January 16, 2020 at 7:00 PM - Board of Education Regular Meeting

Description:  Minutes of special meeting held December 11, 2019
Minutes of closed meeting held December 11, 2919
Minutes of regular meeting held December 19, 2019
Minutes of closed meeting held December 19, 2919
January Bills Payable
December Treasurer's Report
Quarterly list of authorized depositories, investment managers, dealers, and brokers

Description:  Neil Knudsen will be in attendance so that we may recognize his accomplishments in being selected as the January Student of the Month. 

Description:  Mike Werner will be in attendance to recognize his receipt of the 2nd quarter Excellence in Education Award. 

Description:  Casey Duval, Assistant Director of Activities and Athletics, will be in attendance to provide highlights of first semester accomplishments for clubs and activities.  

Description:  The Transition Program is a special education program that is offered to students with disabilities who require continued support after completion of their four years of high school. These students may need further instruction and guided practice in the areas of work-based learning, independent living, and community access to further their independence as determined by the student’s IEP team. The students in the program have a range of abilities and the goal of the program is to help each student reach their highest level of independence in these areas.  We currently contract with SEDOL for the Transition Program, however we are making the recommendation to provide these educational services in-district.  This recommendation is based on our desire to provide these educational services locally and provide students the benefit of work-based learning experiences in their own community.  Based on current enrollment, the take-back of this program will result in a net savings to the district of approximately $139,000.  Recommend approval of a district provided transitions program effective with the 2020/21 school year. 

Description:  Students have the right to attend school in the district in which they reside with their parent or legal guardian.  With an increasing trend of residency-related cases requiring investigation, we are recommending a change to student residency procedures effective with the 2020/21 school year.  With the purchase of a subscription-based residency validation program, CLEAR from Thomson Reuters, we can ensure we are enrolling and educating only those students who reside in-district.  This recommendation comes to you after considering many options, including returning to an in-person or online residency process.  The CLEAR program will provide us the opportunity to verify residency, through reliable public and proprietary information, prior to enrollment and periodically throughout their four years.  The site-license will allow us to run residency reports once per year for all students, prior to the start of a school year at a cost of $234 per month.  The site license to perform unlimited searching throughout the school year (new students, transfer students, returned mail, etc.) will be $289 per month.  Both require a 12-month subscription.  With a cost to educate a student at approximately $15,000 per year, we feel this is a sound investment to strengthen our residency measures and ensure all students reside in the district.  With approval, parents and guardians will be made aware of the new procedures.  Recommend approval of a subscription-based service with CLEAR for both the residency batch process and unlimited searching throughout the school year at a combined cost of $523 per month. 

Description:  Illinois school districts are required to administer a science assessment to students in grades 5, 8 and 11.  The format of the test and the students that need to be tested have changed significantly from last year.  The new test is a series of 3 online assessments, with each test session estimated to take 50-55 minutes to complete between test administration and student time on task.  There was not an easy solution to schedule testing as juniors are not all taking the same science class and there are some juniors not currently enrolled in a science course.  In order to minimize impact to both testing and non-testing students, juniors will test in groups of 100-120 in both the morning and afternoon on regular school days.  We will complete the majority of testing on March 3 and 4, with testing for Tech Campus students and those needing accommodations on March 2 and 5.  Participation in the Illinois Science Assessment is required and we must achieve participation of 95% of students eligible for testing. 

Description:  The Math Team is requesting an overnight trip to attend a regional competition from February 21 to February 22 in DeKalb, Illinois.  The majority of costs will be paid by those participating supplemented by activity funds.  The district will cover transportation and cost of an additional chaperone.  Recommend approval of the trip as requested. 

Description:  Recommend approval of the spring athletic coaches as presented.

Description:  Recommend the employment of the following individuals:

• Ursula Studzinska, Bus Driver, $21.28/hr., starting 1/13/2020
• Emma Figge, Musical Choreographer, $15/hr., starting 1/6/2020
• Hannah Baker, Red Zone Supervisor, $14.88/hr, starting 1/21/2020

Recommend accepting the resignations from the following:

• Robert Koval, Assistant Varsity Football Coach, effective immediately
• Mark Barczak, Assistant Football Coach, effective immediately
• Joshua Christian, Assistant Football Coach, effective 11/21/2019
• Garrett Olsen, Assistant Football Coach, effective immediately

Description:  Mr. Schmidt will give his monthly Principal’s Report. 

Description:  The rise of cybersecurity attacks on schools has made the news across the country, with several recent ones in Illinois.  As a pre-emptive action, we are recommending that the district contract with an independent outside company to do a comprehensive cybersecurity threat assessment.  Tom Furlan and I met with three different companies who offered different options.  I have attached information on them.  We recommend the district contract with CDW Government, LLC for a Rapid Security Assessment at a cost of $18,900. 

Description:  Midwest Transit Equipment provided us with a municipal lease proposal for the 2020/21 school year that had a significant increase over last year.  We began to look at options for keeping costs down, including moving to a two-year lease, and looking at other bus company options.  We are looking to make a change this year from Midwest Transit to Central States Bus Sales.  The lease is for 2021 Blue-Bird 71 passenger school buses at a cost of $15,696 each.  We currently lease 23 buses.  Additionally, we are recommending a two-year lease, and the price remains the same with Central States Bus Sales.  I included comparable information for your review.  Recommend leasing 23, 71- passenger gasoline buses from Central States Bus Sales, Inc for two years. 

Description:  The bus we lease with a wheelchair lift is also at the end of a three-year lease with Midwest Transit Equipment.  We approached this lease in the same manner as the 71-passenger yellow buses.  We received quotes from both Midwest and Central States Bus Sales.  The quoted prices are listed on the attached document.  Recommend leasing a 2020 Micro-Bird Gasoline 24 Passenger Lift for 3 years from Central States Bus Sales, Inc. 

Description:  The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) has released the preliminary 2020 Financial Profile Designation for the District based on the 2018-19 Annual Financial Report Data.  I’m happy to say we are receiving a 3.65 out of 4.00, with a status of Financial Recognition.  I’ve included the information from ISBE for your review.