April 2016

Board Minutes - April 21, 2016

Link to the April 21, 2016 Board of Education Meeting Video:  https://vimeo.com/163835294

MINUTES OF THE REGULAR SCHEDULED MEETING OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION CARBONDALE COMMUNITY HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICT 165, CARBONDALE, ILLINOIS HELD APRIL 21, 2016  

The regular scheduled meeting of the Board of Education of School District 165 was held in the cafeteria of Carbondale Community High School, 1301 East Walnut Street, Carbondale, Illinois, on Thursday, April 21, 2016 at 7:00 p.m.

Upon roll call, the following members were present:

Brad Cole                    Vicky King    

Linda Flowers             Brian Woodard

Joe Hudgins

The following members were absent:

Kathy Booziotis          Francis Tsung

Also present:

Stephen Murphy                     Michelle Thomas      

Donna Fager                           Kim Wheeler

Daniel Booth                          CCHSEA Represented

President Woodard declared a quorum present and the regular scheduled meeting of April 21, 2016, was called to order.

Approval of Minutes: Motion by Cole, seconded by King, to approve the minutes of the regular scheduled meeting March 24, 2016.  Roll call: Cole, Flowers, Hudgins, King and Woodard voted yes.  Nay, none.  Motion carried.

Old Business: There were no old business items.

Dial Yearbook Staff Earns Honorable Mention: The CCHS Dial Yearbook staff earned an Honorable Mention from the Balfour Yearbook Company for capturing the moments of the year in words and pictures in the 2015 Dial Yearbook. 

CCHS Band Receives Third Place: The CCHS Band received third place in state making it the sixth year in row they have placed in the top three in the state.

Health Ed./Driver Ed./P.E. Department Presentation: Kim Wheeler and Michelle Thomas, Co-Chairs of the Health Education/Driver Education/Physical Education Department did a presentation for the Board regarding the activities of their departments.

Board Member Answers Roll Call:  Board Member Kathy Booziotis answered roll call at 7:09 p.m.

Public Comments: Carlton Smith addressed the Board of Education regarding two concerns he wished to share with them.

Mr. Smith distributed copies of an Education Week article entitled “Charlotte Danielson on Rethinking Teacher Evaluation” to the Board (Attachment #1).       Mr. Smith advised the Board he found the article interesting and wanted to share it with them while he expressed his concerns with the Danielson Method. 

Mr. Smith expressed his concerns to the Board that he believed CCHS did not employ enough African American teachers to serve the African American student population at CCHS. Mr. Smith advised the Board that he felt there would be a change in relationships and fewer student suspensions if there were more African American teachers at CCHS.

President Woodard thanked Mr. Smith for his comments.

Payment of Bills:  Motion by King, seconded by Flowers, to pay the remaining bills for the month of March, 2016; and, those available for payment for the month of April, 2016. Roll call: Flowers, Hudgins, King, Woodard, Booziotis and Cole voted yes.  Nay, none.  Motion carried.

State Budget Concerns: Superintendent Murphy advised the Board that he wanted to make note that the district had received its General State Aide payment for April, but that due to the continuing lack of a state budget, school districts were still in very dire financial situations and very realistically some would not be opening school in the fall and others such as CCHS would be seriously looking at not filling positions.

2016 Board of Education Student Artwork Purchase Award: Motion by Booziotis, seconded by Hudgins, to approve the 2016 Student Artwork Purchase Award ($200) as presented. Roll call: Hudgins, King, Woodard, Booziotis, Cole and Flowers voted yes.  Nay, none.  Motion carried.

Bids/Quotes:  There were no bid or quote items.

Approval of Updated Web-Based Board Policy Manual: Motion by Flowers, seconded by Booziotis, to approve the updated web-based Board Policy Manual as presented. Roll call: King, Woodard, Booziotis, Cole, Flowers and Hudgins vote yes.  Nay, none.  Motion carried.

