Anna-Jonesboro School District No. 81 Bo ard of Education met January 8.
Here is the minutes as provided by the board:
The Anna-Jonesboro Community High School held its regular meeting on January 8, 2018. Upon roll call
at 7:03 p.m. the following members were present: Dr. Reach, Mr. Hughey, Dr. Blakely, Mr. Edwards, and
Mrs. Boget. Also present was Superintendent Wright, Scott Finders, and Brett Detering.
On motion by Mrs. Boget and seconded by Dr. Blakely to approve the Agenda as written. All members
voting yes.
On motion by Dr. Reach and seconded by Mr. Hughey to approve the Consent Agenda which contained
the following items: approval of board minutes on 12/18/2017; approval of closed session minutes;
approval of payment for bills, acceptance of financial reports and approval of destruction of closed
session tapes more than 18 months old. On roll call, all members present voting yes. Motion carried.
Payton Alsip presented the Student Council Items of Interest. We are working on our project Be
Amazing. Students have taken pictures over break and this will hopefully be up at the beginning of next
week. These are to be bringing positive messages to AJCHS, and motivation in student lives throughout
the school.
Thomas Corbit and Kyle Kueker represented the teachers. The items of interest presented were as
follows: Students will begin selecting courses for next year the week of Jan 22nd. Mrs. Miller will also
begin meeting with incoming freshman the first week in Feb. Students in Art and Photography classes
this year did well in the Scholastic Art and Writing contest. Fifteen individual works from AJ students
were admitted into this competition. Only 6 portfolios (8 works in each) from all of southern Illinois
were accepted for this show. 3 out of those 6 are our student’s. Maddie Thompson, Emily Awbrey, and
Cymberly Salazar all had photography portfolios accepted. Artwork from students will be on display at
Cedarhurst museum in Mt. Vernon Illinois beginning Jan 13th through the closing ceremony on Feb 4th.
The Little Egypt Arts Association competition is also on display on the square in Marion. AJ has
submitted 10 student art and photo works. The closing ceremony takes place on Feb 11th at which time
students will be awarded their prizes. Ms. Maze has begun planning for Safe Celebration. It will be at
the SEMO Rec Center on May 19-20. She has already mailed out letters to the community asking for
donations in Dec, and will have the first parent meeting at the beginning of Feb. AJCHS has been named
a National Beta School of Distinction for the 2017-2018 school year due to the increase in membership.
The AJ chapter now has over 70 members. Beta Club is planning their Trivia Night fundraiser on Friday,
Jan 19th in the cafeteria. Dinner begins at 5:30 and the game begins at 6:00. Mrs. Penninger has a
student teacher this semester from SIU, Kaitlin Borrmann, who was her observer last semester. Ms.
Garner and Ms. Neitzer picked up their numerous supplies including the new augmented reality sandbox
from the Fall Educational Summit at SIUC. The science department looks forward to implementing the
plethora of resources.
Mr. Finders gave a Summary of 2017-18 PSAT 8/9 Results; Overall, only 22 of the 117 freshmen who
took the PSAT 8/9 in October met both the Math and Evidence Based Reading and Writing (EBRW)
benchmarks established by the College Board, a total of 19%, down from the 35% in last year’s freshmen
class. The average in Illinois fell as well, but only by 4%, not as significant as the 16% drop at A-J. The
girls still significantly outperformed the boys in EBRW (62-42), but these results revealed a drop off of 22
percentage points in the overall category for females, with only 9 of the 52 meeting in both categories.
13 of the 65 boys met in both categories. The only trend that appears to be emerging is that the girls
have a stronger showing in EBRW both years. Of the feeder districts, Lick Creek saw an increase in all
categories. Anna and Jonesboro both saw their numbers decrease this year. There are no real
discernible trends revealing themselves at this point regarding the feeder districts. Our Free/Reduced
Lunch percentage went down this year, from 49% of last year class to 34% of this year’s (40 of the 117
students). However, as with all other demographics, the results for Free/Reduced Lunch students
declined as well, with only 20% meeting in both categories, compared to 27% last year. Perhaps the
most significant increase was in the percentage of students with an IEP, where we went from 11% last
year (11 of 101 students) to 24% this year (28 of 117 students). Only one of the 28 students with an IEP
met both categories, while 25 of the 28 met neither.
Principal Detering gave reports on the 5 Essentials Survey, senior homeroom Incentives, valedictorian
enrollment, discipline, and the cafeteria.
Superintendent Wright presented his administrative report. All of the floors in the newly renovated
restrooms have been refinished, making them easier to clean and maintain. The new light poles have
finally been installed outside, essentially finishing the project started last summer. Possible projects
were discussed on what to do this coming summer.
On motion by Dr. Reach and seconded by Mr. Edwards for the Board to enter into closed session at 7:40
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) (2) Student disciplinary cases. 5ILCS
120/2(c) (9) (3) Discussion of minutes lawfully closed under the Open meetings Act, whether for the
purposes of approval by the body of the minutes or semi-annual review of the minutes as mandated by
Section 2.06. 5ILCS 120/2(c) (14).On roll call, all members present voting yes. Motion carried.
On motion by Mrs. Boget and seconded by Mr. Edwards to return to regular session at 8:30 p.m. On roll
call, all members present voting yes. Motion carried.
On motion by Mr. Edwards and seconded by Mr. Hughey to approve keeping all closed session minutes
closed. On roll call, all members present voting yes. Motion carried.
On motion by Dr. Reach and seconded by Mr. Edwards to approve board member expense
reimbursement form. On roll call, all members present voting yes. Motion carried.
On motion by Mr. Edwards and seconded by Dr. Blakely to approve the 2nd reading/final approval of
Board Policy Updates. On roll call, all members present voting yes. Motion carried.
On motion by Mr. Edwards and seconded by Mr. Hughey to adjourn the Regular Meeting at 8:35 p.m.
All members present voting yes. Motion carried.
Next regularly scheduled meeting is Monday, February 12, 2018 at 7:00 p.m. in Superintendent's Office.
http://www.aj81.net/Board%20of%20Education/Minutes%20-%20PDFs/2017-2018/January%202018%20Minutes.pdf
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