I. Call to order and roll call - The meeting was called to order at 6:30 p.m. by President Powers with the following ROLL CALL:
PRESENT ABSENT
Mrs. Nancy DiCiolla Mrs. Rose Zelenka
Mr. Fred Maier
Mr. Jim McCann
Mrs. Maureen McDonald
Mrs. Debbi Pawinski
Mr. Patrick Powers
Also in attendance:
Dr. Ken Cull, Superintendent of Schools
II. Closed Session – Motion made by Mrs. McDonald and seconded by Mrs. DiCiolla that the Board of Education enter a closed session for the purpose of employment and compensation of specific personnel. The motion carried on the following ROLL CALL VOTE:
AYES NAYS
Mrs. DiCiolla
Mrs. McDonald
Mr. McCann
Mr. Maier
Mrs. Pawinski
Mr. Powers
The board entered a closed session at 6:31 p.m.
A motion was made by Mrs. McDonald and seconded by Mrs. Pawinski that the Board of Education return to open session. The motion carried on the following ROLL CALL VOTE:
AYES NAYS
Mrs. Pawinski
Mrs. McDonald
Mrs. DiCiolla
Mr. Powers
Mr. Maier
Mr. McCann
The Board returned to open session at 7:23 p.m. President Powers stated that while in closed session, the board had discussed the employment and compensation of specific personnel and no action was taken. He then called for a short recess until 7:30 p.m., the beginning of the regular meeting.
Additional present:
Dr. Reinhard Nickisch, Principal, F.E. Peacock Middle School
Dr. Joanna Medwick, Principal, Elmer H. Franzen Intermediate School
Dr. Dawn Turner, Principal, Raymond Benson Primary School
Dr. Marcia Tornatore, Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum
Mr. Charles Kapachinski, Director of Technology
Mrs. Catherine Seger, Recording Secretary
Members of the staff and community
III. Pledge of Allegiance – President Powers led all present in the Pledge of Allegiance.
IV. Welcome to Visitors – Mr. Powers welcomed all to the meeting.
V. Communications – Mrs.McDonald, board secretary, read correspondence received during the previous month from various members of the staff.
VI. Agenda Addendum Items – Nothing added to the agenda.
VII. SuperintendentÕs Report – Dr. Cull reviewed his report, a copy of which is attached to these official minutes. The annual IASB fall dinner meeting is scheduled for September 29. Board members interested in attending should respond by September 19 to the District Office. Dr. Cull discussed hurricane relief plans that the Village is planning. The School District would like to do the right thing with this effort and not do something that will conflict with the Village or any other governmental agencies. Dr. Cull continued his discussion about two important issues that have surfaced. One issue was with IDEA. Previously, the District has provided special education services at the private schools but the rules and regulations have changed service to be provided to the private schools. The rules indicate less service to those schools. It is anticipated that some private schools will not be happy with this change. The new law goes into effect October 1. Another issue Dr. Cull discussed was that the State is releasing the aggregate data for ISAT scores tomorrow. The board will get the information tonight. Mrs. Pawinski asked that the word ÒregularÓ be dropped when discussing enrollment.
VIII. Board Requested Reports
A. Quarterly Financial Report – Superintendent Cull reviewed the quarterly report. The district has had to go thru a contract agency for speech and language as no one has been hired as yet. The audit will be received and reviewed later in the fall. Some discussion ensued.
B. N.D.S.E.C. – Dr. Cull briefly reported on the minutes included in the packet. Recently Mrs. Zelenka had indicated that she was unable to continue as the board representative to N.D.S.E.C. Mrs. Pawinski volunteered to take Mrs. ZelenkaÕs place. She will be the BoardÕs representative to N.D.S.E.C. Dr. Cull discussed a couple of items regarding N.D.S.E.C. N.D.S.E.C. has been in-servicing staff on a new IEP web-based program that will make the writing and following of IEPÕs significantly easier. Additionally, N.D.S.E.C. will be hosting meetings explaining the new IDEA rules.
Dr. Cull commended Vic Morris for doing a great job following up with teacher aides who had not passed all tests in becoming highly qualified paraprofessionals.
Mr. Powers thanked Mrs. Pawinski for volunteering to represent the Board to N.D.S.E.C.
