Marshall Community Unit School District C-2 Board of Education met Aug. 12.
Here are the minutes provided by the board:
The Board of Education met in regular session with the following members present: Mr. Crews, Mr. Cook, Mr. Gard, Mr. Eitel, Mrs. Hendrix, and Mr. Macke. Superintendent Mr. Ross and administrators Mr. Ritchey, Mr. Keown, Mr. Maxwell, Mrs. Williams, Mrs. Lake, and Mrs. Morgan were also present along with Mr. Engerski.
President Macke called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. Mr. Macke led the Pledge of Allegiance.
During the public comment session, Gary Pruiett from the Ministerial Alliance offered a prayer.
There were several parents and community members present in the audience. During the public comment session, Brandon O’Rourke, Wendy Delp, Dusti Thompson, Ali Conine, Randy Williams, and Veronica Whitesell spoke to the board about their opinions on the mask mandate.
After the public comments were made, Mr. Ross spoke to the board and audience. “We had local control last month. It’s been trampled and taken away. It’s a terrible spot to be in. I hate this, I don’t want to put our teachers, parents, and students through this,” commented Ross. He continued, “Our community, kids and adults, have been fantastic.” “We’re sick of this. We want to have some normalcy. It’s wrong that they are doing,” he said. “However that this is our best chance to be open. We want kids in class.” Mr. Ross continued, “We need to fight for the local piece as soon as possible.”
Mr. Ross informed the board and audience that he would be attending the August 13 meeting of the State Board of Education in Springfield. Superintendent Ross also told the board that Roger Eddy and David Lett, two members of the State Board of Education have been to Marshall and agree with the Marshall School Board that local school boards need control.
“There were no recorded cases last year of spread in the Marshall Schools. It was happening outside of school. We never had an outbreak (5 or more cases)—we didn’t even have 2 or more. Marshall has followed the governor’s executive orders all year,” Mr. Ross said.
Mr. Ross informed the board that he had received an email from the State School Superintendent Ayala the night before and she threatened to put a district on probation if they failed to follow the governor’s direction. She said this could cost them their state and federal funding.
Member Bill Cook commented that the school attorney has recommended complying with the state mandates as it did all last year.
“I can’t put the district, taxpayers, and the kids at risk. Kevin has really good data that this is not a problem for Marshall,” said Mr. Cook.
President Dave Macke: “The loss of recognition is huge. Non-recognized schools don’t exist as far as the state is concerned. I would anything in the world for you to be able to tell your kids that they don’t have to wear a mask. However, it’s better to have the kids in school than not in school at all.”
Mr. Crews offered a motion, seconded by Mr. Cook to approve the following: The Marshall Board of Education begrudgingly acknowledges the State Of Illinois power to impose the current mask mandate. We, however, do not agree with this mandate in anyway. It is our sincere belief that local control is vastly superior to using a single order that treats all 898 districts the same. We will continue to look for ways to regain local control, and pursue any avenue that we feel has a legitimate chance of success. All present voted aye.
Mr. Macke opened a public hearing concerning the intent of the Board of Education of CUSD C-2 to sell $6,200,000 funding funds at 6:14 p.m. As there were no comments (written or spoken) or questions (written or spoken) from the board or the public, Mr. Macke closed the hearing at 6:17 p.m. There was no action needed at this meeting. The sale of the bonds will take place at the September board meeting.
Mrs. Hendrix offered a motion, seconded by Mr. Gard, to approve the minutes, treasurer’s report and the bills from the month of July. On roll call the vote was as follows: Mr. Crews, aye; Mr. Cook, aye; Mr. Gard, aye; Mr. Eitel, aye; Mrs. Hendrix, aye; and Mr. Macke, aye.
Mr. Ross discussed the back-to-school plan:
∙ There will be no remote learning unless a student is quarantined, or has a medical doctor’s note stating that student cannot attend school
∙ Covid tests will still be available
∙ Masks are required for indoor sports; no limit as to the number of spectators
∙ Elementary meals will continue to be eaten in the classrooms
∙ North and South bus shuttles will resume
∙ Art and music in the elementary schools and the high school tutorials will be held in their normal classrooms
∙ Locker rooms for the high school and junior high students will be open
∙ Parent-teacher conferences can be held in person or remote
Mr. Ross presented the board with a draft of the 2021-2022 budget. This will be discussed more at other board meetings.
Mr. Gard offered a motion, seconded by Mr. Crews, to destroy the closed session minutes from August 2019-January 2020. All present voted aye. This is done every 6 months. The practice of the board has been to destroy the minutes for reasons of confidentiality.
Mr. Gard offered a motion, seconded by Mrs. Hendrix, 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; Mr. Gard, aye; Mr. Eitel, aye; Mrs. Hendrix, aye; and Mr. Macke, aye. The board went into closed session at 7:15 p.m. Mr. Gard offered a motion, seconded by Mr. Macke, to return to open session. All present voted aye. The board returned to open session at 7:30 p.m. Mr. Macke offered a motion, seconded by Mr. Crews, to employ Josh Maxwell as Jr. High School Principal for the 2021-2022 school year. On roll call the vote was as follows: Mr. Crews, aye; Mr. Cook, aye; Mr. Gard, aye; Mr. Eitel, aye; Mrs. Hendrix, aye; and Mr. Macke, aye.
Mr. Macke offered a motion, seconded by Mr. Cook, to accept the resignation of Chad Boatman as the fresh/soph boy’s basketball coach. All present voted aye. Mr. Cook offered a motion, seconded by Mr. Macke, to adjourn the meeting. All present voted aye. The meeting adjourned at 7:35 p.m.
https://core-docs.s3.amazonaws.com/documents/asset/uploaded_file/1558153/minutes_august_12_2021.pdf
Alerts Sign-up