Kankakee Times

Donovan Community Unit School District 3 Board met Dec. 20.

Here is the minutes provided by the Board:

President Schultz called the meeting to order at 4:30 p.m. Roll call was taken with five (5) members present. Dr. Miller and Mrs. Regnier were absent. Mr. Westrick then introduced the Donovan Elementary November Students of the Month; Anica Almanza for Kindergarten, Bentley Walwer for 1st grade, Chloe Ponton for 2nd grade, Kiley Serratt for 3rd grade, Lily Anderson for 4th grade, and Ava Carlson for 5th grade. Ms. Lily Anderson was in attendance to receive her certificate.

The Board moved to Board Packet Information. Item “A” was the approval of agenda. Mr. Wisniewski made a motion, seconded by Mr. Schmidt to approve the agenda. The motion was approved on a roll call vote – All Yes (5). Next was the approval of the Consent Agenda items including: 1) Regular Meeting Minutes of November 15, 2017, and 2) Accounts Payables. Mr. Munson made a motion, seconded by Mrs. Carlson to approve the Consent Agenda items. The motion was approved on a roll call vote – All Yes (5). Item “C” was Review of Student Activity Accounts, there were no questions. Item “D” was FOIA Request, there were none.

Visitors/ Written Correspondence/Public Participation 

There were three visitors present; Kelly Gifford, she was here on behalf of the DEA to give this month’s report, Ms. Lily Anderson and her father Mr. Kyle Anderson. There was one piece of written correspondence, a letter from Mrs. Jewel Legan. There was no other correspondence to come before the Board.

Donovan Education Association Report 

Mrs. Kelly Gifford was the DEA Representative to give this month’s report. She started her report by sharing that 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades will be celebrating their holiday break by going bowling in Iroquois. She shared that the Martinton Lions Club had donated enough money to pay for all of the bowling, pizza, and drinks for the students. The Kindergarten through 2nd grade students will be celebrating by going to see Ferdinand the Bull at the Meadowview Movie Theater and then will be singing for the residents of Merkle Knipprath Nursing Home in Clifton and Prairieview Lutheran Home in Danforth. Their trip was paid for by an anonymous donor and funds from the annual pie sales. She stated next that the music classes just finished their winter concerts on December 12th and the Junior High/High School band and choir performed at the end of November. Next, she shared that Mrs. Askew is currently working on the ESSA grant and all amendments are projected to be completed before the holiday break. Also, all school-wide winter testing is completed at the Elementary School and data is being used to determine RTI needs. Mrs. Maple attended the Raising Student Achievement Conference on December 4th and 5th. She learned a lot about student engagement and attended a great session on reviewing new textbooks for reading and math. Also in second grade news, they have been studying the countries and continents of the world. During this unit, they were able to watch the Polar Express movie and have treats and hot cocoa. Mrs. Onnen’s 3rd through 5th grade PE classes have just finished their Roller Skating Unit and were able to enjoy a “disco” skating party at the end of the unit. Also in PE news, the school will be doing Jump Rope for Heart again this year. The kickoff assemble will be on Friday, January 12th. This fundraiser for the American Heart Association will coincide with the Jumping/Jump Rope Unit in PE. She shared next that box top submissions are low, so there will be a competition between the classes to see who can raise the most and whoever wins will get a cookies and hot chocolate party. Kelly then stated that Mrs. Onnen will be doing some training on Friday, January 19th with Kami Garrison from ISAS to present the information with the Kindergarten through 3rd graders. Finally, the 8th graders have been participating in the Too Good for Drugs curriculum every Thursday. Mr. Schultz thanked her for her report.

Administrative Reports 

Superintendent Report: Mr. Westrick started his report by sharing there will be a Prairie State Insurance Cooperative Mid-Year meeting on November 30th. Next, he stated that the meeting with Lucas Allen went well regarding the Ag visit with ISBE on December 4th. He shared next that the Senior Citizen’s Dinner went very well on Saturday, December 9th. He also commended Mrs. Gifford on a job well done with the entertainment. He stated next that the Elementary Winter Concert was held on December 12th. He shared next that the Iroquois County Juvenile Justice Council meeting was on December 19th. Finally, he shared that the ESSA Grant was resubmitted today. Mr. Schultz thanked him for his report.

