South West Illinois News

Chester Community Unit School District No. 139 Board of Education met Feb. 20.

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 Library. Vice-President Welge called the Regular Meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.

Members present: Dan Colvis, Debi Caraway, Tom Welge, Charles Fricke, Lorin Mott. Members absent: Trent Vasquez, Mitch Hammel.

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

No public comment was presented to the Board.

Grade School Maintenance Report:

• A&W replaced an old cast iron sink with one we already had and also replaced shut off valves and supply lines.

• Belleville Fence has not yet completed the installation of the new gate or finished repairing the fencing.

• Custodians have stepped up attempts to curb the spread of flu within the building.

• A TMI/Daekin tech looked at the rooftop unit over the cafeteria and found that it was wide open. An air pressure valve was out of whack. He also checked the other rooftop units.

• There are three small leaks in the cafeteria roof along the gymnasium wall. Mr. Paulus called in a warranty repair request through Giessler Roofing and Versico.

• As soon as the weather clears up, Mr. Paulus will check the south side of the school sign to see if it is the bulbs or the ballasts that are out.

• There are two courtyard lights that do not have power to them. Mr. Paulus suspects something was disconnected during installation of the air unit this past summer. He will call Hall Electric to troubleshoot the problem.

High School Maintenance Report:

• Mr. McMath is beginning to receive quotes to seal the parking lot during the summer at the high school.

• In the process of getting quotes for replacement of the library and band room A/C units that are going out.

• Need to start looking for summer help for the high school.

• Working on a list of summer cleaning supplies that will need to be ordered and received prior to the end of May.

• HVAC units for rooms 117, 217, and 218 are moving along well.

• The new salt spreader works perfect for what we need it for.

Grade School Athletic Report:

• The girls basketball season came to an end on January 18. They lost to Pinckneyville in their regional game. They finished the season with a 6-16 record.

• The boys basketball team won their regional for the first time since 2002. They then went on and won their first game at the state tournament at Rend Lake College beating Eldorado. This put them in the final four. They lost a hard fought semi-final game to Wolf Branch; 51-57. Their overall record was 16-13.

• Mr. Kaiser thanked Mr. Blechle for allowing grade school teams to practice at the high school when gym time was needed and also thanked Superintendent Pasero for approving a fan bus to the state tournament. It was also noted that Coach Norman and the high school boys basketball team traveled to the state tournament in support of the team.

• The 7th grade boys basketball team only had 2 losses on the season. They finished 16-2

• Volleyball games are underway. There are a total of 29 athletes participating.

• The 8th grade volleyball team won the consolation game in the St. Marys tournament.

• Track will begin soon.

• The board received an upcoming athletic schedule.

High School Athletic Report:

• Mr. Blechle thanked Mr. Kaiser as well for allowing gym time at the grade school when needed.

• Both girls and boys basketball teams won their home tournaments. Ian Reith (MVP) and DeOndre Martin were named to the CIT All-Tournament Team. Destiny Williams (MVP), Reese Chandler, and Kendall Williams were named to the

LJMWC All-Tournament Team.

• The tournaments were a success again this year. As a gift every team was provided with a tournament t-shirt.

• The boys basketball record is 17-3. (7-3 conference)

• The girls basketball record is 26-6. (7-3 conference) The girls set a new school record in wins.

• Girls basketball received a #3 seed in their regional. They defeated #5 DuQuoin in the first round and played Freeburg for the Class 2A Championship and took second place.

• The boys basketball team will begin regional play in Murphysboro against DuQuoin on February 24.

• The dance team performed in Springfield for their IDTA State bid. Mr. Blechle attended this years competition and remarked that it was a phenominal experience.

• Cheer camp was recently held and had 118 participants. It was once again a major success.

• The indoor track season has started.

• Spring schedules are complete and all umpires are hired. Softball has 35 games scheduled, baseball has 31 games and track has 21 meets scheduled.

• Working on a 1000 point basketball banner to be placed in Colbert Gym.

• A big thank you to Memorial Hospital for a fantastic job providing medical staff during our athletic events to attend to injured athletes.

• Mr. Blechle is working on summer gym schedules, inventory from all sports, and award banquets for winter sports.

