Kankakee Times

Kankakee School District 111 Board of Education met Sept. 10.

Here is the agenda provided by the board:

ROLL CALL

Members present: Mary Archie

Jess Gathing, Jr.

Karen Johnston, Vice President

Angela Shea, Secretary

Members absent: Christopher Bohlen (*entered at 6:10 PM)

Barbara A. Wells (*entered at 6:06 PM)

Darrell Williams

A quorum was declared present.

Closed Session

At 6:04 p.m., motion was made by Gathing, seconded by Archie, to adjourn to the Library for closed session to discuss 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; and litigation, when an action against, affecting or on behalf of the particular public body has been filed and is pending before a court or administrative tribunal, or when the public body finds that an action is probable or imminent, in which case the basis for the finding shall be recorded and entered into the minutes of the closed meeting. ROLL CALL VOTE--Ayes: Archie, Gathing, Johnston, and Shea. Nays: none. Motion carried.

The closed session was adjourned at 6:58 p.m.

At 7:05 p.m., the regular session was reconvened.

Five students led the pledge from King Middle Grade School.

Superintendent’s Report

Good news:

School	Event	Explanation
Avis Huff	Donation	 The Jewel/Osco Store in Bourbonnais cleared off their shelves of school supplies and donated them to Avis Huff. They donated six large boxes of glue sticks, folders, pens, colored pencils, book bags, satchels, etc. Some of the supplies have been shared with Proegler and the art teacher at the junior high school.

 Dr. Walters commended the high school administration, staff, and students as the upperclassmen entered the high school building for the first time this school year. She said the building looked fabulous. Dr. Walters said an Open House for the community will be held sometime in December. She was also encouraged with a survey that the students are taking to rate their experience with e-Learning. They have asked each student to rate each class from 1-4 with four being the highest and one the lowest, to enable administration to know what worked and what didn’t work. Although they have the rest of the week to complete the survey, the early numbers showed that 14% rated this experience as a 1, 24% as a 2, 40% as a 3, and 22% as a 4. Dr. Walters was pleased to see that 62% of the ratings were 3’s or 4’s.

Principal’s Report

Ms. Fountain, principal at King Middle Grade School, introduced Assistant Principal Bonnie Tolliver to present the staff at King. After the introductions, Ms. Fountain said that she has a great staff and is so proud to be working with such a wonderful group of professional educators.

Ms. Fountain presented on the following topics:

 Interim Police Chief Hunt and over 40 community leaders greeted students at King on the first

day of school encouraging the students to have a good school year

 PBIS School - students went to Tri-Star Martial Arts Academy to learn about respecting one

another, respecting themselves and responsibility

 Summer Workshop - “Capturing Kids Hearts” - staff learned how to create lasting relationships

with students, as well as how to engage, explore, communicate, and empower students

 Three goals this school year - Student Achievement, Student Culture and Parent Engagement

Ms. Fountain concluded her presentation by stating that every day they say the Pledge of Allegiance, the School Pledge, and then ask their students, “Am I leading or am I following?” Ms. Fountain said she is confident with the wonderful staff at King Middle School; they are going to teach their students to have the courage to lead.

Public Comments

The following public comments were made:

Name	Comments
Alan Buck	Mr. Buck came before the Board on behalf of the Spurs supporters. He requested that the action item on the Spurs signage be removed from the agenda, postponed indefinitely, or otherwise deferred and not addressed tonight. He stated that it is not ready for action; it is not ready for approval, as it is premature and defective. Mr. Buck said there is nothing definitive to approve. He also stated that Board action approved and dedicated the Spurs Stadium sign, but it was removed without Board action. Mr. Buck stated the Superintendent’s memo doesnot constitute extensive community participation, nor does it encourage or respect public expression of opinions. He read from the Board Oath and Conduct and left a copy with the clerk to distribute.
Michele Crecy	Ms. Crecy commended Mr. Harris and the administrative team atthe high school for a principal’s meeting that was held at the highschool on September 5th. She said the administration was very honest, open and transparent with answering questions. Ms. Crecy said parents had many concerns going in, but felt much better when leaving. She said it was a very productive and effective meeting and she just wanted to give credit where credit is due.

Consent Agenda

The following items were presented:

1. The minutes of the following Board of Education meeting were presented for approval:

 August 27, 2018-Regular Meeting (Regular & Closed Session)

2. The Regular Bills were presented for approval. (See Insert A.)

3. The Payroll and Related Bills were presented for approval. (See Insert B.)

4. The following personnel items were presented for approval:

Motion was made by Bohlen, seconded by Gathing, to approve the above listed Consent Agenda items as presented. ROLL CALL VOTE - Ayes: Archie, Bohlen, Gathing, Johnston, Shea, and Wells. Nays: none. Motion carried.

Action Item

1. Kays’ Stadium, Spurs Field Signage

Motion was made by Shea, seconded by Gathing, to approve the recommendation for Kays’ Stadium, Spurs Field signage as presented. Mr. Bohlen asked if they could discuss the signage. Mr. Bohlen stated that he thought the Board must have a consistent goal in this particular matter, not only the signage to commemorate the stadium, but also to honor the 180 plus names of the families or individuals on the dedication of building the stadium. He also stated that the District needs to have the input from the Spurs group for two reasons: 1) the language to commemorate and honor what that group did was important to the School District and he wants that group to approve the language, and 2) it is important because the last time the District put up a sign there were misspelled names and he doesn’t want that to happen again. Mr. Bohlen said this should be a group effort of the School District Administration, the Board, and the Spurs group that we have no misspelled names. He asked that before a commitment for a final sign be given, that an additional meeting with one or two Board members, administration, and discussion with the Spurs group should be held. Mr. Bohlen stated he wants to honor their request. Mr. Bohlen asked to amend the motion to provide an additional meeting between the Board, administration and the Spurs group before final signage is approved. Mrs. Johnston said she agreed. Mrs. Shea also agreed, but felt the memo covered an additional meeting. President Wells read the memo. Mr. Bohlen stated there is a meeting in the memo. Mr. Buck stated that the memo said the final design will be approved by the administration. Mr. Buck agreed with Mr. Bohlen, that it must be approved by the Board. President Wells responded by saying that the administration makes the recommendation and the Board approves it. She said the administration will meet with the architect or whomever else they need to meet with to design the sign. The District will be honoring every name that should be on the sign and the sign will be installed in a place of honor so that it can be seen by all who enter the stadium. President Wells said the sign was destroyed by accident, but a picture of the original sign will be placed in the school to honor the people from the original sign. Mr. Buck gave the clerk a list of the names that should appear on the sign. With no second to Mr. Bohlen’s amended motion, the motion died and the original motion was voted on as presented. ROLL CALL VOTE - Ayes: Bohlen, Gathing, Johnston, Shea, Archie, and Wells. Nays: none. Motion carried.

Old Business

There was no old business discussed.

Information and Proposals

The following items were provided for information:

1. State & Federal Revenue Report

2. Budget Update

Mr. Grossi stated that the FY19 Budget will be presented at the next Board meeting on September 24th.

3. Previous Bill Run

At 7:55 p.m., motion was made by Gathing, seconded by Bohlen, to adjourn the meeting. All ayes; motion carried.

https://www.ksd111.org/cms/lib/IL01904746/Centricity/Domain/68/Sept1018Minutes.pdf