South West Illinois News

Chester Community Unit School District 139 Board met April 19.

Here is the minutes provided by the Board:

The Board of Education of Chester Community Unit School District No. 139 met in the Chester Community Grade School Conference Room on April 19, 2018. Vice-President Welge called the Regular Meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Members present: Dan Colvis, Trent Vasquez, Debi Caraway, Tom Welge, Chuck Fricke. Members absent: Jamie Eggemeyer, Mitch Hammel.

The Board of Education of Chester Community Unit School District No. 139 met in the Chester Community Grade School Conference Room on April 19, 2018. Vice-President Welge called the Regular Meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.

Motion was made by Mr. Vasquez and seconded by Mrs. Caraway to approve agenda items as listed. Upon roll call all members voted yea. 5 yea, 0 nay, 2 absent; motion carried.

The District received correspondence from Chester’s First Baptist Church saying they would like to show their appreciation by providing lunch for the staff during Teacher Appreciation Week.

Motion was made by Mr. Fricke and seconded by Mr. Colvis to approve the minutes of the regular meeting of March 15, 2018, as presented. Upon roll call all members voted yea. 5 yea, 0 nay, 2 absent; motion carried.

Motion was made by Mrs. Caraway and seconded by Mr. Fricke to approve the minutes of the executive session of March 15, 2018, as presented. Upon roll call all members voted yea. 5 yea, 0 nay, 2 absent; motion carried.

The Board received a monthly grade school maintenance report from Tim Paulus:

• Culligan came and fixed the water softener.

• Mowing has begun.

• Air quality people were here recently.

• A load of mulch was delivered to the school for the pre-k playground.

• Working on supplies for summer cleaning and gym floor finishing.

The Board received a monthly high school maintenance report from Brian McMath:

• Need to replace some light fixtures on the outside of the building this summer.

• Installed a new motor in the golf cart and it seems to be running like new.

• The batting cage is up in Juergen’s Gym.

• The ceiling tile issue in Juergen’s Gym is fixed for now.

David Kaiser presented the following grade school athletic report to the Board:

• Track season is up and running. They have had 4 meets to date. A total of 33 students are participating.

• Finalizing coaches for the 2018-19 school year.

• Finalizing schedules for the 2018-19 school year.

• The Board was given an upcoming schedule of athletic events.

Jeremy Blechle presented a high school athletic report to the Board of Education:

• Track season is underway and have participated in 7 meets to date; 3 of which CHS has hosted. We will also be hosting the girls’ BDC meet and the boys’ sectional meet this year.

• Softball team’s current record is 5-4 and 2-0 in the conference. CHS will be hosting the 2A softball regional at Cohen Complex.

• The baseball team has a current record of 3-5 and 1-1 in the conference.

• Pinckneyville, Carterville, Du Quoin, and Carbondale have been added to our boys’ basketball schedule for next year.

• We are still looking to fill the CHS Cheer Coach position.

• @CHSJacketSports is celebrating its 3 month birthday. With nearly 100 followers, it is quickly becoming a sought after resource to stay updated on all CHS athletics.

• Next year we will be embedding a live Twitter feed into our athletic web page on the school website.

• Working on inventory organization.

• Hiring football referees for the 2020 and 2021 seasons.

• Evaluating school athletic facilities and conditions.

• The Board received coaches’ summaries and upcoming schedules.

The Board received a monthly technology report from Richard Clasen.

• E-Rate Form 471 has been filed, but will take a month or two to be approved.

• Applied for and received 45 surplus computers from the federal government. They are newer and faster than some of our current computers. Thank you to Tom Welge and Gilster’s for picking up the computers and transporting them to us.

• Mr. Clasen will apply for computers for the State Farm program next month, who donate 3-4 year old computers to schools.

• The Board received a listing of computers being recommended as surplus inventory.

The Board received a monthly curriculum report from Shirley Stegmann:

• PARCC testing has been completed.

• SAT was given to all CHS juniors on April 10. The testing went smoothly. Mrs. Stegmann commends the junior class for their cooperation and excellent behavior throughout the testing process. Materials have been shipped for scoring.

• Illinois Science Assessment planning is currently in progress. The High School Biology 1 class has completed testing and Mrs. Stegmann will most likely be testing 5th and 8th grade students the week of April 23.

• On Site Professional Development participants had their final meeting of the semester on April 13. In addition to the 15 participants at CHS, there was a collaboration through a Google Document with teachers in other districts who are also participating in this spring On Site Program.