Gym Floor Resurfacing:  Superintendent Murphy presented a recommendation from Athletic Director Mark Albertini to the Board requesting the gym floor be sanded, cleaned and painted this summer. Mr. Murphy said that he was requesting Board approval for the project for two reasons: “1) Changing our gym floor design is a high profile project and I want to ensure Mr. Albertini’s design recommendation has the approval of the Board.” “2) Statewide, we are facing the largest school funding crisis in the history of Illinois. A new gym floor may appear to the public that we are spending extra funds on athletics in a time of financial uncertainty. I wanted to demonstrate that the Boosters Club has funded the additional expense if the Board approves the project.”

Mr. Murphy said the district spends $10,000.00 yearly on the resurfacing of the gym floor.  He said the cost to sand the floor and install new graphics would be $25,000.00. He said the Boosters Club voted to donate $15,000.00 to cover the additional cost for the sanding and new graphics.

Member Cole stated that he did not agree with the expenditure at this time.  

Member Hudgins said that he felt that was a lot of money to spend too. He said “Hats-off to the Boosters Club for donating the $15,000.00; or otherwise, this project would not get done.” He asked if there were funds available for use from the DeWayne Kelly Fund. Superintendent Murphy said yes there were funds available that could be used for this project.

Member King asked if there were funds available in the athletic auxiliary account that could be used. CSBO, Donna Fager, said there was approximately $19,000.00 in the account.  Superintendent Murphy said yes that auxiliary money could be used or there was also the holiday tournament auxiliary account that had funds in it that could be used as well.  He said the district usually uses money from the operational and maintenance fund to resurface the gym floor; however, he said that did not mean that funds from other accounts could not be used instead.

Member King said that in order to keep the gym floor properly maintained it was almost a requirement that the floor be sanded down approximately every ten years due to the daily wear and tear; however, she said you do not have to do new graphics. Member Hudgins said that since the Boosters Club was paying for the graphics with their $15,000.00 donation, the cost of the graphics was not a financial issue.

Motion by Booziotis, seconded by Flowers, to approve the resurfacing of the gym floor and the installation of new graphics as presented. Roll call: Woodard, Booziotis, Flowers and Hudgins voted yes. Member Cole voted no. Motion carried.

Executive Session Canceled: President Woodard stated there would be no executive session because there were no issues to be discussed.

Resignations/Retirements: Motion by Flowers, seconded by Hudgins, to accept the resignations/ retirements of the following personnel as presented: 

a.  Carla Childs (Gateway aide) resignation effective March 29, 2016.

b.  Sharon Lorinskas (foreign language teacher) retirement effective at the end of the 2017-18 school year.

c.  Cheryl Staley (English teacher) retirement effective at the end of 2018-19 school year.

d.  Brandon Lukes (English teacher) resignation effective at the end of the 2015-16 school year.

Roll call: Booziotis, Cole, Flowers, Hudgins, King and Woodard voted yes.  Nay, none.  Motion carried.

2015-16 Volunteers: Motion by Booziotis, seconded by Hudgins, to approve the 2015-16 volunteers as presented:

a.  Alexander Shick – Volunteer Boys Tennis Coach

b.  Connor Wheeler – Volunteer Assistant Softball Coach

Roll call: Cole, Flowers, Hudgins, King, Woodard and Booziotis voted yes. Nay, none.  Motion carried.

Upcoming Events: Awards Night: Thursday, May 5, 2016, 7:00 p.m. at the Carbondale Civic Center.

Next Board of Education Meeting: Thursday, May 19, 2016, 7:00 p.m.

Graduation: 1:00 p.m., Saturday, May 21, 2016, at the SIU Arena

Adjournment: Motion by Booziotis, seconded by Hudgins, to adjourn the meeting.  The meeting adjourned at 7:37 p.m.

MINUTES APPROVED: MAY 19, 2016

Attachment #1: