Kankakee Times

The Kankakee School District 111 Board of Education met Sept. 26 to review the projected revenue for 2017.

Here are the meeting's minutes, as provided by the board:

KANKAKEE SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 111

BOARD OF EDUCATION MINUTES

September 26, 2016

The regular meeting of the Board of Education of Kankakee School District No. 111, Kankakee County,

Illinois, was held at 6:30 p.m. in the Multi-Purpose Room at Kennedy Middle Grade School, 1550 West

Calista Street, Kankakee, Illinois.

ROLL CALL

Members present: Jess Gathing, Jr.

Karen Johnston, President

Joseph Lightfoot

Angela Shea

Members absent: John Coghlan (*entered at 6:37 PM)

Amelia Davis (*entered at 6:02 PM)

Barbara A. Wells, Secretary (*entered at 6:34 PM)

A quorum was declared present.

Closed Session

At 6:30 p.m., motion was made by Gathing, seconded by Lightfoot, to adjourn to closed session in the

Library to discuss appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance, or dismissal of specific

employees of the public body. ROLL CALL VOTE--Ayes: Gathing, Johnston, Lightfoot, and Shea. Nays:

none. Motion carried.

The closed session was adjourned at 7:00 p.m.

At 7:04 p.m. the regular session was reconvened.

Meeting with the Board were:

Dr. Genevra A. Walters, Superintendent

Felice Hybert, Assistant Superintendent

Rob Grossi, Assistant Superintendent,

Dr. Kathleen O’Connor, Assistant Superintendent

Vicki Scott, Recording Secretary

Mr. John Dykstra, reporter from The Daily Journal was present.

President Johnston announced that the meeting would be adjourned at this time for a public hearing

concerning the 2016-2017 School Budget.

Motion was made by Coghlan, seconded by Gathing, to adjourn the meeting for a Public Hearing concerning

the 2016-2017 School Budget. ROLL CALL VOTE--Ayes: Coghlan, Davis, Gathing, Lightfoot, Shea, Wells,

and Johnston. Nays: none. Motion carried.

Public Hearing – FY17 School Budget

Mr. Grossi presented the budget as follows:

? Revenues:

o General State-Aid will increase by $1.5 Million vs. FY 2016 due to new funding formula.

o District will receive first installment of FY 2018 tax distribution in June 2017 ($1.9 Million) as

it did during this past June.

o District will receive $400,000 from the School Improvement Grant, which the District no

longer has.

o The District projects to issue bonds for remaining $19.6 Million of Qualified School

Construction Bonds in 2017.

Roll

Call

Closed

Session

Reconvene

Public

Hearing

FY17 School Budget

Board of Education Minutes-September 26, 2016 (continued) (page 2 of 5)

Total revenues projected to decrease by 1.65% vs. FY 2016

? Expenses:

o Total salaries are projected to decrease by 0.89%. This is due to a combination of

retirements, moving to grade centers, and closing a building.

o Employee benefits are projected to increase 4.79%. This is because the District only made

health insurance payments for 11 months during FY 2016. It also projects the health

insurance will increase by 5%, beginning January 1.

o The budget projects $12.7 Million will be spent towards construction expenses. These

expenses will be from the Qualified School Construction Bonds.

Total expenses (excluding one-time expenses charged to the capital projects fund) are budgeted to

increase by 0.85% vs. FY 2016.

? Summary of Fiscal Year 2016-17 Budget

o Excluding Capital Projects Fund, total revenues are expected to exceed total expenses by

approximately $700,000. This compares to a surplus of $2.4 Million during FY 2016.

o The District will need to allocate $3.0 Million of its General State-Aid to the Operations &

Maintenance Fund.

o The District intends to issue $19.6 Million of QSCB Funds in 2017.

o The Budget shows $12.7 Million of construction expenses. It has three years to spend

$29.8 Million of its QSCB Funds.

Public Comments

Mr. Gene Cotsones inquired about a letter he received from Aetna regarding rebates owed to Kankakee

School District employees. Mr. Grossi stated that he was looking into that matter.

Mr. Robert Ellington-Snipes asked if the graph shows the $300,000 that will be put into the Operations and

Maintenance fund. Mr. Grossi said that the specials are every single fund across the board, so that includes

the fact that we need to allocate some of the General State Aid money into the Operations and Maintenance

fund. After that is done, Mr. Grossi said that we will still have $700,000 surplus this year, which means we

are bringing in $700,000 more than we are spending.

At 7:18 p.m., motion was made by Coghlan, seconded by Gathing, to adjourn the public hearing. ROLL

CALL VOTE--Ayes: Davis, Gathing, Lightfoot, Shea, Wells, Coghlan, and Johnston. Nays: none. Motion

carried.