• PLC Teams will be finalizing their 2017-18 SMART Goal and preparing their year-end report for Mrs. Stegmann.

Grade School Principal Tim Lochhead presented a monthly report to the Board:

• “Worries of the Worldwide Web” assembly, presented by judges, was held on March 23.

• A Star Stinger Assembly was held for grades 2-6 on March 27 and for grades 7-8 on March 28.

• Activity Pictures were taken on March 28.

• The Fitness Day Kickoff Assembly was held on April 3.

• CGS held a “Give Back to the Community” Day on April 4.

• Approximately 40 children were screened during our annual preschool screening held April 10.

• CGS held our Spring Dance, “Escape to the Netherland”, on April 14. Approximately 130 students attended. Thank you to Jenny Krantz for doing an amazing job.

• CGS Fitness Day was held on April 18 and was a huge success bringing in $17,848.

• The Young Authors’ Conference will be held at the grade school on April 21.

• Kids for Christ have requested use of grade school facilities April 9 through April 30.

• CGS is proud to announce that we have 10 students whose poems are being published in a book through youngpoets.org.

• The CGS Spring Concert will be held on May 4 in Colbert Gym.

• Graduation for our 8th grade students will be held on Thursday, May 17 at 7:00 p.m. in Colbert Gym. Mrs. Caraway will be representing the Board of Education.

• May 21 is the last day of student attendance.

• Teacher Institute will be held Tuesday, May 22.

• Landscaping update.

Melissa Meyer, High School Principal, reported the following to the Board of Education:

• A huge thank you to Mrs. Coop, the students, Mr. Colonel, and everyone else involved with our Theater Department. The Little Mermaid was a huge success!

• Mr. Colonel and the music department competed in State Organizational Contest at Nashville Community High School on April 13 and received four #1 ratings and are the State Champs!

• Mrs. Coop took a group of students to a computer competition at SWIC on April 13. They received 1st and 3rd place in Computer Application and 1st in Web Design.

• Congratulations to Zach Zappa and Sydney Korando for being named Prom King and Queen. Jakob Cushman and Shea Petrowske were named Prom Prince and Princess.

• A distracted driving presentation was given to all students on Friday, April 6.

• Judge Rudolph, Judge Emge, and Judge O’Gara gave the presentation “7 Reasons to Leave a Party” on April 13.

• SAT testing.

• Mr. Guebert and Mrs. Meyer have started the scheduling process.

• Mr. Guebert and Mrs. Meyer are speaking to the Rotary Club twice during the month of April.

• Ms. Justinen is working on moving her program to a more functional special education program. She would like to use the house on a daily basis to teach the desired skills needed for the program to be successful.

• Mrs. Hammel will have a Google certified student teacher from Lindenwood in her class next fall.

• Elizabeth Eubanks placed 5th in Biology at the State Wyse competition.

• The Sting laser tag fundraiser will be held April 21.

• College Signing Day will be held on April 25.

• “World Wide Web” presentation will be held April 27.

• Coach Kill from SIUC will be presenting an assembly on May 1 about life after high school.

• Teacher Appreciation Week is May 7-11.

• CHS Spring Concert will be held May 8.

• Honor’s Night is scheduled for May 9.

• Senior finals will be taken May 11 and 14.

Superintendent Pasero reported the following to the Board of Education:

• Resolution for surplus track equipment and copy machines. We will put out for sealed bid sale with the stipulation that we have the right to reject unreasonable low bids.

• The resolution eliminating township restrictions for school board elections will be voted on at this meeting. This will go to the November election for voters within the district and if passed the Spring 2019 school board election will be at-large.

• The indoor air quality report did not identify major concerns. However, there were some CO2 and humidity readings that were slightly outside the recommended ranges. We are revisiting those areas to make sure there are no ventilation issues and will continue to monitor.

• CEA filed their request to open up bargaining for their contract.

• Moving forward with our Ag program. Discussion held regarding the curriculum of the program.

• Re-posted for the special education and custodial positions.

• Perandoe Special Education Cooperative – Transitioning into two different buildings: SWIC and a space in the outlet mall in Sparta (vocational). Our students in this program will continue at the current PEP location and head to the new Sparta location for their vocational training.

• 45 surplus computers were donated from the federal government. Mr. Pasero thanked Gilster’s for picking the computers up for the district. Mr. Fricke questioned whether the district would be eligible to receive army surplus items. Superintendent Pasero will look into.