Curriculum Report:

• The window for completing ACCESS for ELLs testing closes on February 18. Mrs. Decker has completed the testing process and she and Mrs. Stegmann will be meeting to finalize the paperwork.

• Mrs. Stegmann provided the board with a schedule for IAR testing.

• A Google Forms Survey was designed for teachers to complete who have requested professional development units from graduate level courses they have taken.

• Mrs Stegmann and Mrs. Petrowske attended the IETC (technology conference) in November and provided professional

development to high school faculty on January 31 on the topic, Google Earth.

• All accommodation requests for the PSAT/SAT have been entered to the SSD College Board. The test date is April 14.

• The IL Science Assessment (ISA) has undergone changes to include all areas of Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).

Grade School Principal’s Report:

• A Love Abby fundraiser was held on February 5, thank you Mrs. Kordys. Students and staff paid $1 to wear comfy clothes and raised $780.81.

• Ag in the Class made a presentation about eggs to the prekindergarten classes on February 5.

• CTS did a walk through on February 7 in preparation of the new speaker system.

• CGS held a Book Fair the week of February 10-14.

• PTS held a meeting on February 11. The Walk-a-Thon has been scheduled for Wednesday, April 15, with a rain date of April 22.

• Mrs. Gonzalez’s class traveled to Three Springs to hand out valentines and to sing songs for residents on February 13.

• This month’s Pre-K Family Fun Night was held at Perry Park Center.

• Parent-teacher conferences are scheduled for February 27 & 28. Dennis Trask will be reaching out to K-5 parents with a presentation, “Hidden in plain sight!,” on February 27.

• Band Solo and Ensemble will be held at CGS on Saturday, March 14.

High School Principal’s Report:

• The Academic Challenge Team competed on February 5. Congratulations to the following students for placing and advancing to Regional Competition. Jaci South placed first in chemistry; Brock Williams, Alison Venus, and Ariel Throop all tied for second in biology; Nate Rains placed second in computer science and third in engineering graphics;

Alyssa Place and Cordy Stirnaman tied for third place in computer science.

• Local scholarship information, along with other scholarship information, is available on the CHS website under the Student Services tab.

• Reese Chandler advanced to the Sectional 3-point shootout.

• Freshmen began meeting with Mr. Guebert.

• Mrs. Meyer commented they are looking into the possibility of incorporating an 8th grade Parent Night.

• CHS held a blood drive on February 13.

• Parent-teacher conferences are scheduled for February 27 & 28.

• The Pep Band will perform at ISU on March 7.

• Shrek performances will be held March 19-22.

• An all school assembly will be held on March 23.

Superintendent’s Report:

• Board policy update for 7:270, Administering Medicines to Students, per the recommendation of legal counsel.

• The CCSI board has selected Mitch North as next year’s principal.

• Bond request will come most likely in March for the 2009 refinance to complete the HVAC project at the grade school.

Overall rate for bonds is expected to increase as mentioned earlier. Additional bond sale would bring the rate to about 0.509, still lower than it was in 2016 at 0.86 and 2015 at 0.78.

• Planning to begin requesting pricing for an energy contract in late March/early April.

• The Southwest Egyptian Conference have increased junior high officials pay for the 2020-2021 fiscal year.

• Bel-O-Sales have completed the inside work on the three AC units at the high school and are continuing to finish up some insulation work on the exterior. Requesting payment approval for $104,854.50.

• E-Rate extended their most recent cycle by one year and added a little money as a result. Mr. Pasero has put out for bid some additional connectivity items and has recently received notice of a roughly $28,000 refund of the network work performed through the E-Rate program. This is about 80% of the total cost.

• The $50,000 matching maintenance grant application through ISBE has been submitted. This would be applied to the upcoming grade school HVAC project completion.

• Administration has met with CTS to review the all-call system. Mr. Pasero will be asking for approval to install the dedicated system into both school buildings as soon as possible.

• Mr. Pasero is having a couple lighting audits done at the high school. Ameren is running some incentives that will reduce the energy consumption/cost through ballast and bulb replacement. (5-year warranty)

• Receiving quotes for having the high school parking lot resealed. Mr. McMath has indicated the need and that it has been several years since any previous work was completed on it.

