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 The Board began the meeting by approving the Consent
Agenda which included payment of bills, approval of minutes from the
June Board Meeting and sales tax revenue report. An additional item
in the consent agenda was the motion to approve the Transportation
Hazard which allows for extended bus service for the school
district. The Board passed the Consent Agenda 7-0.
Superintendent Lamkey then entertained questions on his report to
the Board. He noted that the yearly audit was completed last week.
Gorenz and Associates will present findings to the Board at the
October regular meeting. A positive note from the audit included the
school upgrading our Financial Recognition Score from 3.8 to 3.9 on
a scale of 4.
The meeting then progressed to Unfinished Business where the Board
discussed the district agreement with the Mt. Pulaski Park District.
At the July meeting, Mr. Lamkey was instructed to locate the
agreement signed in 2017 between the school district and the park
district. After communicating with the park district, the two groups
were unable to find a signed agreement. Mr. Stu Erlenbush, a Mt.
Pulaski Park District representative, provided an unsigned original
copy to the district for review. Superintendent Lamkey suggested the
district continue the past practice of providing assistance to the
park district for repairs on shared facilities. After some
discussion the Board consented to do this, specifically paying half
of the repairs to the plumbing at the concession stand. It was also
decided to revisit the unsigned agreement with the Building and
Grounds Committee so that a recommendation on a future agreement can
be made. No actions were necessary on this item.
The district next approved the district slogan, core beliefs,
mission statement and vision statement that were presented in July.
These statements and beliefs will be the guiding force for Mt.
Pulaski Schools as we navigate district and school improvement plans
over the next five years. The Board indicated in July the importance
of making these statements and beliefs visible to the public,
students and staff of Mt. Pulaski. Superintendent Lamkey presented a
design plan in the new high school that will promote these concepts.
The district will also investigate promoting these concepts through
design at the grade school and in the district social media. The
slogan, core beliefs, mission statement and vision statement passed
7-0.
New Business revealed the topic of the meeting, The Hilltop Return
to School Plan. Superintendent Lamkey highlighted the process
creating the plan as well as key components of the plan. The
district began planning for returning to school in early June when
the state moved into Phase 3 of the Restore Illinois Plan. The
process involved a multitude of participants which included the
District Leadership Team, Return to School Transition Team, MPGS
Building Leadership Team, MPHS Building Leadership Team and district
administration. The goal was to involve students, parents, certified
staff, non-certified staff, Board members and administration in the
process so the district could make a comprehensive plan that had
input of a variety of stakeholders.
During the past 6 weeks, building leadership teams shaped the
specifics of what the plan would look like in each school. Once
their work was complete, the plan was put together by the
administration and then vetted through the District Leadership Team
which is composed of Board members, teachers and administration.
Highlights of the plan include:
• Remote and Blended Learning options for students and families.
• Blended Learning which includes daily in-person instruction from
8-11:30 AM five days/week.
• Remote instruction students will participate in the same
curriculum as blended learning students. Remote instruction takes
place from 8-11:30 AM and again from 1-3:00 PM.
• All students are expected to participate in live
in-person/remote morning instruction (8-11:30 AM) and afternoon
remote instruction (1-3 PM) for a total of 5.5 hours of daily
instruction.
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• Remote instruction and blended instruction will
have identical accountability in grading, earning credits toward
graduation/promotion and eligibility status.
• Teachers will offer remote instruction for all
students from 1-3 PM each afternoon, which will offer structured
opportunities to expand instruction from the morning and also offer
extended help to those students who need it.
The Hilltop Return to School Plan was designed to be fluid in that
it allows the district to adapt to the regional phase status as well
as the state of the pandemic in our specific area. It is the
districts intent to provide in-person instruction until:
1. Region 3 of the Restore Illinois Plan dips below Phase 4
restricting in-person instruction.
Or
2. The district office, in collaboration with the Logan County
Health Department, concludes that circumstances in our specific area
are unsafe making the district unable to provide in-person
instruction.
The Board of Education, administration and staff of
Mt. Pulaski CUSD 23 are committed to make every effort to offer
in-person education while maintaining the safety of our staff,
students and community. The complete plan and more details will
follow this week. The Board approved the Hilltop Return to School
Plan 7-0.
In conjunction with the Hilltop Return to School Plan, the Board
also passed the COVID-19 Isolations, Quarantine and Return to School
Guidance Plan. This plan was originated by the district’s school
attorney based on guidance from the CDC, IDPH and ISBE. It was then
vetted through the district nurse and Logan County Health
Department, so that it is in accordance with all public entities.
This motion passed 7-0.
Next, Superintendent Lamkey discussed the CARES grant which was
afforded by the federal government to supplement resources in the
wake of the pandemic. Mt. Pulaski Schools, including Zion Lutheran,
received $51,000 in aide. The districts have spent a good portion of
this grant on need items such as additional cleaning supplies, masks
for students and staff, cleaning equipment and technology to support
remote instruction.
The Board then discussed construction finances revealing the
district, as expected, would have right at $3 million dollars in
additional construction costs to account for after construction and
alternate bond revenues were applied. The district office is
confident that through current fund balances and additional
revenues, the district can safely pay all construction debt and
still maintain healthy fund balances for the upcoming year. More
will be discussed next month as Superintendent Lamkey presents the
budget for the 2020-21 school year.
The Board also heard discussion on updating the districts’ 25 year
old phone systems to VOIP. Currently district teachers have no
direct access to phones, which limits their ability to communicate
with families. In addition, the district is operating without
voicemail as the office continues to use antiquated answering
machines to conduct school business. Siting student safety and
better communication, the Board agreed with Superintendent Lamkey’s
recommendation to replace the phone systems which will create a
savings for the district after 5 years of implementation. The
contract was approved 7-0.
Superintendent Lamkey then informed that a tentative budget for the
upcoming year was available in the district office. The Board will
consider formal approval of the FY2021 budget next month after a
financial presentation by Mr. Lamkey.
The final action item of the evening was the Boards decision to hire
Brady Thomas as the high school golf coach in a 7-0 vote.
The Board then entered Executive Session to discuss personnel
matters. The meeting adjourned at approximately 8:15 p.m.
Hilltop Return to School Plan Detail - Pdf
Hilltop Return to School Plan Summary - Pdf |
