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 All
school board members attended in person, with Deanne Mott & Ashley
Combs attending remotely. The Board entered Executive Session for
discussion of Employment, Purchase of Property and Consideration of
Executive Session meeting minutes. The Board came back into regular
session at 7:00 PM. President Cowan asked everyone to stand to
recite the Pledge of Allegiance.
Michael Chandler signed in for an opportunity to speak. Mr. Chandler
exhausted his five minutes and discussed his constitutional right to
speak at these board meetings. He mentioned that he asks questions
at these board meetings and has not received a response from the
BOE. He asked if Social Emotional Learning was being taught at the
high school this year. He mentioned that there is a big disruption
coming soon and asked if our schools were ready to operate with no
electricity. He expressed his disappointment that the board would
not directly answer any of his questions during his opportunity for
visitors to speak. He also mentioned that due to recent legislation
being passed, students can sue the district once they become 18
years of age.
The first action item was the approval of the Consent Agenda, which
included minutes of the regular June 17th meeting and executive June
17th meeting, bills, and sales tax revenues. Superintendent Spang
reported that the district office had no questions concerning bills,
and sales tax revenues topped $31,000. The Board approved the
Consent Agenda 7-0.
In the new Good News segment, the BOE recognized
several groups of students with board resolutions. First was the
MPHS FCCLA Parliamentary Procedure Team, which placed 5th in the
nation at the National FCCLA Convention in Seattle. The students
were Juan Andrade, Lupe Andrade, Tanner Bishop, Sophia Buenrostro,
Conner French, Bella Niccolls, and Lily Woodworth. Next, the Board
recognized members of the MPHS FFA who received state or national
FFA degrees with board resolutions. The students were Ella Bobell,
Scout Tschantz, Grace Davis, and Alec Martin, who all received their
State FFA Degrees, and Clayton Aylesworth, who received his American
FFA Degree. The last group recognized were our staff members who
attended the NWEA MAP National Convention in Denver at the end of
June.
These staff members were asked to present what they learned at the
National Convention and how they plan to implement that learning to
improve student achievement in the classrooms.
The staff members who attended were Linda Smith, Donna Koehler,
Michael Copley, Val Hauge, Jamie Selinger, Lauren Spang, and Jason
Spang.
Under Reports, Mr. Spang discussed that the district received one
FOIA from Creative Energy, which requested the names and email
addresses of our BOE members, administrators, and teachers of CUSD
23.
In New Business, Superintendent Spang introduced an authorization to
expend funds to cover the cost of salaries, materials, and supplies.
Mr. Spang explained this authorization is required for approval from
July 1 until the board adopts the annual budget for the current
school year.
Next, Superintendent Spang introduced an authorization for Mr. Spang
and Kathy Tschantz to develop a tentative budget for fiscal year
24-25. These two authorizations are required and are state law.
President Cowan next asked for a motion to adopt the
tentative FY25 budget. Doug Martin made the motion, which Blane
Olson seconded. BOE voted 7-0 to adopt the tentative FY25 budget.
President Cowan next introduced a motion to approve the second
reading of PRESS 115 Policy updates. Members of the Policy
Committee, Aaron Wilham and Chris Brown, briefly summarized the
Press Policy 115 Update for the BOE. BOE members had no questions,
and Doug Martin motioned to adopt PRESS 115 Policy Updates, which
Chris Brown seconded. The BOE voted
7-0 to adopt PRESS 115 Policy Updates.
The Board then adopted the PRESS Policy updates, 7-0.
President Cowan next introduced a motion to adopt the District
Consolidated Plan for SY 24-25. Mr. Spang explained that the
district plan to expend Title I, Title II, Title IV, and Title V
revenues received by the district must be adopted by the BOE in July
each year. Doug Martin made the motion, which Aaron Wilham seconded.
The BOE voted 7-0 to adopt the SY 24-25 District Consolidated Plan.
President Cowan then introduced a motion to adopt a resolution
approving the acquisition of Land from Wamble Mountain Farms LLC.