Principal Report: 

Mrs. Pitkin started her report by giving enrollment numbers for both the Elementary and Junior-Senior High Schools. The Elementary School has a total of 119 students and the Junior-Senior High School has a total of 173 students. Of those 292 students, there are 44 students with IEPs and 8 students with 504s. Next, she informed the Board of the November Discipline Report. She then shared some dates to remember; January 3rd is the Teacher Institute Day, January 5th is when report cards will go home with students, January 6th is the music field trip to see Elf the Musical, and January 22nd through 27th will be Homecoming Week for the High School. Next, she gave some numbers for electives that students are interested in. She finished her report by giving the guidance and technology reports for this month. Mr. Schultz thanked her for her report.

Special Education Report Mrs. Pitkin shared her special education report during her principal report.

Committee Reports 

Buildings & Grounds – There was a meeting on December 6th discussing leasing a wing to ISEA and new signs at the Jr./Sr. High School.

Old Business 

In old business, item “A” was Adoption of 2018-19 Tax Levy. Mrs. Carlson made a motion, seconded by Mr. Munson to approve the adoption of the 2018-9 Tax Levy. The motion was approved on a roll call vote – All Yes (5).

Item “B” was discussion of “Triple I” convention. Dr. Miller arrived at 5pm. There was no motion to be made.

New Business 

Item “A” was Executive Session. Mr. Schultz made a motion, seconded by Mr. Wisniewski to enter into Executive Session: To discuss the appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance of specific employees of the District, individual student concerns, disciple and leasing of district property. The motion was approved on a roll call vote – All Yes (6). Mr. Munson left the meeting at 5:33 pm. The Board reentered Regular Session at 5:48 p.m.

Item “B” was approve Executive Session Minutes. Mrs. Carlson made a motion, seconded by Dr. Miller to approve the Executive Session Minutes. The motion was approved on a roll call vote – All Yes (5).

Item “C” was Personnel. Dr. Miller made a motion, seconded by Mrs. Carlson to accept Mrs. Angela Moos’s resignation as both JH and HS Athletic Director effective January 2, 2018. The motion was approved on a roll call vote – All Yes (5). Mr. Schmidt made a motion, seconded by Dr. Miller to appoint Mr. Scot Laudenbach as both JH and HS Athletic Director effective January 2, 2018. The motion was approved on a roll call vote – All Yes (5). Mrs. Carlson made a motion, seconded by Mr. Schultz to appoint Ms. Molly Knapper as JH Scholastic Bowl Sponsor. The motion was approved on a roll call vote – Yes (5). Dr. Miller made a motion, seconded by Mrs. Carlson to transfer Mr. Bill Daniels to 2nd Shift Custodian at Donovan Elementary effective June 4, 2018 and post 2nd shift custodian position at Jr./Sr. High School. The motion was approved on a roll call vote – Yes (5). Mrs. Carlson made a motion, seconded by Dr. Miller to approve Superintendent Goals for 2017-18. The motion was approved on a roll call vote – All Yes (5).

Item “D” was accept contributions. Mr. Schmidt made a motion, seconded by Mr. Schultz to accept $500 from Wal- Mart Foundation for building music activity funds. The motion was approved on a roll call vote – Yes (5). Mrs. Carlson made a motion, seconded by Dr. Miller to approve $500 from Kelly and Julie Langellier towards the Kindergarten through 2nd grade field trip on Thursday, December 21, 2017. The motion was approved on a roll call vote- All Yes (5).

Item “E” is discussion, and consideration, of addition of Economics course for Donovan HS for next year. No motion was needed but plans were to go forward for next school year.

“XII” was Other business. There were no other items to be discussed.

President Schultz closed the meeting at 5:55 p.m.

http://www.donovan.k12.il.us/files/_kZJmV_/46021c3bb77d20573745a49013852ec4/BM_Dec_20_2017.pdf