Galesburg Reporter

Mercer County School District 404 Board of Education met Nov. 15.

Here are the minutes provided by the board:

The Board of Education of Mercer County School District #404, Mercer, Henderson, & Rock Island Counties, Illinois, convened at a regular meeting at the Mercer County Junior High School Music Room, 1002 SW 6th Street, Aledo, IL on Wednesday, November 15, 2023 at 6:30 PM.

Prior to Roll Call, President Bill Smock opened with the Pledge of Allegiance.

ATTENDANCE 

Board members present upon roll call: Balmer, Smock, Nelson, Monson, Lower, Wagner and Yates. A quorum was present.

Absent: None.

Administrators present: Superintendent Scott Petrie, Principals Robertson, Sedam and Cooper. 

Also in Attendance: Colin Mellgren, Theresa and Jeffery Rollins, Stef Carey, and Recording Secretary Leanne McDermott.

Reporters: Jim Taylor.

CONSENT AGENDA

1. There was a motion by Monson, seconded by Lower to approve the following items on the consent agenda as presented.

1.1 Meeting Minutes- October 18, 2023

1.2 Bill List

1.3 Treasurer's Report

1.4 Financial Report

1.5 BCBS Health Insurance Account Statement

1.6 Committee Reports

1.7 Resignation of Dave VanderHeyden

Roll Call: 7 Ayes, 0 Nays. Motion carried.

SUBSTITUTE SALARIES

2. There was a motion by Monson, seconded by Yates, to approve the Substitute salaries effective January 1, 2024 as presented.

Roll Call: 7 Ayes, 0 Nays. Motion carried.

MCHS ART FIELD TRIP

3. There was a motion by Monson, seconded by Yates, to approve the MCHS art class field trip to the Art Institute of Chicago on November 9-12, 2023.

Voice: 7 Ayes, 0 Nays. Motion carried.

APOLLO ELEMENTARY ASBESTOS BID

4. There was a motion by Balmer, seconded by Yates to approve DEM Services' low bid of $31,250.

Roll Call: 7 Ayes, 0 Nays. Motion carried.

HLS AMENDMENT

5. There was a motion by Lower, seconded by Yates to approve using HLS funds to replace the original HVAC system in the vocational building as presented.

Roll Call: 7 Ayes, 0 Nays. Motion carried.

SCHOOL MAINTENANCE PROJECT GRANT

6. There was a motion by Yates, seconded by Monson to approve the School Maintenance Grant as presented.

Roll Call: 7 Ayes, 0 Nays. Motion carried.

FY23 AUDIT

7. There was a motion by Balmer, seconded by Yates to approve the FY23 Audit as presented.

Roll Call: 7 Ayes, 0 Nays. Motion carried.

HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION DATE

8. There was a motion by Balmer, seconded by Lower to approve high school graduation the Sunday preceding Memorial Day weekend/eight days prior to Memorial Day each year.

Roll Call: 6 Ayes, 1 Nay. Motion carried.

CLOSED SESSION

9. There was a motion by Monson, seconded by Yates, to go into Closed Session after a short recess for Personnel and Litigation at 7:27 PM.

Roll Call: 7 Ayes, 0 Nays. Motion carried.

5.1 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. 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(1) 

5.2 Litigation

Litigation, when an action against, affecting or on behalf of the particular public body has been filed and is pending before a court or administrative tribunal, or when the public body finds that an action is probable or imminent, in which case the basis for the finding must be recorded and entered into the closed meeting minutes. 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(11).

OPEN SESSION

10. There was a motion by Monson, seconded by Yates to come out of closed session at 8:00 PM.

Voice: 7 Ayes 0, Nays. Motion carried.

HIRE MCHS PARAPROFESSIONAL

11. There was a motion by Monson, seconded by Smock, to approve hiring Megan Shearer as High School Paraprofessional.

Roll Call: 7 Ayes, 0 Nays. Motion carried.

RE-HIRE FRESHMAN BOYS BASKETBALL COACH

12. There was a motion by Monson, seconded by Smock, to approve re-hiring Brian Fearman as Freshman Boys Basketball Coach.

Roll Call: 7 Ayes, 0 Nays. Motion carried.

HIRE APOLLO ELEMENTARY COOK

13. There was a motion by Monson, seconded by Smock, to approve hiring Stacey Dehm as Apollo Elementary Cook.

Roll Call: 7 Ayes, 0 Nays. Motion carried.

REIMBURSE JO HOSCHEIDT

14. There was a motion made by Smock, seconded by Lower to approve the reimbursement of $3,968.05 to Jo Hoscheidt and TRS $3,828.54.

Roll Call: 7 Ayes, 0 Nays. Motion carried.

ADJOURN

15. There was a motion by Balmer, seconded by Monson, to adjourn the meeting at 8:09 PM.

Voice: 7 Ayes, 0 Nays. Motion carried.

OTHER REPORTS AND DISCUSSIONS: 

ADDITIONS/DELETIONS: 1. None.

PUBLIC COMMENT: 2. Jeffery and Theresa Rollins requested their child be allowed to attend Apollo Elementary rather than New Boston Elementary due to their preference including distance, convenience of their childcare and their place of employment.

CORRESPONDENCE: 3. Memorial acknowledgement cards were received from the families of Tab Balmer, Lonnie Peterson and Jim Giles. The MCSEEF August Newsletter was shared with members.

BOARD COMMENTS: 4. None.

SCHOOL REPORT CARD 5. Mr. Petrie noted the Illinois Report Card was released October 30th. He included additional information expanding the report and stated it was commendable.

TENTATIVE 2023 LEVY 6. The tax rate will be maintained. This year's bond and interest rate are the only change. Next month there will be a hearing and voting on the levy.

PRESS POLICY QUARTERLY UPDATES 7. Individual committees will discuss these updates.

RESCHEDULE DECEMBER BOARD MEETING 8. December's board meeting will be moved up one week to December 13th to allow enough time to file the tax levy due to holiday hours.

FOIA REQUESTS: 9. None.

COMMITTEE REPORTS: 10. Mr. Smock spoke regarding expansion at Mercer County High School - anywhere between 13 and 29 classrooms, with estimated costs between $15 and $20 million. A community member may assist to bridge the gap to move forward with Phase II. The board will proceed with a Community Forum. A needed snow blow truck will be bought from Rondo Enterprises.

ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTS: 11. Written reports were given and there were no further comments.

SALARY INCREASE: 12. Due to the minimum wage increase, there is a need to update substitute salaries.

ASBESTOS BID: 13. DEM Services plans to complete the project over winter break.

MAINTENNACE GRANT: 14. The School maintenance program will be used in conjunction with ESSER III and HLS funds for the vocational building HVAC project.

GRADUTION DATE: 15. Mrs. Cooper considered several factors regarding setting graduation date. Julie Wagner noted that two surrounding districts have already set their graduation to the Sunday preceding Memorial Day weekend. A specific time will be set at a later date.

https://www.mercerschools.org/_files/ugd/61ee79_0bb4e406918d4e2187f438f36ec3d194.pdf