December 21, 2023 at 7:00 PM - Board of Education Regular Meeting
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I. Call to Order
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II. Pledge of Allegiance
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III. Roll Call
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IV. Consent Agenda **
Description:
Minutes of regular meeting held November 9, 2023
Minutes of closed meeting held November 9, 2023 December Bills Payable November Treasurer's Report Destruction of closed meeting audio recording from June 16, 2022 |
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V. Superintendent’s Report – Recognition and Informational Items
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V.A. Student Recognition
Description:
Rylan Art will be in attendance so that we may recognize his accomplishments in being selected the December Student of the Month.
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V.B. New Course Proposals for 2025/26
Description:
Dr. Noisey will be highlighting the following new dual credit course proposal for consideration for the 2025/26 school year:
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V.C. Fall Athletic Accomplishments
Description:
Athletic Director Tom Ross will be in attendance to share highlights from our fall athletic programs.
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V.D. Feeder School Superintendent Articulation
Description:
Articulation meetings continue on a regular basis with feeder school superintendents. Through these discussions, we are able to align calendars, share district initiatives, identify shared service opportunities, and more. Just a quick note this month to make you aware we recently shared summary information with each of our feeders on last year’s freshman class, including activities and athletic participation, attendance data, discipline data, fall survey results, MAP and SAT scores, student grades and GPA. No individual student information was shared, only summary results, but we hope this provides valuable data for our feeders on how successful and involved their students were in their freshman year.
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V.E. Safety Training
Description:
District and school administrators attended a training last month hosted by the Illinois Fire Service Institute. The training was also attended by two feeder schools, the Fox Lake Police Department, the Fox Lake Fire Protection District and neighboring police and fire departments. We did a number of tabletop exercises, working through a variety of safety scenarios. This was a valuable training, especially as it relates to increased communication and organization between the District, police and fire officials and a greater understanding of how the Incident Command System structures for each of our organizations would standup in the event of an emergency.
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V.F. AI in Education
Description:
I wanted to share with you that we have taken some initial steps to begin addressing AI in our school community. We have a leadership team identified and an initial meeting held to begin developing a vision, policies and procedures, and guidance on the use of AI. An ad hoc committee will be formed to accomplish this task and we are hopeful to have a number of faculty and staff participate in the process. There are both benefits and risks with the use of AI, but knowing everyone has access to use this information independently already and this resource is here to stay, we are ready to take next steps to define our expectations and educate our stakeholders on how to use this tool responsibly and productively.
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V.G. Regional Office of Education Compliance Audit
Description:
The District is scheduled for a Compliance Audit by the Regional Office of Education (ROE) this year. They will be auditing the areas of compliance, licensure, and professional development. The audit requires an extensive amount of preparation and documentation. However, we expect to have everything in order for their site visits in March! If you’d like more details on the Audit, slides are attached from the ROE presentation.
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V.H. Principal’s Report
Description:
Dr. Schmidt will give his monthly Principal’s Report.
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V.I. Student Representative’s Report
Description:
Julia Podgorski will provide her monthly report.
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VI. Public Comment
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VII. Superintendent’s Report – Action Items
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VII.A. New Course Proposal for 2025/26 **
Description:
Recommend approval of the dual credit course proposal for The Exceptional Child be approved as presented effective the 2025/26 school year.
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VII.B. School Board Policy Modification **
Description:
I am seeking approval of the following School Board Policies based on direction from the Illinois Association of School Boards and legal counsel:
Section 2 Board of Education 2:20 Powers and Duties of the Board of Education 2:120 Board Member Development 2:200 Types of Board of Education Meetings 2:220 Board of Education Meeting Procedure Section 4 Operational Services 4:10 Fiscal and Business Management 4:60 Purchases and Contracts 4:130 Free and Reduced-Price Food Services 4:160 Environmental Quality of Buildings and Grounds Section 5 Personnel 5:210 Resignations 5:220 Substitute Teachers 5:250 Leaves of Absence 5:330 Sick Days, Vacation, Holidays, and Leaves Section 6 Instruction 6:15 School Accountability 6:50 School Wellness 6:230 Library Media Program Section 7 Students 7:60 Residence 7:160 Student Appearance 7:190 Student Behavior 7:270 Administering Medicine to Students 7:290 Suicide and Depression Awareness and Prevention Section 8 Community Relations 8:30 Visitors to and Conduct on School Property The PRESS Update Memo is included to provide supporting information for all proposed changes. Policies with non-material changes, including those with legal reference and footnote updates only, will be modified administratively and are not presented for change. Recommend approval as presented. |
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VII.C. Overnight Trip Requests **
Description:
The Math Team is requesting an overnight stay to travel to a regional competition from February 23 to February 24, 2024. The competition will take place at DeKalb. The majority of trip costs will be paid with activity funds, with the exception of chaperone and fuel costs. Students will be paying for their meal on Saturday afternoon.
