Arthur Community Unit School District 305 Board met February 21.
Here is the minutes as provided by the board:
The regular meeting of the Arthur Board of Education was called to order by President Jake Kamm at 6:00
pm on February 21, 2018 in the Arthur Unit Office with the following members and administrators present:
Jon Day, Monica Green, Jake Kamm, Ed Miller, Kristie Mechling, Ryan Nettles, Beth Wiley and
administrators. Visitors were also present.
Recognition of visitors and receipt of communications: Jake Kamm welcomed visitors.
Joan Sutherland thanked the Board for their consideration in allowing teachers off to attend Kara Kuhn’s
services.
Mr. Schwengel read a thank you note from JD Kuhns and family.
A motion was made by Beth Wiley seconded by Ryan Nettles to approve the consent agenda as presented.
Upon roll, all members voted yea. Motion carried.
A motion was made by Ed Miller, seconded by Jon Day to approve Stan Harris as new member of the
District #305 Education Foundation Board. Upon roll, all voted yea. Motion carried.
Discussion was held on the attendance center concept. Attendance Center Pros: Flexibility for Site
License for programs (ELA/Math) - K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12, Teacher collaboration within grade levels - more
consistency with curriculum, grading and reporting, Class sizes - more flexibility with splitting up students
(equality in sizes as well), Elective choices for 6-8, Will not have to consider gym being built at AGS ,
Move AGS 7th and 8th graders out of HS, SIP days - travel reduced, Specials - more consistent, Music
Programs, Would make high school band position more appealing, 8th grade graduation - one evening,
More targeted RTI, Title, etc. , Age appropriate PBIS (building wide), Administrative decisions - being
able to make decisions about issues if we had the entire grade level and one administrator for that level,
rather than 3 admins, Increased district unity - each building will be represented and supported by each
community, Cross-Cat classroom - special education, Scheduling, Increased ability for students to find
social groupings/diversity, Building enrollment would be similar across the district, Special Ed scheduling
would be very beneficial, Fundraisers for buildings , Less travel time for traveling teachers/more minutes
for students, Algebra 1 and Spanish for 8th graders for HS credit, Without attendance centers we will have
to eliminate shop, home ec and ag electives for JH
Attendance Center Cons: Transportation, Empty space in buildings - ?, Possible reduction in teachers
Teacher concerns regarding switching buildings, Children from a family in all three buildings, Start/End
times for the school day, Amish (?), ELL students - providing services/testing when they may be in
multiple buildings
A discussion was held on scheduling a board study session on attendance centers.
Sage Hale reported: Spelling Bee - The Arthur Grade School hosted its annual local bee February 1st.
After 15 rounds of determination, Kaylee Schrock (7th grade), was crowned the 2018 champion. Daniel
Arwine (7th grade), Kelsie Hodge (5th grade) and alternate, Skyler Allen (5th grade) will also move on as
spellers in The Douglas County Spelling Bee. The Douglas County Spelling Bee will be held on February
14, 2018, at 10 a.m. at Arcola. We thank all our participants! Kimberly Krutsinger (4th grade)
Jakhany Medina (4th grade) Kaylee Gingerich (4th grade) Skyler Allen (5th grade) Brody Strong (5th
grade) Chloe Sadowski (5th grade) Kelsie Hodge (5th grade) Sarah Rogers (6th grade) Kaylee
Schrock (7th grade) Daniel Arwine (7th grade) Kaylin Hutchinson (7th grade) Makayla Custer (8th
grade) Cayden Kessler (8th grade)
Eastern Illini Electric Co-op Empowering Education Grant - Congratulations to Kat Burdick and Jessica
Vanausdoll for being selected as grant recipients in the amount of $500 each. The Empowering Education
Grant Program is designed to help fund projects that will inspire and benefit students.
