Galesburg Reporter

West Central Community Unit School District #235 Board of Education met Sept. 20.

Here are the minutes provided by the board:

MINUTES OF THE PUBLIC HEARING FOR FY24 BUDGET AND OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF WEST CENTRAL COMMUNITY UNIT SCHOOL DISTRICT #235

ROLL CALL FOR PUBLIC HEARING FOR FY24 DISTRICT BUDGET

The meeting was called to order by President Schaley at 5:32 p.m., in the elementary cafeteria. The following Board members answered roll call: Bigger, Chockley, Clark, Higgins, and Schaley. Gullberg and Vancil were absent. President Schaley declared a quorum present. Also present were Superintendent Day, J. Shultz, K. Lafary, J. Peters, S. Ryner, J. Kirby, J. Zaiser, J. Hennings, and new staff members.

COMMENTS FROM PUBLIC REGARDING FY24 DISTRICT BUDGET

President Schaley asked the members of the audience if there were any comments or questions regarding the district's FY24 budget. There were no questions to come from the audience.

ADJOURN THE PUBLIC HEARING

President Schaley declared the budget hearing adjourned at 5:33 p.m. Motion by Clark, seconded by Bigger. Majority of Ayes by Voice Vote. Motion carried.

RECONVENED

The Board reconvened at 6:01 p.m, in the elementary cafeteria. The following Board members were present: Bigger, Chockley, Clark, Gullberg, Higgins, Schaley, and Vancil. President Schaley declared a quorum present. Also present were Superintendent Day, J. Shultz, K. Lafary, J. Peters, S. Ryner, J. Kirby, J. Zaiser, J. Hennings, B. Nannen-Miller, Kevin DeMent, Ashley Hahn, Rozella Liggett, Addison Webster, Ann Webster, Scott Boughner, and Clinton Stimpson.

President Schaley then led the audience in the Pledge of Allegiance.

GOOD NEWS ITEMS

• Our partnership with the Farm Bureau is appreciated. They sponsor events such as Safety Day and Ag Days for our elementary students

• Our partnership with the Stronghurst Lion's Club is appreciated. They provide vision screenings at our early childhood screenings

• We had an anonymous donation submitted to ABC Containers to pay for moving the storage unit out of the greenhouse space as we prepare for that project to start.

• Paige Torrance (School Nurse) wrote for a grant and our Elementary and Middle Schools have been selected as recipients of the Delta Dental of Illinois and Illinois Children's Healthcare Foundation's H2O on the Go Water Bottle Filling station grant. 

• Mrs. Nannen gave a shout out to the band students for getting off to a great start this school year.

• Mrs. Colley received a $750 scholarship grant from the Illinois Retired Teachers Fund for supplies for the classroom.

APPROVE AGENDA

Motion by Bigger, seconded by Clark to approve the agenda as presented. Majority of Ayes by Voice Vote. Motion carried.

The Board recognized the 2022- 2023 Board Of Education Academic Excellence recipients. In order to be awarded this recognition, high school students must earn a 4.0 GPA for the previous school year. Kevin DeMent and Addison Webster were present to receive their recognition and plaque. Additional award winners unable to attend were Shelby Bowman, Addison Seitz, Carla Box, Delaney Endress, and Teegan Rodeffer.

COMMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC

There were no comments from the public.

CONSENT AGENDA

Motion by Clark, seconded by Chockley to approve the consent agenda including the following items: 

The minutes of the regular meeting of August 16, 2023;

Closed session minutes of August 16, 2023;

• The payment of all bills;

• All activity accounts;

• The treasurer's report for August 2023;

• Approved the agreement to use the Tombstone Bowl in Monmouth as the WCHS Bowling Team facility;

• Approved the Delabar CTE Intergovernmental agreement.

On roll call the following members voted aye: Clark, Gullberg, Higgins, Schaley, Vancil, Bigger, and Chockley. 7-0 Motion carried.

DISCUSSION ITEMS

We received one FOIA request this month asking for the name and email of any certified school librarians working as a school librarian.

Sixth Day Enrollment numbers were shared with the Board. Our enrollment increased by 17 students from last year's 6th day enrollment number. Our overall enrollment is up 8 students from what was predicted last year. The five year prediction is starting to show a slow decline in enrollment. As of the 6th day of school, our enrollment is 758 students, PreK-12th Grade.

We discussed a plan to provide additional food for students who need it during lunch. We will provide a sandwich to any student who would like one at no cost. We will rotate the type of sandwich (ham, turkey, peanut butter/jelly, etc). Students are still able to purchase second servings of the entree served for lunch, if they have money on their account. This program will start later in October, once the final logistics (ordering, preparation, etc) are completed.

