CAT Tracks for January 21, 2010
REGULAR BOE MEETING - CORRECTED MINUTES

I received an e-mail this morning that indicates that I may have missed an item approved by the Board of Education at Thursday night's meeting. Since "CAT Mama" works for a living, I have not had a chance to compare notes...to see if she heard the item supposedly approved.

Anyway, according to my source, the Board of Education voted to accept the resignation of Kevin Bohnert as Study Skills Teacher at CJSHS...the teacher they hired at their December 22nd Special Meeting. (Another "correction"...my source states that the BOE had hired Mr. Bohnert as a "part-time" teacher at the December 22nd meeting. I must have missed that too...)


Actually, I should place a DISCLAIMER at the top or bottom of every BOE report I make. One must strain their powers of hearing and learn to read lips to try to gather what goes on during much of the meeting. These folks intentionally or unintentionally mumble most of the time...and that's when they are not obviously whispering among themselves so as not to be heard.

As I have reported earlier...I invested thousands of dollars in an attempt to fix my admitted hearing deficit problem. Oughta ask Miracle Ear for a refund! There's only one problem with that course of action...non-hearing impaired folks in attendance say they can't hear either.

Hmmm...wonder if that's what happened to my "source"? Maybe he got it wrong...just THOUGHT he heard them accept Mr. Bohnert's resignation.

Anyway...

Nothing in the minutes below has been changed...this "forward" says it all. No need to re-read the minutes below if you've already been there, done that.

Ta Ta!

The Cairo Board of Education held its regular meeting on Thursday, January 21, 2010. Below is an annotated agenda to serve as minutes...

Cairo School District No. One
"MAKING A SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE!"
2403 Dr. M. L. King Jr. Avenue
Cairo, Illinois 62914
Telephone 1-618-734-4102
Fax 1-618-734-4047

CAIRO BOARD OF EDUCATION
CAIRO SCHOOL DISTRICT NUMBER ONE
REGULAR SCHOOL BOARD MEETING
THURSDAY, JANUARY 21, 2010
6:00 P.M.

AGENDA


I. Call to Order - 6 p.m.

II. Roll Call - Coleman, Vaughn, McBride, Stubblefield, Gooden, and Burris. (Brown arrived at 6:03 p.m.)

III. Examples of Excellence - Definitely the highlight of the evening! Reaffirms the saying "Out of the mouths of babes..." BUT...I'm getting ahead of myself. Bennett Principal Rose Gayle Pickett in charge this evening. She began by announcing that Bennett Elementary had also received a Target Field Trip Grant of $800...the same as at CJSHS. Principal Pickett then turned to preparations for the upcoming ISAT tests - the mandated "State Test". She showed the Superintendent and BOE Members a poster "Rock the ISAT", as well as similarly themed items that would be distributed to the students. And THEN came the pièce de résistance...letters written and read by three Bennett Elementary students from Regina Brown's Fifth Grade classroom. Principal Pickett related the "rumors" regarding the closing of Bennett Elementary at the end of this school year...with the students to be sent to either Emerson Elementary or to Cairo Jr/Sr High School. It was decided that the Bennett Elementary Students would "respond"...voicing their objections first to a "high school move". Later they will write about why they don't want to go to Emerson either. Without further ado, the students took the floor and read their letters. Bears repeating..."Out of the mouths of babes!" They "nailed it"...citing safety concerns over being placed in the same building with 17-, 18-, and 19-year-olds...the distractions of being around older misbehaving students...that would cause THEIR normally high test scores to fall. The students indicated that "somebody" had not given this move much thought. To their credit, the Superintendent and the BOE Members went along with the "roasting"...laughing and giving the students a well-earned round of applause. When the students completed their presentations, Principal Pickett brought down the house by announcing "I'm done." Yep...Principal Pickett might want to dust off her resume. It's a tough job market out there right now... (Just kidding...I hope!)

IV. Recognition of Guests/Comments From Public And Employees - None. (Reverend Posey was on the agenda...to speak in closed session. However, discussion indicated that he had been having health problems and might not - did not - show.)

V. Approval of Previous Minutes - Motion made, seconded, and passed.

  1. Regular Minutes of December 17, 2009
  2. Closed Minutes of December 17, 2009
  3. Special Minutes of December 22, 2009
  4. Closed Minutes of December 22, 2009

VI. Approval of Agendas - Superintendent Swopes indicated his belief that gifts/grants needed to be formally accepted by the BOE and would be part of the action items following closed session. He also indicated that a member of the District's auditing company would be making a presentation during the "Informational" portion of the meeting. Motion made, seconded, and passed to approve the agendas as amended.

  • Regular Meeting
  • Closed Meeting

VII. Approval of Treasurer's Report - Superintendent Swopes read the totals. Motion made, seconded, and passed.

VIII. Approval of Payment of Bills/Payroll - Several questions were asked. A major focus was on utility bills...that the combined bill (electric and gas) for CJSHS was in the neighborhood of $17,000. A question was raised as to whether or not there was a plan for building personnel to take measures to reduce usage. A handful of other less expensive items were raised (although not a peep - as usual - about the thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars being thrown away on lawyers...more dollars than for the CJSHS utilities!) When the questions were completed, BOE Member Brown had a suggestion...that BOE members do as he does...take advantage of the Superintendent's "open door policy" and seed out their answers PRIOR to coming to the BOE meeting...saving precious time. Mr. Brown indicated that he and the members of the audience had places to go. Motion made, seconded, and passed to make payment of bills/payroll. (Footnote: Mr. Brown did not tell a lie...leaving the meeting at 7:05 p.m.)