Mrs. Burdick plans on using her grant towards reading curriculum. Mrs. Vanausdoll will be using her
grant for flexible seating in her classroom for her students. Children’s Art Exhibition - Each year the
Tarble Arts Center at EIU puts on the Cultivating Creativity: Consolidated Communications Children's Art
Exhibition. At the end of the exhibit one piece is chosen from each participating school to be included in a
traveling exhibit. Each Spring, Tarble has a reception for these students, they receive a check for $50.00
and the Art teacher receives a check for $50.00 for their Art program. This year the reception is to be held
on Sunday, March 3rd at 2:00 pm. Our two students being honored this year are Gracie Mast (3rd Grade)
and Kade Herschberger (8th Grade). Ag in the Class - The Illinois Agriculture in the Classroom program
and the IAA Foundation along with the Illinois Farm Bureau® have released the names of the 2017-2018
Teacher Grant Winners. Second grade teacher, Pam Checkley, has been awarded a grant for the project:
From Start to Finish the Ag Way. This grant enabled Ms. Checkley to purchase an assortment of books for
second grade classrooms. 100th Day Celebration - We celebrated the 100th day of school on Friday,
January 26th with lots of counting activities and a balloon release. Kindergarten and 1st grade together
collected over 150 cans of food to be donated to the Methodist Church food pantry. Fine Arts February -
On February 16th we celebrated the fine arts (music, art, and dance)! Activities planned were: a Chinese
New year craft, a ventriloquist, a professional singer, dance lessons, and the Jr. High band performed.
Kindergarten Pre-Registration - February 7th - 9th we had our early pre-registration. We are predicting
Kindergarten enrollment to be in the low 40’s. Preschool Screening - February 20th and 21st at the First
Baptist Church in Arthur.
Brandon Stone reported: - Congratulations to Emma Edwards (7) for winning our school bee. She will be
joined by Brady Moore (7), Marilyn Hill (6), Delaney Gillis (8), Jordan Pratt (8), and Mitchell Bennett (5)
representing LGS in the Moultrie Co. Bee. The Moultrie Bee was being held on 2/14 at the Little Theater
on the Square. Students of the month Jan. - Julius Morrow (K), Samantha Fowler (3), Joshua Gingerich (8)
Upcoming events: - Mar. PARCC Testing (grades 3-8)
Kristin Nall’s report: Upcoming Dates at AHGS: February 15: County wide Spelling Bee at 9:30 am
February 23: Jump Rope for Heart
January Top Knight - K-2 Winner: Lilly Lisanby, 3-5 Winner: Savannah Fagan, JH Winner: Noah
Shoemaker, Pre-K: Sophia Trueblood. Grants - Congratulations to Tim Manselle and Denise Strack on
their Empowering Education Grants. Each of them received 500.00 from Eastern Illini Electric
Cooperative. Classroom Activities: Mrs. Renee Brown’s 8th grade computer class spent class time
learning to code and program robots. The robots, called “Sphero and Dash N’ Dot were borrowed from the
Illinois State Library. The students used time and speed measurements to calculate distance and then
programmed the Sphero robot to travel a path from the library to the school foyer. The robot Dash N’ Dot
was programmed to go from the library to the principal’s office. Once in the office Dash N’ Dot was
programmed to as the principal to follow it. I was able to follow the robot to the other two and observed
one that was programmed to sing six seconds of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” The other robot came up
the hallway with a note delivery. The note was a thank you from the students. It was a very neat activity to
observe. Student Mentors - We received 10 applicants from Junior High students to be a mentor. Currently
we have 7 students beginning the program. Mentors will be meeting for training and to receive a
curriculum binder. They will start meeting with the students one through two times per week.
Spelling Bee - February 9 we held our school-wide spelling bee. Congratulations to Savannah Fagan in
5th Grade for winning our school wide spelling bee. The other students representing AHGS at the countywide
competition will be: Anna Rawlins-4th Grade, Ashlynn Gingerich-6th Grade, Tanner Beckmier-7th
Grade, Melyne Sherwood-8th Grade, February 15 we hosted the county wide spelling bee.
