Arcola Community Unit School District #306 Board of Education met Jan. 11.
Here are the minutes provided by the board:
A regular meeting of the Board of Education of Arcola Community Unit District #306 Arcola, Illinois was called to order in the High School Library at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, January 11, 2023 for the purpose of regular business.
President Strader called the meeting to order. The following members answered roll call: Crane, Stout, Myers, Arrol, and Strader. Board member Wesch arrived after the meeting had started. Board member Shonkwiler was not present.
Others present were: Tom Mulligan, Jennifer Frichtl, Angie Gentry, Megan Clark, Nick Lindsey, Amber Behrends, David Porter, Boswell Hutson, Mike Gomez, Jesus Garza, and Myranda Crist.
President Strader recognized the visitors and asked for public comment. Several members of the audience commented on the recently released soccer feasibility study that the district completed. Ms. Crist asked if there was a copy of the survey that the public could see. She suggested that the district survey the younger grades because realistically if the board decided to add soccer, doing so would take a couple years to implement. Mr. Garza asked for some clarification on some of the numbers on the survey because in his opinion they didn’t align with the participation numbers in the rec league’s soccer program. He also said the town is in favor of adding a school soccer team and that the community will help in whatever ways needed. Mr. Gomez acknowledged that Arcola is a football town but said that it could be a soccer town as well. He said several kids are leaving the district to find opportunities elsewhere. He asked if the district chooses not to offer a soccer program, if they would pay the cost for these students to attend a school that does have soccer.
There were no pending FOIA requests.
Motion by Stout, seconded by Myers, to approve the regular meeting minutes from December 14, 2022, the Building Committee meeting minutes from January 4, 2023, and the Policy Committee meeting minutes from January 4, 2023. Roll call vote: Crane, aye; Stout, aye; Myers, aye; Arrol, aye; Strader, aye. 5 ayes. 0 nays. Motion carried.
Motion by Crane, seconded by Stout, to approve the Treasurer’s Report as of December 31, 2022 as submitted. Roll call vote: Crane, aye; Stout, aye; Myers, aye; Arrol, aye; Strader, aye. 5 ayes. 0 nays. Motion carried.
Motion by Stout, seconded by Crane, to approve the payment of bills as submitted in the amount of $160,033.48. Roll call vote: Crane, aye; Stout, aye; Myers, aye; Wesch, aye; Arrol, aye; Strader, aye. 6 ayes. 0 nays. Motion carried.
Motion by Wesch, seconded by Myers, to approve the payment of payroll in the amount of $484,902.46. Roll call vote: Crane, aye; Stout, aye; Myers, aye; Wesch, aye; Arrol, aye; Strader, aye. 6 ayes. 0 nays. Motion carried.
Business:
Motion by Stout, seconded by Crane, to approve the seniority list for support staff. Roll call vote: Crane, aye; Stout, aye; Myers, aye; Wesch, aye; Arrol, aye; Strader, aye. 6 ayes. 0 nays. Motion carried.
Motion by Stout, seconded by Wesch, to approve the first reading of PRESS Policies from October 2022. Roll call vote: Crane, aye; Stout, aye; Myers, aye; Wesch, aye; Arrol, aye; Strader, aye. 6 ayes. 0 nays. Motion carried.
Motion by Crane, seconded by Wesch, to table action on the health life safety amendment for locking door mechanisms. Roll call vote: Crane, aye; Stout, aye; Myers, aye; Wesch, aye; Arrol, aye; Strader, aye. 6 ayes. 0 nays. Motion carried.
Motion by Wesch, seconded by Myers, to approve the alternate bid for the outfield baseball fence in the amount of $23,564. The Arcola Foundation will reimburse $21,644 of that to be paid over four years. Roll call vote: Crane, aye; Stout, aye; Myers, aye; Wesch, aye; Arrol, aye; Strader, aye. 6 ayes. 0 nays. Motion carried.
Motion by Crane, seconded by Stout, to approve adding an additional high school English position for the 2023-2024 school year. Roll call vote: Crane, aye; Stout, aye; Myers, aye; Wesch, aye; Arrol, aye; Strader, aye. 6 ayes. 0 nays. Motion carried.
Administrative Team Reports
Mrs. Gentry said there was a lot of celebrating in December before winter break, including the Countdown to Winter Break with daily dress up days and activities. The K-2 grades put on their annual winter concert. The ROE awarded the district with three scholarships for employees to attend the Raising Student Achievement Conference in Schaumburg. There has been a decline in attendance in the elementary school in November and December due to sickness and holiday travel. The elementary has MAP testing this week and AimsWeb testing next week so they will be reviewing that data soon. Mr. Lindsey commented how fortunate we are to have such tremendous support year after year from the community and the local businesses for our school and our students. Numerous donations provided over 300 gifts for the junior high and high school second quarter celebration. Mr. Lindsey proposed the idea of adding an assistant track coach at the high school level. He explained that it is difficult at both practices and meets for a single coach to reach all of the athletes. He said that several of the schools in our conference have at least one paid assistant coach. Dr. Mulligan reported on the soccer feasibility study. He said it was administered in every 1st hour class in a small group setting. The reasoning for and importance of the survey was explained to the students. Dr. Mulligan addressed a few of the comments and questions that were brought up earlier in the public comment portion of the meeting. He stated that there are numerous students interested in numerous activities and it is not reasonable to expect the district to pay for those students to attend different schools simply because the district is unable to offer the programs those students are interested in. He also pointed out that it is difficult to say that the current number of students playing soccer in the younger grades now will correlate to the same level of interest once those students enter junior high and high school. Dr. Mulligan said he cannot in good conscience recommend the district offer a soccer program if doing so could potentially harm existing programs that are still overwhelmingly the students’ first choice. Our current enrollment does not support having multiple competitive teams during the same seasons. Dr. Mulligan pointed out that field space and money were not factors in his decision and said that if the enrollment numbers or students’ interests change in the next few years, this could be a very different discussion. After some discussion, the Board did not think that it was necessary to add this item to the next agenda at this time.
Motion by Stout, seconded by Wesch, to enter into executive session at 7:53 p.m. to discuss the appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance, or dismissal of specific employees, specific individuals who serve as independent contractors in an educational setting, or specific volunteers of the public and a review of closed session minutes. Illinois Open Meetings Act, 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(1). Roll call vote: Crane, aye; Stout, aye; Myers, aye; Wesch, aye; Arrol, aye; Strader, aye. 6 ayes. 0 nays. Motion carried.
Motion by Crane, seconded by Wesch, to return to regular session at 8:35 p.m. Roll call vote: Crane, aye; Stout, aye; Myers, aye; Wesch, aye; Arrol, aye; Strader, aye. 6 ayes. 0 nays. Motion carried.
Motion by Crane, seconded by Myers, to approve the release of the redacted closed session minutes from the previous 6 months and to destroy verbatim records older than 18 months. Roll call vote: Crane, aye; Stout, aye; Myers, aye; Wesch, aye; Arrol, aye; Strader, aye. 6 ayes. 0 nays. Motion carried.
Announcements: None
Motion by Wesch, seconded by Myers, to adjourn at 8:36 p.m. Roll call vote: Crane, aye; Stout, aye; Myers, aye; Wesch, aye; Arrol, aye; Strader, aye. 6 ayes. 0 nays. Motion carried.
https://core-docs.s3.amazonaws.com/documents/asset/uploaded_file/426/Arcola_CUSD/2749448/Board_Minutes_-_Regular_Meeting_01.11.2023.pdf
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