Superintendent Day has worked on creating job descriptions for the following positions: School Nurse, School Psychologist/Special Education Coordinator, School Social Worker,

Speech-Language Pathologist, Elementary Counselor and High School Counselor. These new job descriptions have been shared with the appropriate staff and were shared with the Board for initial discussion. The final drafts will be presented in October for approval.

The Board originally had a Facilities Work Session scheduled for Saturday, September 23 at 8:30 am. Due to the Middle School Softball team qualifying for the state tournament, we will reschedule the Work Session for Saturday, October 7, 2023 at 8:30 am.

Clinton Stimpson and Athletic Director Joel Zaiser presented information about starting a Bass Fishing Team for high school students. The team would be open to any student who wants to participate. They would fish at local ponds and use volunteers for boat captains and sponsors as they get the program started. IHSA offers a state series in May. The Board asked Superintendent Day to research any insurance/liability concerns and present back to them before formal action is taken at the October Board Meeting.

A discussion was held on the behavior of students at athletic events. The plan is that Superintendent Day will send a ConnectEd message to all families about expectations at events and principals will discuss/teach these with their students as well. For our football games, students will still be able to play football off on the side, but not tackle and will be reminded that if an adult/administrator asks them to do something, they need to follow directions or they will face consequences at school and may be asked to leave. Superintendent Day shared that school districts throughout the area are handling this in a variety of ways, some similar to our plan (reminding/reteaching expectations), not allowing students to play football at all and some requiring students to be with a parent at all times. We are hopeful that by reteaching/reminding of expectations, we are able to allow students to still enjoy being with their friends at games and we will not have to enact stricter procedures.

A short discussion was held to update the Board on how the new cell phone policy is working out this school year. Both high school and middle school administrators stated they felt like there has been significant improvement in the enforcement of cell phone usage in their buildings. It's been a learning curve for students, but improvement has been made and staff are continuing to follow the policy.

REPORTS

The Board reviewed and heard reports from the Building Principals K. Lafary, S. Ryner and J. Kirby. District Technology Coordinator Jeremy Hennings and J. Zaiser, District Athletic Director.

The Administrator and Teacher Salary Report and benefit Report for the 2022-2023 school year was presented. This is an annual requirement from ISBE and will be posted on our District website.

ACTION ITEMS

Motion by Clark, seconded by Vancil to approve the FY24 District Budget as presented. On roll call the following members voted aye: Gullberg, Higgins, Schaley, Vancil, Bigger, Chockley, and Clark. 7-0 Motion carried.

Motion by Clark, seconded by Bigger to approve the creation of the Board Athletic Committee as presented. Majority of Ayes by Voice Vote. Motion carried.

Motion by Vancil, seconded by Bigger to approve the District Response to Bullying Plan as presented. Majority of Ayes by Voice Vote. Motion carried.

Motion by Clark, seconded by Gullberg to approve the WCES School-wide Title I Plan as presented. Majority of Ayes by Voice Vote. Motion carried.

Motion by Clark, seconded by Chockley to approve the WCMS School-wide Title I Plan as presented. Majority of Ayes by Voice Vote. Motion carried.

Motion by Vancil, seconded by Chockley to approve WCHS FFA to attend the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis, IN November 1-2, 2023, as presented. Majority of Ayes by Voice Vote. Motion carried.

FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS

Board Members requested to add WCHS Bass Fishing Team as an action next month.

CLOSED SESSION

Motion by Clark, seconded by Chockley to adjourn to closed meeting pursuant of the Illinois Open Meetings Act - 5ILCS 120/2 (2) (16) at 7:31 p.m. to discuss the following subjects: A. Personnel - The appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance, or dismissal of specific employees of the public body or legal counsel for the public body, including hearing testimony on a complaint lodged against an employee of the public body or against legal counsel for the public body to determine its validity;

B. Negotiations - Collective negotiating matters between the school board and its employees or their representatives, or deliberations concerning salary schedules for one or more classes of employees;

Majority of Ayes by Voice Vote. Motion carried.

The Board took a short break and reconvened in the District Office Conference Room at 7:35 p.m. On roll call the following members answered roll call: Bigger, Chockley, Clark, Gullberg, Higgins, Schaley, and Vancil. Also present was S. Day.

Motion by Bigger, seconded by Vancil to return to open session at 8:08 p.m. On roll call the following members answered roll call: Bigger, Chockley, Clark, Gullberg, Higgins, Schaley and Vancil. 7-0 Motion carried.

