Thursday, June 19

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Scholars recognized, building plans progress in District 27

[JUNE 19, 2003]  Board scholars for the final nine-week grading period in the seventh and eighth grades were presented and approved at last night's District 27 board meeting. A student is named a board scholar for any grading period in which the student received an "A" grade in all classes, including physical education and band.

The seventh-grade board scholars were Kelsey Dallas, Jaci Gandenberger, Daniel Garrett, Rebecca Kasa, Amanda Bowlin and Brittany Reves. The eighth-grade board scholars were Kaeley Fitzsimmons, Jonathon Leisinger, Brandon Rahn, Hannah Snyder and Timothy Wiser. In addition, special recognition was given to Jaci Gandenberger, Daniel Garrett, Jonathan Leisinger, Brandon Rahn, Hannah Snyder and Timothy Wiser for attaining the status of board scholars for all four grading periods this past school year.

 

Also, at this month's meeting an update was given on the status of the ongoing construction projects. The second floor of the new Central School has been turned over to the district's control for stripping and waxing of floors. Except for a few small matters, including a broken window, construction has been completed on that floor. The first floor should be turned over to the district by next week. The gym floor was delivered on June 17. The air conditioning should be up and running on June 19. The library carpet is due to be delivered by the end of the week. The library shelving, however, is still being checked on as to its delivery date. The furniture is due to be delivered in late July, so there will be no need to move any furniture from the old school into the new one on a temporary basis.

The dedication of the new Central School is scheduled for sometime in October. The opening date will be on the first scheduled date of attendance for this coming school year.

Demolition plans for the old junior high building were slightly slowed by the issue of dealing with some asbestos tiling. As this has now been taken care of, June 25 is the planned date to begin setup for the demolition. During the discussion Superintendent Kidd asked that the beginning of the actual demolition be held off until July 2 to avoid conflicts with other projects involving the junior high.

The development and design drawings for the new junior high are to be finished by July 15. The project should go out for bid in the couple of days following that. There will be a special meeting of the board before the project goes out for bid so that the final plans may be approved. Allowing for about three weeks during which bids will be taken, the bids should be back sometime during the first week in August. There may be another special board meeting at that time to approve the bids. Construction on the foundation could possibly start in late August according to this timetable.

 

Four bids were offered for rebuilding the restrooms at Northwest School. E.J. Pruitt was the low bidder. The board unanimously approved to accept that bid. This project includes the addition of an on-demand water heater in the one restroom that has previously not had hot water in the recent past. The two restrooms will be worked on at separate times to leave one functioning at all times. The project should be completed by the beginning of the school year.

 

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A revised budget for the current fiscal year was unanimously adopted. This includes an education fund that was in the black by only $8. This does not include $161,000 the state owes the district's education fund, as this money will probably not be received until the next fiscal year. Only the working cash fund and the site construction fund were in the red. This was due to the current ongoing construction. It should even out once the current construction is finished.

In a related budget matter, there was a public hearing on adopting a plan to offer $3.3 million in general obligation bonds to pay off the balance of the building project. No comments were made or questions asked during this hearing. The vote to approve the issue of the bonds will be made in November or December when the money is needed. This is to avoid unneeded interest payments if the bonds were issued prematurely.

The board also approved accepting the lowest of four bids on insurance for the coming fiscal year. Superintendent Kidd noted that there was a 61 percent increase in rates even on the lowest bid. This was fueled mostly by an increase in workman's compensation rates, some of which is due to new state requirements.

 

The board president, Bruce Carmitchel, expressed concern that the insurance bids were not received until the day before the meeting when acceptance was to be voted on. He stated that it was essential that the bids be received earlier next year so the board members might have a chance to review them before the vote. Board member Leonard Janet suggested that the first of June next year might be a good deadline. No action was taken on this discussion at the meeting.

After a closed session of over an hour, the board reopened the public meeting and unanimously approved 4 percent raises for nonunion staff and 4 percent raises on the principals' base wage. Other approved business included the resignations of Steven Cosby as wrestling supervisor and Jan Malerich as head basketball coach for girls. The following were hired: Debra Freed as enhanced kindergarten teacher at Jefferson School, Karren Boward as special education aide at Central School, Emmary Roemer as learning disabled teacher at LJHS, Ann Podbelsek as learning disabled teacher at Jefferson School and LJHS, Amanda French as kindergarten teacher at Washington-Monroe School, Dyanne Speck as special needs aide at Jefferson School and Caryn McLaughlin as special education aide (one-on-one).

New handbook revisions were approved. One revision was to restrict fund-raising by students to only those fund-raising projects approved by the principals.

Superintendent Kidd reported that a letter had been received from the superintendent in Springfield commending the LJHS jazz band for its performance.

The next scheduled meeting of the board is to be on July 16 beginning at 6:30 p.m. in the library at Northwest School.

[Keith C. Wilkerson]

 

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