The Speech Team is requesting an overnight stay to travel to a sectional competition from February 9 to February 10, 2024. The competition will take place at Rochelle High School. The majority of trip costs will be paid with activity funds, with the exception of entry fees, chaperone and fuel costs. Students will be paying for their meals individually. Recommend approval of the overnight trips as presented. |
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VII.D. Personnel **
Description:
Recommend the employment of the following individuals:
Recommend accepting the resignations from:
Notification of FMLA request from Stephanie Ashmore, beginning January 8, 2024 through January 31, 2024 |
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VIII. Business Affairs
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VIII.A. Final 2023 Tax Levy **
Description:
In October, I presented the tentative 2023 Certificate of Tax Levy. Attached, please find the final 2023 Certificate of Tax Levy, along with the Resolution to Spread a Tax Levy for Year 2023, the Resolution to Levy Certain Special Taxes for Special Education District IMRF Purposes, and the Resolution for Levying for Working Cash Fund Purposes for the Year 2023. There has been no change to what was presented in October. I’ve included the presentation for the tax levy hearing for your review as well. Recommend approval of the 2023 Final Tax Levy as presented.
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VIII.B. Operational Funds Expenditures Report **
Description:
School Board Policy 4:10, Fiscal and Business Management requires the Chief School Business Official to present a written report that includes the annual average expenditures of the district’s operational funds for the previous three fiscal years at or before the board meeting at which the Board adopts its levy. We are asking the Board to adopt the 2023 Tax Levy tonight, so I have included this written report as well for your approval. We will post this report on our website as well. Recommend approval of the Operational Funds Expenditures Report as presented.
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VIII.C. SchoolLinks Program **
Description:
SchoolLinks is a modern college and career readiness software platform with a complete set of tools and resources to enable Grant to track and improve student performance. Additionally, it will educate students about potential careers, help students explore and apply to college and match students with employment opportunities. The platform is student-centered so they can intuitively navigate and set up their to-do lists and favorite colleges. SchoolLinks will streamline the process for teachers and counselors allowing for more efficiency. There is a one-time implementation fee of $8,500. For this first year, they are only charging us for half the year for a cost of $8,692.50. Total year one cost is $17,192.50. Each year after there is a 3% increase built in, so year 2 is $17,906.55 and year 3 is $18,435.51. We expect this to eventually replace several programs which will equalize the cost. Recommend approval of the three-year contract with SchoolLinks beginning December 2024.
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VIII.D. Final 2022-2023 Audit **
Description:
Last month, I presented the draft of the audit for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2023. The auditor received authorization from the peer reviewer who was assigned by the State Board of Education to release our audit and it is now final. There are no changes to what was presented last month and a bound copy will be given to each of you at the meeting. Recommend approval of the Fiscal Year 2023 audit as presented.
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VIII.E. 3-Year Bus Lease for 71-Passenger Yellow Buses – Central States **
Description:
Our 71-Passenger buses are coming up on the end of their 2-year lease with Midwest Transit Equipment. Midwest is unable to provide new gasoline buses for a new lease. They asked us to extend our current lease for an additional 2-3 years, or consider going back to diesel buses. In order to go back to diesel buses, we would need to switch our fuel tank back over to diesel, and re-install the diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) container in the garage. We reached out to Central States Bus Sales, Inc. and they were able to provide us with a quote on twenty-three 2025 Blue Bird Gasoline 71-passenger school buses for a three-year lease at a cost of $28,225 per bus each year. Buses will all be delivered by July, with a minimum of eight being delivered in June to accommodate summer school. Recommend approval of a 3-year bus lease with Central States Bus Sales, Inc on twenty-three 2025 Blue-Bird gasoline 71-passenger school buses.
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VIII.F. Coaching Recommendation **
Description:
Per the Agreement between the Board of Education and the Grant Council, a standing committee meets annually to discuss the number of coaches and sponsors assigned to athletics and co-curricular activities. This committee met on November 7 and November 8 to hear proposals from coaches and sponsors. We met again on December 5th to review data gathered, and to make a recommendation. Included in your board packet is a recommendation from the committee with the data we reviewed. Recommend approval for 2023-2024 of an additional Assistant Wrestling coach and increasing the .50 Assistant Dance Coach to a full 1.0 for the Winter Season. We are also recommending beginning in 2024-2025 adding an additional Assistant Football coach and increasing the .50 Assistant Dance Coach to a full 1.0 for both the Fall and the Winter Season. Finally, we recommend approval of adding a level to the Badminton program, which will require the addition of an additional Assistant Badminton coach.
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IX. Other Business
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IX.A. FOIA
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X. Closed Session
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X.A. The appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance or dismissal of specific employees. 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(1) **
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X.B. Student disciplinary cases 5 ILCS 120/2 (c)(9) **
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XI. Action items from closed session discussion
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XI.A. Potential Board action regarding personnel **
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XI.B. Potential Board action regarding placement of students **
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XII. Adjourn
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