The Board took a short break and reconvened in the elementary cafeteria at 8:11 p.m. On roll call the following members answered roll call: Bigger, Chockley, Clark, Gullberg, Higgins, Schaley and Vancil.

West Central School District 

School Board Meeting 

Personnel Items for Board Approval Wednesday, September 20, 2023 

Please note: the following new appointments are pending completion of all certifications, requirements, and clearance on the state required background investigation.

Personnel Changes 

Name Title Salary  

Volunteers:

BJ Kelly WCMS Football N/A

Lindsey Higgins WCMS Girls' Basketball N/A

Nicole Ebert WCMS Cheerleading Coach N/A

Kim Thompson WCMS Cheerleading Coach N/A

New Appointments:

Ariel Dillard WCMS Cheerleading Coach WCATS Contract

Nick Allen WCHS Assistant Baseball Coach WCATS Contract

Henry Sutton WCHS Science Club Sponsor WCATS Contract

Robert Fleming WCHS Rotating Sophomore Class Sponsor WCATS Contract 

Stephanie Allaman WCHS Rotating Senior Class Sponsor WCATS Contract

Amy McGowen WCHS Permanent Freshman Class Sponsor WCATS Contract

Ross Parcel WCHS Rotating Freshman Class Sponsor WCATS Contract

Tom Williams WCHS Rotating Junior Class Sponsor WCATS Contract

Sara Dittner WCMS Assistant Speech Sponsor WCATS Contract

Jenny Ford WCES SIP Team Member WCATS Contract

Emily Klossing WCES SIP Team Member WCATS Contract

Laura Lewis WCES SIP Team Member WCATS Contract

Julie Ricketts WCES SIP Team Member WCATS Contract

Patricia Thompson WCES SIP Team Member WCATS Contract

Jessica Winters WCES SIP Team Member WCATS Contract

Kendrah Ruebush WCES SIP Team Member WCATS Contract 

Judy Kelly WCES RtI Member $1000 Stipend

Laura Lewis WCES RtI Member $1000 Stipend

Amy Wolf WCES RtI Member $1000 Stipend

Stacie Anderson WCES After School Tutoring $20.00/hour

Dylan Brooks WCES After School Tutoring $20.00/hour

Jacque Clark WCES After School Tutoring $20.00/hour

Trisha Forquer WCES After School Tutoring $20.00/hour

Loren Fox WCES After School Tutoring $20.00/hour

Rhonna Hand WCES After School Tutoring $20.00/hour

Michelle Johnson WCES After School Tutoring $20.00/hour

Bonita Johnston WCES After School Tutoring $20.00/hour

Kara Keating WCES After School Tutoring $20.00/hour

Laura Lewis WCES After School Tutoring $20.00/hour

Julie Ricketts WCES After School Tutoring $20.00/hour

Karri Wallace WCES After School Tutoring $20.00/hour

Jessica Winters WCES After School Tutoring $20.00/hour

Amy Wolf WCES After School Tutoring $20.00/hour

Jalynne Young WCES After School Tutoring $20.00/hour

Kayla Johnson WCES After School Tutoring $20.00/hour

Ariel Dillard WCMS SIP Team Member WCATS Contract

Lisa Miller WCMS SIP Team Member WCATS Contract

Tammy Slater WCMS SIP Team Member WCATS Contract

Heather Davis WCMS SIP Team Member WCATS Contract

Sara Dittner WCMS SIP Team Member WCATS Contract

Lisa Lox WCMS SIP Team Member WCATS Contract

Resignations:

Kim Thompson WCMS Cheerleading Coach

Robert Fleming WCHS Science Club Sponsor

Stacie Anderson WCES Enrichment Sponsor

Ross Parcel WCHS Rotating Sophomore Class Sponsor

Retirement: 

Peggy Shutwell District Cook - Effective September 13, 2023

Motion by Clark, seconded by Gullberg to approve the personnel items as presented. On roll call the following members voted aye: Higgins, Schaley, Vancil, Bigger, Chockley, Clark, and Gullberg. 7-0 Motion carried.

Motion by Clark, seconded by Vancil to approve the resolution to release closed session minutes per exhibits A and B and destroy the verbatim recordings per exhibit C, as presented. On roll call the following members voted aye: Schaley, Vancil, Bigger, Chockley, Clark, Gullberg, and Higgins. 7-0 Motion carried.

FUTURE MEETING DATE

The Board was reminded that the regular Board Meeting will be held on Wednesday, October 18, 2023.

ADJOURNMENT

Motion by Clark, seconded by Chockley to adjourn at 8:11 p.m. Majority of Ayes by Voice Vote. Motion carried.

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