President Johnston reconvened the regular meeting with the following Board members responding to roll call:

Gathing, Lightfoot, Shea, Wells, Coghlan, Davis, and Johnston.

The Pledge of Allegiance was led by students from Mrs. Lipofski’s fourth grade dual language class. The

students then performed the song, Live My Life, in Spanish. They were accompanied by their music

teacher, Mr. Collins.

Superintendent’s Report

? Good News:

School Event Explanation

King Donation • King Middle Grade School students and staff thanked Jennifer Johnson for

donating 10 bags of school supplies to King students. The students were very

appreciative of this generous donation.

? Dr. Walters announced that the high school has been selected to be a part of a National Project

called Lead Higher. Lead Higher is a project supported by President Obama’s administration along

with Governor Rauner to push more students into AP courses, specifically minority students. Dr.

Walters stated she is very excited as this opportunity will help all of our students. Research shows

that if a student takes at least one AP course during their high school years, they are more likely to

Public

Comments

Adjourn

Reconvene

Pledge

Superintendent’s

Report

Board of Education Minutes-September 26, 2016 (continued) (page 3 of 5)

be successful in college.

Principal’s Report ~ Cynthia Veronda, Principal at Kennedy

• Mrs. Veronda reviewed the 2015-16 PARCC and AIMS data as well as the fall 2016-17 AIMS data.

• She reviewed Kennedy’s School Improvement Plan

o Goal 1: Kennedy students will improve reading skills

o Goal 2: Improve the climate of Kennedy Middle Grade School

o Goal 3: Improve the public perception of Kennedy Middle Grade School as a school of positive

learning experiences for all children and their families

o Goal 4: Provide continuous and varied support that will increase leadership and retain effective

staff

o Goal 5: Increase the engagement of parents and families in their education, while increasing

support from community resources

• Mrs. Veronda shared a survey of improvement from the 4th week of school and the responses were very

positive.

• The following are highlights of action steps in process: Journeys, Collection, and Envisions Online

Resources and Curriculum Guidance; AIMS Goal Setting and Progress Monitoring; Scholastic Reading

Inventory (SRI) Goal Setting; Accelerated Reader Goal Setting and Monitoring; CHAMPS Strategies;

Restorative Justice Strategies; Vocabulary Strategies for Improved Reading; Math Common

Assessment Development; Google Classroom; Skyward Gradebook

• Keys to Improvement:

? Students, teachers, administration must remain focused on targets and action steps that lead to

improvement, using the Four Critical Questions to guide each team:

o What is it we want our students to learn?

o How will we know if each student has learned the essential skills and knowledge?

o How will we respond if some of our students do not learn these essentials?

o How will we enrich and extend the learning for students who are already proficient?

? Continuous monitoring of various data, collaborative conversations, and professional

development.

? Skilled, knowledgeable, willing, and enthusiastic staff

Mrs. Veronda concluded her presentation with the introduction of the Kennedy staff members.

Public Comments

The following public comments were made.

Name Topic

Robert Ellington-Snipes Spoke in support of Pastor Kenneth Carr. Asked the Board to do the

right thing.

Willie Dixon Spoke in support of Pastor Kenneth Carr.

Consent Agenda

The following items were presented:

1. The following Board minutes were presented for approval:

September 12, 2016-Regular Meeting (Regular & Closed Session Minutes)

2. The Kennedy Field Trip request to Washington D.C. was presented for approval.

3. The following personnel items were presented for approval:

Name Position Effective Date

Resignation – Licensed Educational Personnel

Marsha Bachand Special Education Teacher at Avis Huff End of 2017-18 School Year

Resignation – Support Personnel

Yuridia Lamb Special Education Paraprofessional at Edison September 7, 2016

Appointments – Licensed Educational Personnel

Kathleen Reynolds Academic Interventionist (Part-time) at Mark Twain September 27, 2016

Appointments – Support Personnel

Principal’s

Report

Public

Comments

Consent

Agenda

Board

Minutes

Field Trip

Personnel

Resignations

Appointments

Board of Education Minutes-September 26, 2016 (continued) (page 4 of 5)

