Kankakee School District 111 Board of Education met April 14.
Here is the minutes provided by the board:
The regular meeting of the Board of Education of Kankakee School District No. 111, Kankakee County Illinois; was held at 6:14 p.m., ZOOM Conference Call Due to COVID-19
ROLL CALL
Members present: Christopher Bohlen
Jess Gathing, Jr. Vice President
Deb Johnston
Angela Shea, Secretary
Barbara Wells, President
Darrell Williams
Members Absent: Mary Archie (*entered at 6:31 pm)
A quorum was declared present.
Closed Session
At 6:14 p.m., a motion was made by Bohlen, seconded by Johnston, to adjourn to closed session to discuss the appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance, or dismissal of specific employees of the public body or legal counsel for the public body, including hearing testimony on a complaint lodged against an employee of the public body or against legal counsel for the public body to determine its validity and the 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 a closed meeting ROLL CALL VOTE-Ayes: Bohlen, Gathing, Johnston, Williams, and Wells. Nays: none. Motion carried.
The closed session was adjourned at 7:00 p.m.
At 7:29 p.m., the regular session was reconvened.
The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Board President, Barbara Wells.
Meeting with the Board were:
Felice Hybert, Assistant Superintendent
Dr. Kathleen O’Connor, Assistant Superintendent
Robert Grossi, Assistant Superintendent
Dr. Genevra Walters, Superintendent
Rachel Thornton, Recording Secretary
There were no news reporters present.
Superintendent’s Report
❖ Good News:
➢ The Community Foundation of Kankakee River Valley will be providing support to our students by buying chargers for the district’s Chromebooks and i-pads.
➢ The district has applied for a No Kid Hungry Emergency Grant which if approved would purchase a food truck for the district to be able to deliver meals to families that are quarantined.
➢ The district has applied for a grant for mileage for staff members to deliver food if necessary.
➢ The district has applied for a grant for 1000 bookbags so that parents can have bags to receive food.
❖ Instruction
➢ Mrs. Hybert clarified the decisions made around CBE and Grading with Slate. Starting August 2020 the district will take the steps and move back to Skyward for grading CBE.
❖ Finance
➢ Mr. Grossi discussed the 2019 audit and how COVID-19 will impact the district’s future budget. Mr. Grossi also discussed the construction projects that are going on in the district. Dr. Walters stated that we are closely monitoring the potential impact of COVID-19 on our Local economy as well as the National economy. We are paying attention to what this may mean for the district’s future revenue.
❖ Personnel
➢ Dr. O’Connor discussed the current vacancies, teacher retention, and the mentoring program.
❖ Technology
➢ Dr. Walters read a statement from Mr. Dannenberg: The Technology department has worked day and night to maintain and monitor our district systems to ensure we can continue to support our staff and students during Learning Anywhere, Anytime. Prior to April 1, 2020, we had 2300 1:1 student devices being sent home. As of earlier last week, we prepared nearly 2000 more Ipads and Chromebook for students to take home. Technology will still be using the district work order system to handle any technology issues. We are aware of the recent news related to Zoom bombing and are taking it very seriously. We have taken the appropriate precautions when setting up the district Zoom account and are continuing to work with administration and staff to make sure best practices are understood. Many Ipads and Chromebooks are coming up on their four-year refresh cycle at the end of the 19-20 school year. After speaking with vendors they are strongly recommending that we move quickly with any device purchase that we will need for August.
❖ Summer Learning Anywhere, Anytime
➢ The district would like to extend Learning Anywhere, Anytime until August 1st for all students.
The level of support the student will receive depends on where they are in there learning.
❖ 8th Grade Promotion and Graduation
➢ We are discussing options to celebrate the class of 2020 as well as our 8th-grade students.
Principal’s Report
Ms.Fountain spoke about King’s ESSA designation and what they are doing to raise student’s test scores. King is focusing on the Social-Emotional needs of all students. Ms. Fountain discussed Aimsweb test successes as well as areas that they need to improve on. King has an afterschool program that focuses on raising the math and reading scores as well as helping students with work when they need it. Ms. Fountain discussed all of the activities and incentives that are implemented throughout the school year.
Public Comments
The following public comment was made.
| Name | Public Comment |
| Trisha Gaytan | It is my understanding from previous communications from the school district that the curriculum being pushed out to the kids was adjusted to accommodate the unusual circumstances of the COVID 19 virus. My question is why is my junior high student (LCC) being assigned the same assignments as if he were still in the classroom for 7 hours a day. |
Ms. Wells asked for a motion to remove all closed session minutes from the Consent Agenda.
A motion was made by Gathing, and seconded by Williams to remove all closed session minutes from the consent agenda. ROLL CALL VOTE-AYES: Archie, Bohlen, Gathing, Johnston, Shea, Williams, and Wells. Nays: none. Motion carried.
Consent Agenda
The following items were presented:
● The following Board minutes were presented for approval:
❖ March 16, 2020-Regular Board Meeting (Regular Session)
● The Regular Bills were presented for approval. (See Insert A)
● The Payroll and Related Bills were presented for approval.
A motion was made by Gathing, seconded by Johnston to approve the above-listed consent agenda items as presented. ROLL CALL VOTE- AYES: Bohlen, Gathing, Johnston, Shea, Williams, Archie, and Wells. Nays: none. Motion carried.
Action Items
1. Approval of Recommendation for Position Letters First, Second, Third, and Fourth Year Staff
A motion was made by Gathing, seconded by Bohlen to approve the recommendation for position letters first, second, third, and fourth-year staff as presented. ROLL CALL VOTE- AYES: Gathing, Johnston, Shea, Williams, Archie, Bohlen, and Wells. Nays: none. Motion carried.
2. Approval of Microsoft Software Renewal
A motion was made by Bohlen, seconded by Gathing to approve the Microsoft software renewal as presented. ROLL CALL VOTE- AYES: Johnston, Shea, Williams, Archie, Bohlen, Gathing, and Wells. Nays: none. Motion carried.
3. Approval of Contract with Consortium for Educational Change
A motion was made by Shea, seconded by Archie to approve the contract with Consortium for Educational Change as presented. ROLL CALL VOTE- AYES: Shea, Williams, Archie, Bohlen, Gathing, Johnston, and Wells. Nays: none. Motion carried.
4. Approval to Authorize Settlement of Former Employee Seventh Circuit Appeal.
A motion was made by Bohlen, seconded by Archie to approve the authorized settlement of former employee Seventh Circuit Appeal as presented. ROLL CALL VOTE- AYES: Williams, Archie, Bohlen, Gathing, Johnston, Shea, and Wells. Nays: none. Motion Carried.
Old Business
No old business was discussed.
Information
The following items were provided for information.
1. 4-Day Work Week Guidelines-Summer 2020
2. FOIA Request
3. Budget Update
4. State and Federal Revenue Report
5. Staff Absence Report
Mr. Bohlen urges all Kankakee residents to fill out the Census The Board discussed how proud they are of the District
At 8:40 p.m., a motion was made by Gathing, seconded by Archie, to adjourn the meeting. All ayes; motion carried.
https://www.ksd111.org/cms/lib/IL01904746/Centricity/Domain/68/BOE%204-14-20%20Minutes.pdf
Alerts Sign-up