanie Klingler for English Language Learner Summer School all for the month of June 2021. The purpose of hiring these individuals and offering the summer bridge to our students, is to help with the loss of instruction time during the COVID-19 shortened days and FY20 closure from March – May. We are investing time and resources to help students be prepared for the class in which they will
enter in August of 2021.
Approval to hire Daniel Stark as JCCU#1 District Transportation/Grounds Director to start July 1, 2021, due to Mr. Parr having vacation days to be used – pay per diem for days needed prior to July 1, 2021. Please understand with the hiring of Daniel and Nic for the positions which they will occupy starting Summer 2021, a transportation position is being absorbed. This also is happening due to the fact that we are almost to a point of having all buses in the fleet less than five years old and under warranty. All buses will be receiving depreciation value reimbursement once they are all under five years old. The newer buses have helped us to downsize the labor force.
Approval to hire Nic Huddleston as JCCU#1 District Fleet Supervisor/Mechanic to start July 1, 2021, due to Mr. Parr having vacation days to be used – pay per diem for days needed prior to July 1, 2021.
Approval to increase Chris Bradley’s maintenance position responsibilities as well as his hourly rate for this position.
Approval to hire Carie Shinn as Summer School Teacher for JCJH/NCHS for 2021 Summer School.
Approval to hire Jaime Newkirk as a Summer Social Emotional Learning Paraprofessional for 2021 Summer School.
Approval to hire Deb Weiler as the JCIH Scholastic Bowl Coach to start with the 2021-2022 school year.
Approval to post the following open positions:
Part Time District Maintenance
Summer Custodial Help/Painting/Etc. to start as soon as school is out
One on One Aide for a student for summer school (needs to start prior to June board meeting)
JCIH/NCHS nurse to start with the 2021-2022 school year
Newton Elementary yearbook sponsor to start with the 2021-2022 school year
The board went into executive session at 9:18pm 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 9:57pm.
Approval to increase pay for Superintendent and Administrators Andrew D. Johnson, Beth Probst, Kara Garner, Jessica Guzman, Katy Conder, Ryan Klier and Jennifer Bales by 5% for the 2021-2022 school year.
Approval to hire Dawn Meinhart as a 5th grade teacher at Newton Elementary to start with the 2021 2022 school year.
Meeting adjourned at 9:58pm. Next regular meeting is scheduled for Monday, June 21, 2021 at 6:30pm at the Board Office.
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