Mr. Spang explained that there was a delay in this acquisition due
to an agreed-upon contingency between Wamble Mountain Farms and CUSD
23, declaring a maximum amount per acre to be expended upon damage
to existing tile by CUSD 23 during any construction project. This is
strictly a contingency agreed upon by both party's attorneys and is
not expected to be exercised. The motion was made by Aaron Wilham
and seconded by Blane Olson. BOE voted 6-0, with one abstention to
adopt the resolution.
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President Cowan next introduced a
discussion to justify the employment of a full-time social
worker in the district. Mr. Spang spoke to the national
recommendation of a 250:1 ratio of students to social worker as
justification and also pointed to recent crises in the district
that would have benefited from the potential employment of a
full-time social worker. Mr. Spang next spoke to the legal
requirement of all districts to exercise all available
interventions before considering exclusionary discipline
(out-of-school suspensions) for any students. Finally, there are
some daily issues under the purview of a social worker that the
building principals and school counselors absorb on days when
the social worker is not in the district. These issues are best
practices to be addressed by a licensed social worker.
Tri-County Special Education Cooperative assigns a social worker
to the district, and she does a phenomenal job; however, she is
not available five days per week.
President Cowan next introduced a discussion of Public Act
103-0591. Mr. Spang wanted to clarify any potential
misunderstanding that most of this law pertains to PTELL
districts and the
Debt Service Extension Base. These districts receive financial
assistance with their bonding capacity under this new law. Mr.
Spang wanted to clarify that CUSD 23 does not qualify for most
of these new measures due to this new law, and Stifel has
released a PowerPoint that was included in the board packet that
explains all the details of this new law.
President Cowan next introduced a discussion of Incident IQ. Mr.
Spang spoke to this new ticketing platform that will directly
impact buildings and grounds, make CUSD 23 operate much more
efficiently, and allow us to track building issues, time, and
items that must be addressed. This improves our current
communication process regarding items that buildings and grounds
address. This also creates a communication bridge between CUSD
23 and any third-party vendors through which we receive services
for more complicated fixes.
President Cowan next released the results of the review of
Executive Session minutes and then introduced an action item to
approve the destruction of executive session meeting minutes
reviewed during the executive session. Aaron Wilham made the
motion, which Chris Brown seconded. BOE voted 7-0 to approve the
destruction of those minutes.
President Cowan next introduced an action item to
approve a substitute teacher pay increase for SUB License Holders to
the amount of $155 with a $15 per day increase for 10 consecutive
days in the same assignment. Aaron Wilham made the motion and Doug
Martin seconded. BOE voted 7-0 to approve the increase.
President Cowan next introduced an action item to approve a
substitute teacher pay increase for PEL License Holders to the
amount of $170 with a $15 per day increase for 10 consecutive days
in the same assignment. Aaron Wilham made the motion and Chris Brown
seconded. BOE voted 7-0 to approve the increase.
Personnel Report was approved 7-0, containing five hires and one
resignation:
● Hires
○ Johnathan Jordan as MPCUSD 23 Athletic Director
○ Brett Garlits as MPGS Assistant Baseball Coach
○ Rick Edwards as MPGS Boys Basketball Volunteer Assistant Coach
○ Kayleigh Parker as MPGS Speech Coach
○ Amanda Doherty as MPHS Scholastic Bowl Coach
● Resignations
○ Marie Zirkelbach as MPGS Title I Aide
Mr. Jordan comes to the district with a strong background in the
sports world. He was a swimmer and water polo player in college,
after which he became a collegiate level coach. Most recently, he
was the head swim coach for men & women’s teams at Eastern Illinois
University.
Items of Information
● Mrs. Fricke
○ Absent
● Mrs. Lora
○ MPGS crew is working hard on summer projects!
● Mr. Kavelman
○ Absent
The meeting adjourned at 8:46 PM. The next regular meeting will be
held at 6:00 PM on August 21, 2024.
[Text received from file Sarah Farris]
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