Anna-Jonesboro School District No. 81 Board of Education met Dec. 18.
Here is the minutes provided by the Board:
The Anna-Jonesboro Community High School held its regular meeting on December 18, 2017. Upon roll call at 7:00 p.m. the following members were present: Mrs. Teske, Dr. Reach, Mr. Hughey, Mrs. Blakely, Mr. Edwards, Mr. McGrath, and Mrs. Boget. Also present was Superintendent Wright, Principal Brett Detering and Curriculum Director Scott Finders.
On motion by Dr. Blakely and seconded by Mr. McGrath to approve the Agenda as written. All members present voting yes. Motion carried.
On motion by Mrs. Teske and seconded by Dr. Reach to approve the Consent Agenda which contained the following items: approval of board minutes on 11/20/2017; approval of closed session minutes; approval of payment for bills. On roll call, all members present voting yes. Motion carried.
Ashley Detering represented student council. We recently delivered gifts to 15 children through the pay it forward program. We are currently working on a project we hope to have completed by January which will help bring more school positivity to our building.
Mrs. Penninger represented the teachers: Mrs. McLean Miller and Mrs. Hase are organizing a Union County Career Fair at A-J High school for all Union County high school students. The Fair is set for February 15th from 6-8 in the lower gym/cafeteria. They have 40 RSVP’s to the event so far including individuals from SCC and SIU. Students will have the opportunity to learn about a wide variety of careers that involve all levels of education/training. The money raised from the Powderpuff was donated to an individual in the community who has recently been diagnosed with breast cancer. Ms. Mazes government classes just took the Constitution test and all did well on it.Spanish Club had our annual December Banquet on Dec. 7th in the cafeteria. Students brought food to share, played games, and broke a piñata. Over 50 students showed up to the event. The Marching Wildcats performed on December 2nd at the Holiday Light Parade in Carbondale. The Concert Choir recorded a performance at WSIL studios that will air during the December 15th evening news cast, and as part of a seasonal program that will air on Christmas Eve. The Concert Choir also performed as a special guest at the Heartland Opry Christmas Program at the Old Feed Store in Cobden on December 1st. The Music Department held their Winter Concert on December 12th in the Auditorium and featured performances from the Chorus, Concert Choir, and Symphonic Band. The seniors in Spanish 4 sang Christmas Carols (and one non-holiday song) in Spanish during 2nd and 7th hours on the last day of school to different classes with Mrs. Darmour-Paul. Mrs. Hase graduated from SIU Carbondale with her Masters in Curriculum and Instruction.
Principal Detering reported on the enrollment, discipline, and the cafeteria.
Mr. Finders reported on items as Curriculum Director: We received results from the PSAT 8/9 and the PSAT/NMSQT that were administered on Wednesday Oct. 11. A full report of the data from the 8/9 will be presented at the January Board meeting. Overall, the percentage of our incoming freshmen meeting in both categories fell 16%, as last year, 35% met both benchmarks, while this year only 19% met both. We had an 18% drop in EBRW and a 14% drop in math. Sophomores will take the PSAT 10 on March 21, and Juniors will take the SAT on April 10, which is the day all juniors in Illinois take the test. Nearly all of the accommodations requests have been made for both of those tests. SAT Prep incentives update: All juniors are now aware of the incentive plan. I’ll be meeting with all juniors on the first Tuesday after our semester break (Jan. 9) to remind them of the plan and to attempt to motivate them to prepare diligently for the April 10 administration. Grants: Leslie Neitzer and I were notified on December 5 that we had been chosen as one of seven recipients for the grant proposal we submitted for the Touchstone Energy Classroom Empowerment Grant from the Southern Illinois Electric Coop. The grant is for $500.00. School Improvement Plan: We continue to work with Kevin Junk and Sharon Hayes of the American Institutes for Research (AIR), formerly of the Illinois Center for School Improvement (CSI), on modifying our Continuous School Improvement Plan. As a result of the key findings from the Co- Interpretation study conducted in January of 2016, where we identified generating meaningful data as a priority, last year the focus was on generating that data. After implementing the SAT Suite of Assessments, our focus now turns to using that data in a meaningful way. We are now beginning the process of reviewing Question Analysis reports from those assessments. Departments will analyze questions where over half of our students answered incorrectly with an eye toward establishing a plan of action to improve performance on those types of questions.
Superintendent Wright presented his administrative report. The Shawnee Division Governing Meeting is scheduled for January 4, 2018 at Bennie’s Italian Foods in Marion IL, A discussion on recognizing a community member with a plaque and lifetime event pass was presented. Mr. Wright updated board members about the Vision Team meeting that took place. We have had 11 students named as Illinois State Scholars this year; Clair Boget, Colton Goins, Gabe Goins, Audrey Haar, Connar Hadley, Maddie Lingle, Hunter Miller, Trenton Newberry, Morgan Racey-Test, Ender Schmidt, and Dalton Tucker. Mr. Wright reported on what he found out about possible solutions to the erosion problem under the football bleachers. We are currently in the process of having the restroom floors recoated at no cost to the district. A group of teachers are interested in establishing a scholarship in memory of Jill Bell, a former teacher in our district that recently passed away.
On motion by Mr. Edwards and seconded by Dr. Blakely for the Board to enter into closed session at 7:52 p.m. for the following reasons (1) the purpose of appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance, or dismissal of specific employee of the public body or legal counsel for the public body, including hearing testimony on a complaint lodged against an employee of the public body or against legal counsel for the public to determine its validity -5ILCS 120/2(c)(1) and(2) student disciplinary cases 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(9) on roll call, all members present voting yes. Motion carried.
On motion by Mr. Edwards seconded by Dr. Blakely to return to regular session at 8:42 p.m. On roll call all members present voting yes. Motion carried.
Mr. Wright presented and distributed Superintendent Evaluation materials.
On motion by Dr. Reach seconded by Mr. McGrath to approve the Certificate of Tax Levy. On roll call, all members present voting yes. Motion carried.
On motion by Mr. Edwards seconded by Mr. Boget to approve the Memorandum of Understanding with the Anna Police Department. All members present voting yes. Motion carried.
On motion by Mr. Hughey seconded by Mrs. Boget to approve the First Reading of Board Policy Updates. All members present voting yes. Motion carried.
Board Comments Mrs. Teske likes the website but mentioned that a couple of tabs were not working and would like to see all staff listed on the site. Mr. Hughey inquired on how many student office workers we currently have.
On motion by Mrs. Teske seconded by Dr. Reach to adjourn the Regular Meeting at 9:07 p.m. All members present voting yes. Motion carried.
http://www.aj81.net/Board%20of%20Education/Minutes%20-%20PDFs/2017-2018/December%202017%20Minutes.pdf
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