Steffanie Seegmiller reported: WYSE Team - competed at LakeLand College in Math, Biology, Chemistry
, English & Engineering Graphics. We finished 8th with tough competition. Team members were Isaac
Ashenfelter, Abi Duzan, Katelynn Gingerich, Makenna Green, Logan Hall, Marissa Herschberger, Macy
Hollingsworth, Colton Romine, Waylon Schlabach, Jason Schrock, Meredith Schrock, Annika Slabaugh,
Trevor Wright and Kara Yoder. The team was coached by Mrs. Casteel. Rotary Student of the Month:
Layton Hall was November and Aaron Schmidt for December. FCCLA - Eighteen members & FCCLA
adviser Mrs. Voegel attended the FCCLA Section 15 Conference in Mattoon on Thursday, Feb. 15. At the
conference ALAH junior, Jessica Renfro was elected and installed to serve as a member of the 2018-2019
FCCLA Section 15 Officer Team. FFA - Makenna Green and Zane Crist placed 2nd in Extemporaneous
Public Speaking and will move on to compete at the District competition in April. Student Council
sponsored their Annual Winter Follies on Friday, February 16th, what fun! Knights’ Table - This is the
name for our food bank at ALAH HS. We are working to provide an on-site food bank to support students
and their families. This new service will be available to any ALAH HS student during the school year.
Students will be able to select non-perishable items through a Google Form and the items will be placed in
the student’s locker. We are partnering with Eastern Illinois Food Bank and hope to open in early March.
Breakfast Donation - we were given an anonymous donation of $2,000 to provide students breakfast. We
started last week and doubled our numbers, feeding about 50 students. We hope to continue this for as long
as possible. (In a recent student survey, we had approximately 52% of our students indicate that they would
be interested in eating breakfast if it were free.) Freshman Orientation is Thursday, February 22nd. We
are having multiple departments and organizations have tables to help welcome our incoming Freshman
and their parent(s). Here is a preview of what the English Department is cooking up for tomorrow night.
Freshman Orientation English Link. Our CAD class is producing some outstanding work in their class with
Mr. Kessler. Upcoming Dates: February 22 - Freshman Orientation 6:30 - 8:30
March 1 - 8th grade math placement test in the AM and practice SAT for the juniors in the pm
March 16 - SIP Day, Noon dismissal
Jared Vanausdoll reported: HSBB – Senior Night 2/16 – Finished Season 2/20 in Regional. Varsity is 17-
11 – JV 11-10, HSGB - Varsity Finished 13-13, JH Girls VBALL-8th Grade Girls Won Conference
Tourney vs. Tuscola on 2/15, 7th Grade - 13-4, 8th Grade - 15-3. SPRING SPORTS can begin practice
on Feb. 26. – Strong Numbers in signed up for the spring. HS Scholastic Bowl # 6 seed in Conference
Tourney starting 2/22. JH Scholastic Bowl begin conference on March 13. Atwood will not have a team
this year as numbers were low.
Kenny Schwengel reported: IASB Illini Division Meeting - March 1st at 6:00 p.m. in Champaign. Let me
know if you are interested in attending and I will submit the registration. District #305 Education
Foundation update - The Foundation will provide up to five $500 faculty mini-grants this fall as well as a
Senior of the Year award this spring
Board adjourned into break at 7:30.
A motion was made by Kristie Mechling, seconded by Beth Wiley to enter executive session at 7:48 pm to
discuss the appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance, or dismissal of specific
employees of the public body. All members present voted yea. Motion carried.
A motion was made by Ed Miller seconded by Jon Day, to leave executive session at 8:49 pm. All voted
yea. Motion carried.
A motion was made by Beth Wiley, seconded by Jon Day to accept executive session minutes as read in
executive session. Upon roll, all members present voted yea. Motion carried.
A motion was made by Beth Wiley, seconded by Monica Green to approve the personnel report as
presented: Resignations (Retirement) Beth Singer as ALAH HS administrative assistant effective Feb. 28,
2018. New Hires: Melissa Schrock as ALAH HS administrative assistant. Certified Employees - New
Hires: Tim Caskin as Arthur band instructor for the 2018-19 school year, Bryce Cherry as ALAH HS
English teacher for the 2018-19 school year Upon roll, all members present voted yea. Motion carried.
A motion was made by Ed Miller, seconded by Jon Day to reenter executive session at 8:55 PM. All
members present voted yea. Motion carried.
A motion was made by Ed Miller, seconded by Jon Day to leave executive session at 9:06 pm.
A motion was made by Ryan Nettles seconded by Ed Miller to adjourn at 9:10 pm. All members present
voted yea. Motion carried.
http://www.cusd305.org/UserFiles/Servers/Server_299780/File/Board%20Minutes/Arthur%20reg218.mtg.pdf
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