• The state did release new funding for this year. Chester should benefit by receiving an additional $270,000. The evidence based model dictates this to be included in next year’s base minimum. Everything is dependent on the state budget. Previous years we have seen prorated payments, and they are discussing items like pension costs to districts and minimum teacher salaries.

• Recommending 3 summer custodial employees at each building at $8.40 per hour, and a summer tech assistant for 120 hours at $9.25 per hour to work with Rich Clasen for tech-updates.

• Recommending extra driving time (180 hours) for Brad Norman for approximately 30 students at $25.00 per hour.

• Amended budget for FY18 will be posted in the district office in May, to be approved in June.

Motion was made by Mrs. Caraway and seconded by Mr. Fricke to enter into executive session at 7:31 p.m. for the appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance, or dismissal of specific employees of the public body. Upon roll call Mr. Colvis voted yea, Mr. Vasquez voted yea, Mrs. Caraway voted yea, Mr. Fricke voted yea, Mr. Welge voted yea. 5 yea, 0 nay, 2 absent; motion carried.

Motion was made by Mr. Colvis and seconded by Mr. Vasquez to return to open session at 9:27 p.m. Upon roll call Mr. Colvis voted yea, Mr. Vasquez voted yea, Mrs. Caraway voted yea, Mr. Fricke voted yea, Mr. Welge voted yea. 5 yea, 0 nay, 2 absent; motion carried.

Motion was made by Mr. Fricke and seconded by Mr. Colvis to approve the district bills in the amount of $470,598.41 and the district payroll in the amount of $400,908.44. Upon roll call Mr. Colvis voted yea, Mr. Vasquez voted yea, Mrs. Caraway voted yea, Mr. Fricke voted yea, Mr. Welge voted yea. 5 yea, 0 nay, 2 absent; motion carried.

Motion was made by Mrs. Caraway and seconded by Mr. Fricke to approve the following consent agenda items as listed. Upon roll call all members voted yea. 5 yea, 0 nay, 2 absent; motion carried.

• Chester’s King of the Court 5 on 5 Basketball Tournament on June 9, 2018, with proceeds going to the CHS boys’ basketball team.

• CHS boys’ basketball fundraiser request to hold a basketball camp at the grade school for grades 3-8 on June 18-June 20, 2018.

Motion was made by Mr. Vasquez and seconded by Mr. Colvis to adopt a Resolution declaring track high jump pads and three (3) Xerox machines as surplus inventory. Upon roll call all members voted yea. 5 yea, 0 nay, 2 absent; motion carried.

Motion was made by Mrs. Caraway and seconded by Mr. Fricke to approve the attached list of computers as surplus inventory to be returned to the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) or be recycled. Upon roll call all members voted yea. 5 yea, 0 nay, 2 absent; motion carried.

Motion was made by Mrs. Caraway and seconded by Mr. Vasquez to adopt the Resolution as read by Superintendent Pasero providing for submission of a referendum to be placed on the November 2018 ballot to eliminate township requirements for school board positions. Upon roll call Mr. Fricke voted yea, Mrs. Caraway voted yea, Mr. Vasquez voted yea, Mr. Colvis voted yea, Mr. Welge voted yea. 5 yea, 0 nay, 2 absent; motion carried.

Motion was made by Mr. Fricke and seconded by Mr. Colvis to approve the purchase of a Forinet Fortigate Firewall in the amount of $5,099.00. Upon roll call Mr. Colvis voted yea, Mr. Vasquez voted yea, Mrs. Caraway voted yea, Mr. Fricke voted yea, Mr. Welge voted yea. 5 yea, 0 nay, 2 absent; motion carried.

Motion was made by Mr. Colvis and seconded by Mr. Vasquez to approve the Ag Program Start Memorandum of Understanding from the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) to enable the district to receive grant funding. Upon roll call all members voted yea. 5 yea, 0 nay, 2 absent; motion carried.

Motion was made by Mr. Vasquez and seconded by Mrs. Caraway to approve the termination of employment of Jade Jolly as grade school head track coach and Ariel Gales as grade school assistant track coach, effective immediately. Upon roll call Mr. Colvis voted yea, Mr. Vasquez voted yea, Mrs. Caraway voted yea, Mr. Fricke voted nay, Mr. Welge voted nay. 3 yea, 2 nay, 2 absent; motion carried.

