Cumberland Community Unit School District 77 Board of Education met Sept. 26.
Here is the minutes provided by the board:
The meeting was called to order at 6:05 p.m. by President Bob Blade. Members present included Wes Chambers, Pam Ross, Steve Layton, Ben Bland, Howard Markwell and Anita Hayden. Others present included, Middle School Principal, Stacy Keyser and Elementary Principal, Daniel Huffman and Todd Butler, Superintendent. Visitors present were Monica Carlen, Sheila Plummer, Mariellen Taylor and Jenny Finley.
The President welcomed members of the audience and asked if there was any public comment. There was none.
President Blade reviewed the Consent Agenda items:
a. Approval of the minutes of the August 28, 2019, special meeting, September 18, 2019, Compensation committee meeting and the September 19, 2019, Policy and Finance committee meetings.
b. Review financial and budget reports
c. Approval of current invoices for payment
d. Approval of the Substitute List
e. Authorize the posting of administrator and teacher salaries and benefits
A motion was made by Steve Layton and seconded by Ben Bland to approve the Consent Agenda A-E. All members present voted “Aye”.
High School Board Report submitted by Kevin Maynard
1. Fall enrollment numbers
a. Freshman = 81
b. Sophomores = 67 c. Juniors = 74
d. Seniors = 62
e. Total = 284
2. The high school participated in an active shooter drill on Wednesday, September 4th. Thank you to local law enforcement for their help with the drill.
3. Band and Choir performed at the Greenup Fall Festival on Saturday, September 28th.
4. Mr. Owen and his construction skills class will be participating in the annual Manufacturing Day with other local high schools in the Effingham area on October 3rd.
5. There will be no school on October 11th for teacher institute day or October 14th for Columbus Day.
6. Homecoming week starts October 9th with the Powder Puff games at 6:30. This year’s homecoming theme is “Pirates Lasso a Victory”. The homecoming football game will take place on Friday, October 11th and coronation and dance will be on Saturday, October 12th.
7. Cumberland High School will participate in the annual “Great American Shake Out” earthquake drill on October 16th.
8. High School Picture retakes will be October 17th.
9. Thank you to Mr. Owen and his construction skills students for their work on the sidewalk outside of the library doors.
10. Thank you to Sports World and Ray McElroy. Mr. McElroy delivered a great message to the high school students on Thursday, September 12th.
11. Thank you to Ms. Plummer and Ms. Stremming (guidance intern) for their work with the college and career fair.
12. I would like to thank Carrie Verdeyen and her family for the donations through Gracie's Gifts. Several high school students will benefit from their donation.
Extracurricular Report
1. Cumberland High School will host the Lincoln Prairie Conference cross country meet at Lake Land College on October 5th before hosting their annual cross country meet at Lake Land on Saturday, October 12th.
2. The volleyball team will participate in the Lincoln Prairie Conference tournament in Kansas the week of October 7th through October 10th. They will host home matches in October on the 1st, 17th, 21st and 22nd.
3. The football team will host home games in October on the 11th with the homecoming game and on October 18th, which will be our fall senior night.
Middle School Board Report submitted by Stacy Keyser
1. Our 7th and 8th grade Eco Team will be comprised of Rachel Starwalt, Jonathan Harper, Ashlynn Black, and Hailey Achenbach. These students were chosen based on an assessment. They will compete at Shelbyville on Thursday, October 3.
2. Congrats to Braydon Olmstead who will serve as the Cumberland Middle School student council president for the 2019-2020 school year.
3. We will host the LEIC conference cross country meet on Monday, October 7 beginning at 4:30 p.m.
4. Our softball team lost to Effingham Junior High in the first round of regionals. Thanks to the coaches, parents, and Denny Thornton, HA Wilson, HD Wilson, George Hensley, and Howard Markwell for all of their help and support throughout the season. Great job girls on your season! Special thanks to Coach Nelson at Lake Land College for allowing our girls to play their last regular season game at Lake Land College.
5. Our baseball team won over Casey 10-3 in the first round of regionals and will continue in the post season tournament on Saturday, September 21 at 10:00 a.m. in Casey against Teutopolis.
6. Our cross country runners have participated in several meets and our runners have had several personal records set at these meets often shaving a minute or more off of their time in the 2 mile run. We will host the LEIC conference meet on Monday, October 7 at 4:30 p.m.
7. Mrs. Keyser, Ms. James, Braydon Olmstead, Katelyn Shoemaker, Blake McMechan, and Kenley Carr attended the IESA student leadership and athletic director conference on Friday, September 6 in Bloomington, Illinois.