C. Middle School – Dr. Nickisch, principal of F.E. Peacock Middle School, reviewed the Middle School Report, a copy of which is attached to these official minutes. He highlighted the survey results included in the report. Mr. Powers suggested that the survey results be totaled and then do a percent from year to year. Mrs. DiCiolla asked about a comment in the survey regarding a better-stocked library. Dr. Nickisch replied that there is a need.
D. Curriculum – Dr. Tornatore, Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum, reviewed the August workshops. She noted that training tapes were used this time and they had been very successful and effective. The writing process will be a focal point for the October workshops. In addition, a main emphasis for all three schools will be the frameworks. In addition, Dr. Tornatore reported that the District Advisory Committee is starting. Mrs. Pawinski asked if there was a date set for the next DAC meeting. Dr. Tornatore stated that the board would always have the minutes from the DAC meetings. Mrs. DiCiolla asked if there was anything specific parents could do to help their children with the writing process. Discussion ensued. A copy of Dr. TornatoreÕs report is attached to these minutes.
E. Testing Report – Dr. Tornatore delivered her testing report explaining scores and trends. Discussion ensued. Mr. McCann suggested that perhaps next year, a special meeting should be devoted for discussion of test results. Many questions were asked of Dr. Tornatore. Discussion ensued. Mr. Powers said that he would like to see some of the areas in which the District needed improvement. He believed it was more important to look at the things that are not being done well and then compare progress each year to improve. He would like to see more of the areas needing attention and improve on that. More discussion ensued. Mrs. DiCiolla would like to see more time spent on this. She noted that the 3rd and 4th grade had the same amount of students but there was an 11% difference in scores. The general consensus was that there should be more time spent discussing the testing report. President Powers thanked Dr. Tornatore for her report.
F. Technology – Mr. Kapachinski stated that it had been a very challenging and exciting beginning of the school year. He reviewed his report, a copy of which is attached to these minutes. He noted that the vendor had been training staff on the new student management system. This training has been done primarily at Peacock. The secretaries and principals are the only staff on the system at Benson/Franzen. At Peacock, it also went to the teaching staff. There is some additional training scheduled for Peacock. In October, the vendor is coming to train technicians on components that we have not been using. Mr. Kapachinski also discussed how many warranties have expired on laptops at Peacock and Franzen. This has caused difficulty in acquiring parts for some of the equipment. As a result, staff were cautioned to be careful as some replacement parts may take weeks to find.
G. Character Counts! - Mrs. McDonald, Character Counts! representative to the Board, reported on the meeting held earlier this meeting. It had been a short meeting with some discussion about the CoalitionÕs participation in Itasca Fest and National Night Out. At National Night Out, people had dressed as the six pillars. Children were to give these people examples of ways in which they had used the pillar. Then they would get a card punched. Once they had shown examples of all six pillars, they turned in their cards and were qualified for prizes. The coalition is still trying to get tax-exempt. October 16 – 27 is Character Counts! week and plans will be made for something that week. District schools are trying to raise money for the hurricane victims as well as students from St. PeterÕs School.
H. Consumable Materials Fees Up-Date – At Benson and Franzen, everyone has paid or is on a payment plan. At Peacock, as of today, eight have not paid their full amount and two have not paid anything. Some discussion ensued.
I. District Enrollment - Superintendent Cull noted that as the board is aware, there has been a great deal of interest in the first grade class sizes at Benson School. At the July Board of Education meeting, the administration felt that no decision needed to be made until the beginning of August. On August 8, Dr. Cull had met with Dr. Turner, principal of Benson Primary School. At that time, there were 88 students enrolled in the first grade. It was decided to keep the class sizes as planned. If class size got to 96, an aide would be hired and if it got to 100, a teacher would be hired. Though there has been some discussion on hiring someone, no decision has been made. Dr. Cull said that the classroom teachers have done an excellent job managing the large classes. A lot has happened since August 8 and Dr. Cull thought it would be appropriate at this time to give the board an update. He gave a graphic representation of the students in the classroom. As of now we have 95 first grade students in the first grade. The school year began with 95. One of the new students has a lot of special needs. Dr. Cull is also confident that District 10Õs enrollment may increase because of the hurricane victims. Normally, he would not be too concerned about growth but because of this factor, we may have an increase in enrollment. He is thinking what would be best for the students. As he looks at alternatives, something needs to be done. His recommendation is that the board hire another teacher for that grade level. Discussion ensued.
