The Cairo Board of Education held its regular meeting on Thursday, March 17, 2011 at 6 p.m. Below is an annotated agenda to serve as "minutes"...

CAT Tracks Editor's Note: True to my word, I did NOT post the names of employees who were dismissed tonight. However, KFVS TV Channel 12 stayed to the bitter end. The length of the meeting caused them to miss the 10 o'clock nightly news, but I would anticipate that the resolutions to dismiss twenty CSD #1 employees, read by Superintendent Swopes and approved by the BOE, will be aired on the Breakfast Show.

I. Call to Order - 6 p.m.

II. Roll Call - Coleman, Harris, McBride, Stubblefield, Gooden, and Burris answered roll. (Brown arrived at 6:05 p.m. McBride departed at 6:41 p.m. Coleman departed at 9:20 p.m.)

III. Examples of Excellence - High School Beta Club sponsor Ryan O'Shea rose and provided the BOE with a report on Cairo's participation in the IL Beta Club Convention just concluded. Dorothy Ramsey was elected the Illinois State Beta Club Secretary. Dorothy also received a John W. Harris Leadership Award for service...one of only 25 in the nation. Dorothy will run for National Beta Club Secretary this summer at the National Convention to be held in Nashville. Cairo High School student Porsha Bondurant won second place in Accounting. Congratulations to Dorothy and Porsha for a job well done!

IV. Recognition of Guests/Comments From Public And Employees - CJSHS Principal Mark McClintock asked to speak to the BOE in closed session. Curriculum Director Rose Gayle Pickett also asked to speak to the BOE in closed session (separately.)

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

1. Regular Minutes of February 24, 2011
2. Closed Minutes of February 24, 2011
3. Special Minutes of February 28, 2011
4. Closed Minutes of February 28, 2011

VI. Approval of Agendas - Superintendent Swopes made some additions to the agenda(s) but the air conditioner was putting out lots of noise and lots of hot air. (They briefly considered turning the AC off, but declined to do so...probably because the audience would be able to hear better.) Something was said about the green house, membership in IHSA, and something else. Motion was made, seconded, and passed to approve the agendas as amended.

1. Regular Meeting
2. Closed Meeting

VII. Approval of Treasurer's Report - Motion made, seconded, and passed.

VIII. Approval of Payment of Bills/Payroll - No questions. Motion made, seconded, and passed.

IX. Informational

1. Thank You Card - Family of Fred Jones

2. Purchase of Green House - Someone is interested in purchasing. It had been advertised previously and someone had expressed interest but backed off. Now, they are back...interested again. It was Superintendent Swopes opinion that no action should be taken tonight...that it should be re-advertised.

3. College Day Trip - I'm totally confused on this and the AC did not help. At its last meeting, (I thought) the Superintendent and BOE had committed to paying for a chartered bus...costing in the neighborhood of $3000. What I heard tonight was that the Parent Group had expressed concern about the cost of the bus. (This does NOT jive with what I thought I heard last time. I mean...why should the Parent Group care if the BOE is footing the transportation cost? Oh, well...) Now, Superintendent Swopes has Ms. Hunt of the District's contracted bus service. Ms. Hunt informed the Superintendent that the company no longer does charters, but that she would look into it...will get back to him. There was additional mumbling...sounded like maybe they were talking about using vans, but for all I know, maybe they were talking about needing fans because the damned AC was putting out so much noise and hot air. I did hear that the trip is scheduled during the District's Spring Break.

4. Superintendent Swopes informed the BOE that the next scheduled BOE meeting was during Spring Break...if that was a concern to anyone. One BOE member discouraged making any decisions on the matter since the BOE election would occur between now and then and the membership of the BOE might change significantly. There was some more mumbling with the conversation dying and no action being taken.

5. Superintendent Swopes indicated that the District needed to renew its membership in the Illinois High School Association - IHSA. There was some discussion of whether or not a vote needed to be taken. I confess to losing interest with the noisy, heat-producing AC. They voted to extend their membership...or NOT. Regardless, CHS will be a member of IHSA next year.

6. Other

7. Checks Deposited - District Account

   $185,188.09 - State Aid - Jan. - 1st Payment
   185,188.09 - State Aid - Jan. - 2nd Payment
   1,527.91 - Fresh Fruits & Veggie Grant
   2,618.75 - Lease - CCEC - Shawnee College
   14,003.70 - Personal Property Replacement Tax
   19,878.84 - Federal Lunch
   10,292.74 - Federal Breakfast
   14.20 - State Lunch/Breakfast
   50.00 - First Student Transit - Rent

X. Closed Session - The BOE voted to enter closed session at 6:20 p.m. The BOE voted to exit closed session at 9:49 p.m.

XI. Requiring Action/Decisions By Board of Education

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

2. Reduction In Force - Superintendent Swopes read the following resolutions:

   • Non-Renewal of three teachers.
   • Reduction in Force of nine teachers.
   • Reduction in Force of five teacher aides.
   • Reduction in Force of two secretaries.
   • Reduction in Force of one custodian.
   • (The list of personnel changes for FY12 also includes three teacher retirements in addition to the 20 listed above. So...a total of 15 teachers...a total of 23 employees.)

3. Notice of Remedial Warning - Skipped without comment.

4. Board Policy manual Updates - Place on Reading - Motion made, seconded, and passed.

XII. Other - None.

XIII. Old Business - None.

XIV. Adjourn - Motion made, seconded, and passed to adjourn at 9:53 p.m.

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.