8. Ray McElroy, former NFL player for the Lions, Bears, and Colts, spoke to Cumberland Middle School students on Thursday, September 12 about the importance of making good choices and going after your dreams. This was sponsored by Sarah Bush Lincoln Hospital Healthy Choices programs and through the Sportsworld Organization.
9. Teachers participated in a half day in-service on Friday, September 20. Topics covered were EpiPen administration, data driven decisions, and special education review and updates.
10. Hayden Kanizer met with all of our physical education classes on Wednesday, September 25, to discuss his life’s story and share with our students. We are thankful that Hayden was with us and are proud of our Cumberland graduate.
11. We will host four practicum students from EIU this fall in the middle school. They will be assigned to Mrs. Walk, Mr. Walk, Mrs. Walsh and Mrs. Briggs’ classrooms.
12. Thank you to the Booster Club for their donation toward new boys basketball uniforms and all who participated in our “Test Drive Event” fundraiser with J and K Mitchell, Casey, IL. Our cheerleaders and boys basketball players will benefit from the proceeds from this event.
13. Enrollment numbers for September 2019:
5th: 83
6th: 80
7th: 77
8th: 79
Total: 319
Elementary Board Report submitted by Daniel Huffman
1. The Greenup United Methodist Church and the Salem United Methodist church graciously donated several school supplies to our school. They are/will help many students that did not have their own supplies and also helped the teachers to stock up on some needed supplies. Their generosity was greatly appreciated.
2. The beginning of the year STAR Benchmark testing has been completed in K-4th grade. Also, the Fountas and Pinnell Benchmark Assessment System levels have all been established for the beginning of the year for 1st-4th grade students.
3. Thank you to the Greenup Fire Department and the Toledo Fire Department for coming and overseeing our routine fire drill on Friday, September 13th.
4. September 20th was our first 1⁄2 day staff institute of the school year. Debbie Rotrammel, Associate Director from EIASE, was our guest speaker. She spoke about Special Education updates and best practices with the RtI and Special Education process.
5. Midterm for the 1st quarter was September 19th. Third and Fourth Grade students’ mid-term reports were emailed to parents/guardians. Kindergarten-2nd grade students received information from their child’s teacher about their grades. Parents/Guardians may see their child’s grades, lunch balance and other information by using the parent portal link on our website and app any time.
6. Upcoming Special Dates:
a. October 11th Teachers’ Institute- No School
b. October 14th Columbus Day- No School
c. October 18th End of the 1st Quarter
7. Parent Teacher Conferences will be held on October 22th and 24th from 4:00 p.m.- 6:30 p.m. There will be regular student attendance on both days. As a result, there will not be school on October 25th. Parents may call 217-923-3132 or email their child’s teacher (teachers’firstnameinitial&lastname@cumberland.k12.il.us) to schedule an appointment. You may start contacting the office or teachers to make appointments on October 8th. Please do not call the office before 9:00 a.m.
8. The Girls on the Run program has started for the school year. There are 10 girls participating. This year’s coaches are: Jenna Young, Samantha Rogers, Jessi Allison and Abby Stevens. Unfortunately, there were not enough boys interested in the STRIDE program to have a boys’ team this year.
9. The before and after-school program is growing. There are around 15 students signed up that attend on a regular basis. We appreciate our partnership with the Neal Center YMCA for this program.
10. The teachers will be hosting a kids “Cake Walk” at the Greenup Fall Festival on Saturday, September 28th. We are hoping for a lot of our students to visit us for a chance to win a cake.
11. On Tuesday, September 17th, the preschool classes hosted their first family night of the year.
12. Picture day went very smoothly. Thank you to Kim Starwalt and Rebecca Morgan for volunteering to assist in the process. Picture retake day will be October 17th for anyone who was absent or if you did not care for the original picture.
13. Enrollment Numbers as of 09/18/19:
Grade # Class size
K 88 22
1st 70 17.5
2nd 77 19.25
3rd 70 17.5
4th 77 19.25
PreK 1 (Early Childhood)
Pre K 53 (Project Help)
Total: 383 (436 with project help) 383 (18-19) 404 (17-18) 412 (16-17)
14. The first half of the 1st quarter has been excellent. The teachers and staff have put a lot of time in developing their schedules to make the best use of time and accommodate the needs of our students. We are fortunate to have teachers and staff that are flexible and willing to make adjustments as necessary to make the days run smoothly.