Lauren Ratliff Paraprofessional at Avis Huff September 27, 2016

Carleen Junior Office Secretary at Avis Huff August 29, 2016

Eric Mitchell Vocational Paraprofessional at KHS September 27, 2016

Lee Grant Permanent Substitute Teacher at KHS September 27, 2016

Curtis Crossley Permanent Substitute Teacher at KHS September 27, 2016

Lenora Griffin Paraprofessional at KHS September 27, 2016

Kristin Glidden Paraprofessional at Edison September 27, 2016

Dawn Botensten School Nutritionist at LCC/Food Service September 27, 2016

Harold Terrell Assistant Director, Maintenance Dept. at LCC September 27, 2016

Onanza Cullins Paraprofessional, Part-time at Taft September 27, 2016

Joyce McKenzie Night Custodian at KHS September 27, 2016

Appointments – Extra-Duty Assignments

Heather Fitzsimmons Sophomore Class Sponsor at KHS September 27, 2016

Leigh Coradetti Senior Class Sponsor at KHS September 27, 2016

Annette Flournoy Gate Attendant All Home Games at KHS September 27, 2016

Theodis Pace Assistant Athletic Director at KHS September 27, 2016

Brian Fatka Assistant Coach, Robotics at KJHS September 27, 2016

Jevon Wesby Assistant Coach, Freshmen Volleyball at KHS September 27, 2016

Jevon Wesby Asst. Coach, Sophomore Girls’ Basketball at KHS September 27, 2016

Robert de Oliveira Gay Straight Alliance at KHS September 27, 2016

Sean Dailor Assistant, Scholastic Bowl at KHS September 27, 2016

Motion was made by Gathing, seconded by Shea, to approve the above listed consent agenda items as

presented. ROLL CALL VOTE--Ayes: Lightfoot, Shea, Wells, Coghlan, Davis, Gathing (Abstained on H.4.

and H.5. only), and Johnston. Nays: none. Motion carried.

Closed Session

At 7:55 p.m., motion was made by Gathing, seconded by Coghlan, to adjourn to closed session in the

Library to discuss appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance, or dismissal of specific

employees of the public body. ROLL CALL VOTE--Ayes: Shea, Wells, Coghlan, Davis, Gathing, Lightfoot,

and Johnston. Nays: none. Motion carried.

The closed session was adjourned at 10:35 p.m.

At 10:38 p.m. the regular session was reconvened.

Action Items

1. FY17 School Budget

• The FY17 School Budget was presented for approval.

Motion was made by Coghlan, seconded by Gathing, to approve the FY17 School Budget as presented.

ROLL CALL VOTE--Ayes: Davis, Gathing, Lightfoot, Shea, Wells, Coghlan, and Johnston. Nays: none.

Motion carried.

2. Recommendation to Terminate Mr. Kenneth Carr, Director of Maintenance

• Termination of Mr. Kenneth Carr was presented for approval.

Motion was made by Coghlan, seconded by Wells, to terminate Mr. Kenneth Carr, Director of Maintenance,

as presented. ROLL CALL VOTE – Ayes: Shea, Wells, Coghlan, and Johnston. Nays: Lightfoot and Davis.

Abstained: Gathing. Motion carried.

Termination

Leave of Absence

Closed Session

Adjourn

Reconvene

FY17 Budget

Termination

Board of Education Minutes-September 26, 2016 (continued) (page 5 of 5)

3. Intergovernmental Agreement with the YMCA

• The Intergovernmental Agreement with the YMCA was presented for approval.

Motion was made by Shea, seconded by Coghlan, to approve the Intergovernmental Agreement with the

YMCA as presented. ROLL CALL VOTE--Ayes: Lightfoot, Shea, Wells, Coghlan, Davis, Gathing, and

Johnston. Nays: none. Motion carried.

Old Business

There was no old business discussed.

Information and Proposals

The following items were provided for information:

1. The following personnel transfers were reported:

NAME TRANSFERRED TO EFFECTIVE DATE

Licensed Educational Professionals

Kathy Stockton IEP Coordinator at Avis Huff September 27, 2016

Support Personnel

Carrie Rees Special Education Paraprofessional at Montessori September 27, 2016

Brian Morris Night Custodian at Steuben/Taft September 27, 2016

Christine Hallberg Paraprofessional, Part-time at Edison September 27, 2016

Justin Wells Night Custodian, Lead at Kennedy September 27, 2016

Robert Grasser Night Custodian at LCC September 29, 2016

2. Freedom of Information Act – Request for Information

3. Homecoming Highlights

At 10:43 p.m., motion was made by Gathing, seconded by Wells, to adjourn the meeting. All ayes; motion

carried.

SIGNED: ______________________________________

Karen Johnston, President

ATTEST: ______________________________________

Barbara A. Wells, Secretary

vs

Approved: October 11, 2016

Intergovernmental

Agreement

YMCA

Old Business

Information

Personnel Transfers

FOIA Request

Homecoming

Highlights

Adjourn