IX. Informational

  1. The representative of the District's auditing company was called upon to make his presentation to the BOE. In his opening remarks, the auditor indicated that the audit was for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2009...and that it was a "clean audit"...auditorese for PASS. He indicated that there was one internal control issue and one compliance issue, that both had been reported to the Financial Advisers, and that steps had been taken to rectify both. The main problem proved to be with the School Lunch/Breakfast program...resulting in a "Qualified Finding". Another problem was a state change in the fund from which leased copiers were paid. A final item mentioned by the auditor was that the local tax money was placed entirely in the Education Fund...instead of spread by formula to ALL funds. (A total of $32,000.) Bottom line: No serious errors...all of which have been noted and rectified.
  2. Ten Year Safety Survey - Asbestos review completed by Mevert Architecture at the cost of $2200.
  3. ESEA/NCLB Reauthorization, One Approach To Threat Assessment - Superintendent Swopes encouraged the BOE Members to attend this conference.
  4. Lowe's Charitable Educational Foundation Grant - Ms. McKinnis - Cairo Jr/Sr High School - $5,000.00 - Acknowledged by Superintendent Swopes.
  5. Donation From First National Bank - Ms. McKinnis - Cairo Jr/Sr High School - $250.00 - Acknowledged by Superintendent Swopes.
  6. Target Field Trips Grant- Ms. Lovelace - Cairo Jr/Sr High School - $800.00 - Acknowledged by Superintendent Swopes, along with the similar grant received by Bennett Elementary.
  7. Proposed Revisions to JAMP Articles of Joint Agreement - Superintendent Swopes indicated that the changes were required due to changes in the Illinois School Code.
  8. Request - Change in Work Hours - Sorry...I'm not sure anything was said about this. At the most, Superintendent Swopes simply read it.
  9. National Board Certified Teachers - Superintendent Swopes acknowledged and praised the accomplishment of Mary Herndon of Emerson Elementary in becoming "Board Certified" and expressed his hope that others take similar steps to enhance their professional abilities. Superintendent Swopes even went so far as to advise the BOE that they seek a way to "appropriately recognize" Mary Herndon for her achievement. (Superintendent Swopes had more to say...and I'll have more to say, all at a later date.)
  10. Checks Deposited - District Account

    $ 10,830.55 - Personal Property Replacement Tax
    190,314.92 - State Aid - Nov. - 1st Payment
    348.52 - Fresh Fruit & Veg. Grant
    612,266.11 - Real Estate Taxes - Alexander County
    5,890.07 - Trustee Redemption Fund - Alexander County
    15,712.50 - Lease Payment - Shawnee College
    190,314.92 - State Aid - Nov. - 2nd Payment
    1,430.00 - Early Childhood Block Grant
    159.19 - Fresh Fruits & Veg. Grant
    19,616.98 - Federal Lunch
    11,203.92 - Federal Breakfast
    12,088.35 - TAMES
    3,118.00 - Title VI Rural Education
    1,127.42 - Driver Education
    364.12 - Fresh Fruits & Veg. Grant
    85.00 - Restitution
    30,775.81 - Personal Property Replacement Tax
    190,314.92 - State Aid - Dec. - 1st Payment
    34,983.00 - Early Childhood Block Grant
    17,929.75 - Spec. Ed. Transportation
    50.00 - First Student Transit - Rent

X. Closed Session - The BOE voted to enter closed session at 6:48 p.m. The BOE voted to exit closed session at 8:31 p.m.

XI. Requiring Action/Decisions By Board of Education

  1. Personnel employment, resignation, release, discipline, or compensation.

    a. Accept Resignation of LaVern Bartlett - Secretary - CJSHS - Motion made, seconded, and passed.

  2. Approve Cairo Jr/Sr High School Improvement Plan - Motion made, seconded, and passed.

  3. Updates - Board Policy Manual - Place on Reading - Actually skipped, but returned to just prior to adjournment. Motion made, seconded, and passed.

  4. Mevert Professional Associates - Three Year Asbestos Re-inspection Proposal - Fees: $2200.00 - Motion made, seconded, and passed to authorize the Superintendent to "sign off" on payment of the fees.
  5. Grants/Gifts - Motion made, seconded, and passed to accept the $5000 Lowe's Grant, the $250 First National Bank Donation, and the two $800 Target Field Trip Grants.

XII. Other - None.

XIII. Old Business - None.

XIV. Adjourn - The BOE voted to adjourn at 8:35 p.m. (Actually, there was approximately a minute of general mumbling among the Superintendent and BOE members...like there was something else they were supposed to do. However, they finally gave up and adjourned.)

CAT EDITOR'S NOTE:

At the bottom of this posting is an article from this week's Monday's Pub. Paper documents have a habit of disappearing in my CAT abode. (You didn't REALLY expect me to say house did you?!)

By posting the 2010 changes in FOIA (the Freedom of Information Act) with the January, 2010 minutes...the easier to find you with, said the Big Bad Cat!

On a couple of occasions in the past few months I have commented on the BOE's increasing tendency to discuss items in closed session that should NOT be there...such as TAX RATES FOR THE UPCOMING YEAR! After said discussion, they vote in open session on items "as discussed in closed session".

EXCUSE ME??? Talk about circumventing the law!!!

The time is fast approaching when that improper and illegal practice shall be "called to order"!

CLOSED SESSION IS FOR THE PURPOSE OF CONSIDERING INFORMATION RELATIVE TO THE APPOINTMENT, EMPLOYMENT, PERFORMANCE OR DISMISSAL OF INDIVIDUAL EMPLOYEES WHICH MAY BE OF A TEMPORARY CONFIDENTIAL NATURE, STUDENT DISCIPLINE, PLACEMENT OF SPECIAL EDUCATION STUDENTS, DISCUSSION OF LITIGATION PROBABLE, IMMINENT, FILED OR PENDING AND COLLECTIVE BARGAINING OR RELATED ISSUES.