15. Each week I will be selecting a teacher to be the Featured Teacher of the Week. The teachers will be selected randomly. Every teacher will have a week before the school year ends. The support staff will be featured next year in a similar way. There has been a tremendous amount of positive feedback, and it is great to be able to showcase our greatest assets.
Action Items:
A motion was made by Howard Markwell and seconded by Bob Blade to approve the Tentative Budget for fiscal year 20. All present voted “Aye.”
A motion was made by Anita Hayden and seconded by Ben Bland to approve the FFA field trip to Decatur on October 14-15 for the annual Build Conference. All present voted “Aye.”
A motion was made by Ben Bland and seconded by Pam Ross to approve the FFA field trip to Indianapolis, Indiana on October 30-November 1 for the FFA National Convention. All present voted “Aye.”
A motion was made by Howard Markwell and seconded by Anita Hayden to accept the FY 19 Annual Auditor's Report. All present voted “Aye.”
A motion was made by Ben Bland and seconded by Howard Markwell to approve the first reading of policy updates as follows 2.110, 2.140, 2.230, 5.180, 6.340 and 6.40. All present voted “Aye.”
A motion was made by Wes Chambers and seconded by Steve Layton to approve the request of estimates for renovation of concession stand, replacement of concession stand, and a high school floor repair project. All present voted “Aye.”
A motion was made by Howard Markwell and seconded by Anita Hayden to move into executive session for the purposes of the discussion of employment, appointment, resignation, evaluation of personnel, matters relating to an individual student, school safety and negotiations at 6:28 p.m. All present voted “Aye.”
The Board entered into open session at 6:59 p.m.
A motion was made by Pam Ross and seconded by Ben Bland to accept the irrevocable letter of retirement from Gail Wampler effective June 30, 2023. All present voted “Aye.”
A motion was made by Howard Markwell and seconded by Steve Layton to accept the irrevocable letter of retirement from Gail Bierman effective August 16, 2023. All present voted “Aye.”
A motion was made by Anita Hayden and seconded by Steve Layton to accept the irrevocable letter of retirement from Diana Ozier effective June 30, 2023. All present voted “Aye.”
A motion was made by Steve Layton and seconded by Anita Hayden to accept the irrevocable letter of retirement from Lori Starwalt effective at the end of the 2019-2020 school year. All present voted “Aye.”
A motion was made by Howard Markwell and seconded by Wes Chambers to employ Kevin Maynard as the high school assistant softball coach. All present voted “Aye.”
A motion was made by Steve Layton and seconded by Ben Bland to employ Bill Elliott a bus driver. All present voted “Aye.”
A motion was made by Wes Chambers and seconded by Pam Ross to set Kevin Maynard’s salary at Eighty-four thousand two hundred forty-five dollars for the 2019-2020 school year. All present voted “Aye.”
A motion was made by Howard Markwell and seconded by Ben Bland to set Stacy Keyser’s salary at Eighty-one thousand three hundred sixty dollars for the 2019-2020 school year. All present voted “Aye.”
A motion was made by Wes Chambers and seconded by Anita Hayden to set Daniel Huffman’s salary at Seventy-eight thousand seven hundred eighteen dollars for the 2019-2020 school year. All present voted “Aye.”
A motion was made by Steve Layton and seconded by Pam Ross to set George Hensley’s salary at Fifty-one thousand nine hundred thirty-nine dollars for the 2019-2020 school year. All present voted “Aye.”
A motion was made by Wes Chambers and seconded by Pam Ross to set Mike Oakley’s salary at Fifty-four thousand three hundred eighty-seven dollars for the 2019-2020 school year. All present voted “Aye.”
A motion was made by Steve Layton and seconded by Ben Bland to set Steve Wheeler’s salary at Fifty-nine thousand nine hundred forty dollars for the 2019-2020 school year. All present voted “Aye.”
A motion was made by Steve Layton and seconded by Wes Chambers to set Erin St. John’s salary at Twenty thousand nine hundred forty-one dollars for the 2019-2020 school year. All present voted “Aye.”
A motion was made by Howard Markwell and seconded by Ben Bland to approve the Insurance Monitoring Committee memorandum of understanding with the Cumberland Education Association. All present voted “Aye”.
Steve Layton made the motion to adjourn. It was seconded by Ben Bland. All present voted “Aye”. The meeting adjourned at 7:05 p.m.
https://core-docs.s3.amazonaws.com/documents/asset/uploaded_file/179558/09.26.19_Minutes.pdf
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