Motion was made by Mr. Fricke and seconded by Mr. Vasquez to accept the resignation of Ronald Craig Brockhouse as high school evening custodian, effective April 9, 2018. Upon roll call all members voted yea. 5 yea, 0 nay, 2 absent; motion carried.

Motion was made by Mr. Vasquez and seconded by Mrs. Caraway to employ Josh Haberberger, Curt Meyer, Clay Herrell, Jake Haberberger, Chase Colvis and Jacob Lochhead as summer custodial workers at $8.40 per hour. Upon roll call Mr. Fricke voted yea, Mr. Welge voted yea, Mrs. Caraway voted yea, Mr. Vasquez voted yea, Mr. Colvis abstained. 4 yea, 0 nay, 1 abstain, 2 absent; motion carried.

Motion was made by Mr. Fricke and seconded by Mr. Colvis to employ Sophia Stellhorn for 120 hours as a summer technology assistant at $9.25 per hour. Upon roll call Mr. Fricke voted yea, Mr. Colvis voted yea, Mr. Vasquez voted yea, Mrs. Caraway voted yea, Mr. Welge voted yea, 5 yea, 0 nay, 2 absent; motion carried.

Motion was made by Mr. Fricke and seconded by Mrs. Caraway to approve 180 summer driving hours for Brad Norman at $25.00 per hour to complete driving time for approximately 30 students. Upon roll call Mr. Colvis voted yea, Mr. Vasquez voted yea, Mrs. Caraway voted yea, Mr. Fricke voted yea, Mr. Welge voted yea. 5 yea, 0 nay, 2 absent; motion carried.

Motion was made by Mr. Vasquez and seconded by Mr. Colvis to employ Jess Vaughn as a grade school evening custodian at $9.25 per hour, retroactive to April 3, 2018, as recommended by administration. Upon roll call Mr. Colvis voted yea, Mr. Fricke voted yea, Mr. Welge voted yea, Mrs. Caraway voted yea, Mr. Vasquez voted yea. 5 yea, 0 nay, 2 absent; motion carried.

Motion was made by Mrs. Caraway and seconded by Mr. Colvis to employ Justin Stehl as a high school evening custodian at $9.25 per hour beginning April 20, 2018. Upon roll call Mr. Colvis voted yea, Mr. Vasquez voted yea, Mrs. Caraway voted yea, Mr. Fricke voted yea, Mr. Welge voted yea. 5 yea, 0 nay, 2 absent; motion carried.

Motion was made by Mr. Vasquez and seconded by Mrs. Caraway to approve coaches and volunteers for the 2018-19 school year as attached to these minutes. Upon roll call Mr. Fricke voted yea, Mr. Welge voted yea, Mrs. Caraway voted yea, Mr. Vasquez voted yea, Mr. Colvis voted yea. 5 yea, 0 nay, 2 absent; motion carried.

Motion was made by Mr. Fricke and seconded by Mr. Vasquez to approve the contract for Shirley Stegmann as Curriculum Director/HS Science Teacher for the 2018-19 school year. Upon roll call Mr. Colvis voted yea, Mr. Vasquez voted yea, Mrs. Caraway voted yea, Mr. Fricke voted yea, Mr. Welge voted yea. 5 yea, 0 nay, 2 absent; motion carried.

Motion was made by Mrs. Caraway and seconded by Mr. Vasquez to grant tenure to Kacey Search. Upon roll call all members voted yea. 5 yea, 0 nay, 2 absent; motion carried.

Motion was made by Mr. Vasquez and seconded by Mrs. Caraway to employ Miki Friess as an elementary teacher for the 2018-19 school year as recommended by administration. Upon roll call Mr. Colvis voted yea, Mr. Vasquez voted yea, Mrs. Caraway voted yea, Mr. Fricke voted yea, Mr. Welge voted yea. 5 yea, 0 nay, 2 absent; motion carried.

Motion was made by Mr. Vasquez and seconded by Mr. Colvis to accept the maternity leave request of Erin Belton through FMLA during the approximate dates of October 15, 2018-January 3, 2019. Upon roll call all members voted yea. 5 yea, 0 nay, 2 absent; motion carried.

Motion was made by Mr. Vasquez and seconded by Mr. Fricke to adjourn the meeting at 9:38 p.m. Upon roll call all members voted yea. 5 yea, 0 nay, 2 absent; motion carried

The next Regular Meeting of the Board of Education will be held on Tuesday, May 15, 2018, at 7:00 p.m. in the Chester Community Grade School Conference Room, 650 Opdyke Street, Chester, IL 62233.

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