East Central Reporter

Marshall Community Unit School District C-2 Board of Education met Jan 14.

Here is the minutes provided by the board:

The Board of Education met in regular session with the following members present: Mr. Crews, Mr. Cook, Mrs. Rayhel, Mr. Eitel, Mr. Gard, Mrs. Hendrix, and Mr. Macke. Superintendent Mr. Ross along with administrators Mr. Ritchey, Mr. Keown, Mr. Graham, Mrs. Williams, Mrs. Beaven, and Mrs. Morgan, along with Mr. Engerski was also present.

Mr. Macke called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. Mr. Crews led the Pledge of Allegiance.

During the open comment session Pastor Rex Goble offered a prayer.

Mr. Eitel offered a motion, seconded by Mrs. Rayhel, to approve the minutes, treasurer’s report, and bills from the month of December. On roll call the vote was as follows: Mr. Crews, aye; Mr. Cook, aye; Mrs. Rayhel, aye; Mr. Eitel, aye; Mr. Gard, aye; Mrs. Hendrix, aye; and Mr. Macke, aye.

South School Principal, Connie Morgan, reported to the board that the Kindergarten Round Up will be held at St. Mary’s Parish Hall on February 24 and 25. This is for children who will be five years on or before September 1, 2021. Parents can call South School and make an appointment for their child.

Mr. Ritchey, High School Principal, thanked Garry and his workers for the new LED lighting. Mr. Graham, Jr. High Principal, also the board that he was thankful for the new also.

Mr. Engerski told the board that his custodians were continuing with the extra sanitizing and have extra people helping to clean. He also reported that he is in need of bus drivers. He is down to only 1 sub driver.

The Facilities Committee met with representatives from Honeywell and Farnsworth before the board meeting. They discussed four possible projects for the future: HVAC work at the high school, remodeling the high school cafeteria, building a breezeway between the jr. high and high school, and putting air conditioning in McNary Gym. It is a possibility that the district will receive money from the Cares Act and that $800,000 can go towards these projects.

In his superintendent’s report, Mr. Ross discussed the in-person learning, remote learning, and Covid numbers. Some highlights are:

∙ As of Thursday, January 14, 8 students are in quarantine and 2 staff members in quarantine with Covid

∙ 50 students in quarantine due to close contact outside of school

∙ 41 students in quarantine due to close contact inside of school

∙ 1 staff in quarantine due to close contact outside school. No staff members in quarantine due to close contact inside of school.

∙ Numbers change daily

∙ No extracurricular activities have been cancelled, but everything is on hold

∙ Thanked Tina, Dana, and Holly from our district, Mallory with Horizon Health, and Drs. Pine Mattas and Amy James for helping with testing.

∙ Vaccine is coming and school staff is included in the next phase

∙ At this time there is no vaccine for kids

∙ Mr. Ritchey, Mr. Keown, and senior students are trying to come up with some positive activities for the seniors

There are 1015 students that are in-person learning and 141 students, by choice, in remote learning. Mr. Ross, “We know there is a learning loss. There are some students we just cannot reach. We will have to have some kind of credit recovery in the summer to keep these kids on grade level.” Mr. Ross added, “At some point the media and others will need to acknowledge that there are schools who have been open through this—teachers, administrators, bus drivers, custodians, cafeteria workers, everyone.

A review of the existing closed session minutes is required every six months. These are reviewed in January and July. The review is to determine to whether to keep the minutes closed or to open them.

Mr. Crews offered a motion, seconded by Mrs. Rayhel, to keep the closed session minutes from July 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020, closed. All present voted aye.

Mr. Gard offered a motion, seconded by Mr. Macke, to destroy the closed session minutes and tapes over 18 months old for items deemed not appropriate to become open. All present voted aye.

Mrs. Hendrix offered a motion, seconded by Mr. Gard, to go into closed session for the purposes listed under 5ILCS 120/2(c)(1)(personnel). On roll call the vote was as follows: Mr. Crews, aye; Mr. Cook, aye; Mrs. Rayhel, aye; Mr. Eitel, aye; Mr. Gard, aye; Mrs. Hendrix, aye; and Mr. Macke, aye. The board went into closed session at 6:45 p.m.

As there was no business to be discussed or voted on, Mr. Gard offered a motion, seconded by Mr. Cook, to adjourn the meeting from closed session. All present voted aye. The meeting adjourned at 7:31 p.m.

https://core-docs.s3.amazonaws.com/documents/asset/uploaded_file/1216995/minutes_january_14_2021.pdf