Mrs. Zelenka arrived at the meeting.
Mrs. DiCiolla expressed a concern about the number of fourth grade students. Discussion ensued. Having smaller class sizes is more important at the lower levels. There is a lot of concern about the first grade issue. Following more discussion, Mrs. Pawinski, Mrs. McDonald and Mr. Maier stated they would support hiring another teacher. Mr. McCann asked for how long? Would it be better to define the standards? Dr. Cull said that a way to count the students could be developed. More discussion ensued.
A motion was made by Mrs. Pawinski and seconded by Mrs. DiCiolla that the Board of Education authorize the hiring of a first grade teacher. The motion passed on the following ROLL CALL VOTE:
AYES NAYS
Mrs. Zelenka
Mr. McCann
Mrs. Pawinski
Mrs. McDonald
Mr. Maier
Mr. Powers
Mrs. DiCiolla
J. Student Activity Fund/Convenience Account Registers – Discussion ensued regarding the board requested report on Student Activity Fund Vendors provided by Dr. Cull. Mrs. Zelenka stated she found the new format developed to be much easier to read. Mr. McCann asked for clarification on what was being done. The funds were not being segregated. Mrs. DiCiolla said the policy had not been implemented. For clarification, nothing was spent inappropriately or misused. The problem was the implementation of the procedures to be put in place to put some clarity and control to the issue. Further discussion ensued.
K. Freedom of Information – Dr. Cull reported that one request had been received received and acknowledged in a timely manner.
L. Opportunity for Community Input Regarding Board Requested Reports - A parent of a first grade student thanked the board for their decision to hire another teacher.
IX. Consent Items – A motion was made by Mrs. McDonald and seconded by Mr. Maier that the minutes of the July 13, 2005 Budget Hearing and Regular Meeting; the expenditures for the month of July, 2005, the resignations of Linda Miserendino, Gina Mrugacz, Cari Cieszkowski, Jennifer Albig, Christine Garmon, Stephanie Hall, Helen Romito, Linda Szramiak, and Dawn Cimaglia; and the employment of Sandra Geiser, Denise Reilly, Elizabeth Cross, Kristen Witteveen, Susan Mayer-Hyland, and Amy Cox Fajardo; be approved. Following an opportunity for further discussion and questions and introductions of Liz Cross, Denise Reilly, Susan Mayer-Hyland and Amy Fajardo, the motion carried on the following ROLL CALL VOTE
AYES NAYS
Mr. Maier
Mrs. Pawinski
Mrs. DiCiolla
Mr. Powers
Mrs. McDonald
Mrs. Zelenka
Mr. McCann
X. Action Items -
A. Board of Education Policies - A motion was made by Mrs. DiCiolla and seconded by Mr. McCann that policies as shown on pages 98-123 in the board packet (see attached) be approved for first reading. Mrs. DiCiolla thanked Dr. Cull for facilitating the meeting to discuss the policy revisions. Dr. Cull stated that an addendum had been added to show additional changes/corrections. Following a further opportunity for questions, discussion and community input, the motion carried on the following VOICE VOTE: All AYES: NAYS none.
B. Application for Recognition – A motion was made by Mrs. McDonald and seconded by Mrs. Pawinski that the Application for Recognition for the 2005-2006 school year be approved. Following an opportunity for questions, discussion and community input, the motion carried on the following ROLL CALL VOTE:
AYES NAYS
Mrs. McDonald
Mrs. DiCiolla
Mr. McCann
Mrs. Zelenka
Mrs. Pawinski
Mr. Powers
Mr. Maier
C. Student Teachers – A motion was made by Mr. McCann and seconded by Mrs. McDonald that Jonathan Jupp and Stephanie Santellano be approved to student teach during the 2005-2005 school year. Following an opportunity for community input, questions, and discussion, the motion carried on the following VOICE VOTE: All AYES: NAYS none.
XI. Board Requested Reports – No reports requested. However, Mrs. Zelenka thanked Dr. Cull for his report on the Student Activity Accounts.
Mrs. DiCiolla asked what was going to occur for the US Constitution Day. Dr. Cull has been distributing resources to the buildings. Something will be done.
XII. Adjournment – There being no further business, President Powers adjourned the meeting at 9:47 p.m.