• HLS amendment approval will be based on the bids for the project to put us over the original mark.

• Superintendent Pasero will be asking for a 3-year renewal for our student management program. Single year increases over last year were significant. A 3-year contract will lock in the lower rates.

• Met with Baysinger recently to game-plan the grade school HVAC project and bid. We are looking at bidding the project over a two-year (summer) timeframe as it would be unlikely that all could be completed in a single summer and still have time for our custodians to clean and be ready for school to start on time.

• Reviewing feedback for the 2020-2021 school calendar and looking to approve in March.

• Mr. Pasero has posted the positions of grade school art, high school science, and junior high math knowing that the shortage of candidates means we may not fill these positions.

Motion was made by Mr. Mott and seconded by Mr. Colvis to enter into executive session at 7:37 p.m. for (a) the appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance, or dismissal of specific employees of the public body; and

(b) collective negotiating matters between the public body and its employees or their representatives, or deliberations concerning salary schedules for one or more classes of employees. Upon roll call Mr. Colvis voted yea, Mrs. Caraway voted yea, Mr. Fricke voted yea, Mr. Mott voted yea, Mr. Welge voted yea. 5 yea, 0 nay, 2 absent; motion carried.

Motion was made by Mr. Colvis and seconded by Mrs. Caraway to return to open session at 8:46 p.m. Upon roll call Mr. Mott voted yea, Mr. Fricke voted yea, Mr. Welge voted yea, Mrs. Caraway voted yea, Mr. Colvis voted yea. 5 yea, 0 nay, 2 absent; motion carried.

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

• Minutes of the January 16, 2020 regular meeting and executive session;

• Bills in the amount of $791,079.87 and payroll in the amount of $439,486.63;

• Financial reports.

Motion was made by Mr. Mott and seconded by Mr. Colvis to conduct and approve the first reading of PRESS Plus Policy 7:270, Administering Medicines to Students, with updates per recommendation based on legal counsel. Upon roll call all members voted yea. 5 yea, 0 nay, 2 absent; motion carried.

Motion was made by Mr. Fricke and seconded by Mrs. Caraway to approve the Certified and Non-Certified Seniority Lists as presented. Upon roll call all members voted yea. 5 yea, 0 nay, 2 absent; motion carried.

Motion was made by Mr. Colvis and seconded by Mrs. Caraway to approve payment to Bel-O-Sales for the HVAC replacement project at the high school in the amount of $104,854.50, as recommended by Baysinger. Upon roll call Mr. Fricke voted yea, Mr. Mott voted yea, Mrs. Caraway voted yea, Mr. Colvis voted yea, Mr. Welge voted yea. 5 yea, 0 nay, 2 absent; motion carried.

Motion was made by Mrs. Caraway and seconded by Mr. Colvis to approve the proposal from CTS for installation of a dedicated announcement/bell system in both the grade school and high school buildings in the amount of $18,360. Upon roll call Mr. Colvis voted yea, Mrs. Caraway voted yea, Mr. Fricke voted yea, Mr. Mott voted yea, Mr. Welge voted yea. 5 yea, 0 nay, 2 absent; motion carried.

Motion was made by Mr. Fricke and seconded by Mr. Mott to enter into a Consortium Agreement with Trico and Unity Point for the purpose of accessing Title III-EL Funding, as recommended by Superintendent Pasero. Upon roll call all members voted yea. 5 yea, 0 nay, 2 absent; motion carried.

Motion was made by Mr. Fricke and seconded by Mr. Colvis to approve the 3-year Skyward Agreement as presented for Student Management, Food Service, and School Based Accounting, reflecting an overall increase of 3.34%. Upon roll call Mr. Fricke voted yea, Mr. Mott voted yea, Mrs. Caraway voted yea, Mr. Colvis 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 for the superintendent to request bids for Phase 2 of the grade school ventilation and HVAC project conducted over a two-year timeframe (summer). Upon roll call all members voted yea. 5 yea, 0 nay, 2 absent; motion carried.

Motion was made by Mr. Mott and seconded by Mr. Colvis to reassign Michael Heffernan from high school assistant baseball coach to a volunteer coach for the 2019-2020 baseball season. Upon roll call all members voted yea. 5 yea, 0 nay, 2 absent; motion carried.

Motion was made by Mr. Colvis and seconded by Mr. Mott to employ Brett Klindworth as high school assistant baseball coach for the 2019-2020 school year. Upon roll call Mr. Fricke voted yea, Mr. Mott voted yea, Mrs. Caraway voted yea, Mr. Colvis voted yea, Mr. Welge voted yea. 5 yea, 0 nay, 2 absent; motion carried.

Motion was made by Mr. Mott and seconded by Mrs. Caraway to accept the resignation of Myka Guertersloh as high school cafeteria aide, effective February 10, 2020. 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 accept the resignation and voluntary request of Donna Stueve, grade school cook, and amend her original retirement date from the end of the 2020-2021 school to the end of the current 2019-2020 school year, with retirement benefits prorated based on the earlier retirement date. Upon roll call Mr. Colvis voted yea, Mrs. Caraway voted yea, Mr. Fricke voted yea, Mr. Mott 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 accept the letter of intent from Michelle Justinen, special education teacher, effective at the end of the 2023-2024 school year, taking advantage of the 6% retirement incentive, as per clause 7.8 in the CEA bargaining agreement. Upon roll call Mr. Mott voted yea, Mr. Fricke voted yea, Mrs. Caraway voted yea, Mr. Colvis voted yea, Mr. Welge voted yea. 5 yea, 0 nay, 2 absent; motion carried.

Motion was made by Mr. Colvis and seconded by Mrs. Caraway to accept the letter of intent from Mike Schwarting, high school math teacher, effective at the end of the 2023-2024 school year, taking advantage of the 6% retirement incentive, as per clause 7.8 in the CEA bargaining agreement. Upon roll call Mr. Fricke voted yea, Mr. Mott voted yea, Mrs. Caraway voted yea, Mr. Colvis voted yea, Mr. Welge voted yea. 5 yea, 0 nay, 2 absent; motion carried.

Motion was made by Mrs. Caraway and seconded by Mr. Colvis to accept the letter of intent from Mary Madrigal, special education teacher, effective at the end of the 2022-2023 school year, taking advantage of the 6% retirement incentive, as per clause 7.8 in the CEA bargaining agreement. Upon roll call Mrs. Caraway voted yea, Mr. Colvis voted yea, Mr. Fricke voted yea, Mr. Mott voted yea, Mr. Welge voted yea. 5 yea, 0 nay, 2 absent; motion carried.

Motion was made by Mr. Mott and seconded by Mr. Colvis to approve the maternity request of Erin Belton through FMLA, effective approximately April 22, 2020, through the end of the 2019-2020 school year. Upon roll call all members voted yea. 5 yea, 0 nay, 2 absent; motion carried.

Motion was made by Mr. Fricke and seconded by Mr. Colvis to employ Marilyn Schicker as grade school 8-hour evening custodian at $11.00 per hour, effective February 18, 2020, pending background check. Upon roll call Mr. Colvis voted yea,

Mrs. Caraway voted yea, Mr. Fricke voted yea, Mr. Mott 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 employ Lisa Koester as Reading Specialist Teacher, pending background check, effective March, 1, 2020, placed at MS+0, Level 11 on the teachers’ salary schedule. Upon roll call Mr. Colvis voted yea, Mrs. Caraway voted yea, Mr. Welge voted yea, Mr. Mott voted yea, Mr. Fricke voted yea. 5 yea, 0 nay, 2 absent; motion carried.

Motion was made by Mr. Colvis and seconded Mrs. Caraway to approve the agreement to pay a fee for an early release from contract to the previous district for Lisa Koester, as presented by Superintendent Pasero. Upon roll call Mr. Fricke voted yea,

Mr. Mott voted yea, Mrs. Caraway 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. Mott to adjourn the meeting at 8:57 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 March 19, 2020, at 7:00 p.m. in the Chester Community Grade School Library, 650 Opdyke Street, Chester, IL 62233.

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