Kankakee School District 111 Board of Education met Oct. 24.
Here are the minutes provided by the board:
The regular Board of Education meeting of Kankakee School District No. 111, Kankakee County, Illinois, was held at 5:01 pm in the Gym at Kennedy Middle School 1550 W Callista St. Kankakee IL
ROLL CALL
Members Present:
Mary Archie
Chris Bohlen
Jess Gathing
Deb Johnston
Tracy Verrett, Board Secretary
Barbara Wells, Board President
Members Absent:
Darrell Williams, Board Vice President (entered at 5:06 pm)
A quorum was declared present.
Closed Session
At 5:01 pm, a motion was made by Gathing, seconded by Archie, to adjourn to closed session to discuss: ➢ The appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance, or dismissal of specific employees, specific individuals who serve as independent contractors, or specific volunteers of the district, including hearing testimony on a complaint lodged against an employee, a specific individual who serves as an independent contractor, or volunteer of the District or against legal counsel for the District to determine its validity. ROLL CALL VOTE-Ayes: Archie, Bohlen, Gathing, Johnston, Verrett, and Wells.Nays: none. Motion carried.
The closed session was adjourned at 6:43 pm.
The regular session was reconvened at 7:02 pm.
Barbara Wells, Board President, led the Pledge of Allegiance.
Meeting with the Board were:
Shemeka Fountain, Assistant Superintendent of HR
Dr. Genevra Walters, Superintendent
Rachel Thornton, Recording Secretary
Daniel Savage, Transporation Director
ABC 7, WGN Chanel 9, NBC 5, and Stephanie Markham from the Daily Journal were present.
Superintendent’s Report
❖ Good News
| School | Event | Explanation |
| King | Donation | Mrs. West thanked Douglas Moore for donating clothes and uniforms to the students at King |
❖ Finance
➢ Mr. Savage discussed transportation obstacles and presented to the board about bringing transportation in-house.
❖ Instruction
➢ Dr. Walters discussed removing Slate and moving to Skyward for grading. She also clarified to the Public the District’s work on inclusion and equity. Dr. Walters also made a statement regarding the incident at KHS.
❖ Personnel
➢ Ms. Fountain discussed the process of termination and due process. Ms. Fountain also presented the timeline of events that occurred at KHS.
Mr. Bohlen made a motion, seconded by Gathing, to move the Action Item (Approval of the Termination of John Donovan) to Item E on the Agenda. ROLL CALL VOTE: Ayes: Archie, Bohlen, Gathing, Johnston, Verrett, Williams, and Wells. NAYS: none. Motion carried.
Action Item
1. Approval of the Termination of John Donovan.
A motion was made by Bohlen, seconded by Gathing, to approve the termination of John Donovan as presented. ROLL CALL VOTE: Bohlen, Gathing, Johnston, Verrett, Williams, Archie, and Wells. NAYS: none. Motion Carried.NAYS: none. Motion carried.
Mr. Bohlen, Mrs. Verrett, Mr. Williams, and Mrs. Wells made statements regarding the incident at KHS.
Principal’s Report
Dr. Burns welcomed everyone, introduced her staff, and showed a brief video.
Public Comments
| Name | Topic |
| Bishop Sammie Jones | Bishop Jones thanked the Board and Dr. Walters and discussed the issues with the incident at KHS. He asked that community forums happen. |
| Mike Prude | Mr. Prude discussed the Home Rule. Mr. Prude also thanked the administration and the Board for handling the incident the way they did. |
| Brenda Alexander | Ms. Alexander discussed an incident with her son that happened in February of 2022. |
| Latrice Carrol | Ms. Carrol discussed her efforts in mentoring students and the incident at KHS. |
| Kevin O’Connor | Mr. O’Connor discussed the other issues that happened with the student at KHS. |
| Travis Miller
Robert Ellington-Snipes | Mr. Miller discusses the nation's problems with racism. Mr. Miller also discussed the problems of racism within the school district.
Mr. Snipes discussed his concern with the incident of racism at KHS and the reasons students use social media instead of reporting to the administration. |
Board Report
Mrs. Wells discussed the Joint Annual Conference.
Mr. Gathing discussed the October 20th Finance Meeting.
Consent Agenda
The following items were presented:
● The following Board Minutes were presented for approval.
○ October 11, 2022, Regular Board Meeting (Regular & Closed Session)
● The Overnight Field Trip Request was presented for approval.
● The following Personnel Items were presented for approval:
| Name | Position Effective Date |
| Resignations (Licensed Educational Professional) | |
| Steven Elliott | 5th grade CCA Teacher at Kennedy September 9, 2022 |
| Pamela Sykes | Permanent Substitute at KJHS October 6, 2022 |
| Resignations (Support Personnel) | |
| Clifton Johnson | District Safety Supervisor at KHS January 7, 2022 |
| William Yohnka | Community Engagement Specialist at LCC October 7, 2022 |
| Appointment (Licensed Educational Professionals) | |
| Kara Johnson
Jennifer Wek | Social Worker at King October 26, 2022 SEL Coach November 8, 2022 |
| Appointment (Support Personnel)
Julissa Avalos Dual Language Paraprofessional at Steuben October 19, 2022 Claudia Avila Campa Bilingual Paraprofessional Part Time October 11, 2022 Alvon Billips Student Support Services Driver October 18, 2022 | |
| Alexandra Calderon
Catalina Chaca-Gonzalez Latisha Davis Marquon Hammond | Interventionist at KHS TBD
Interventionist at Steuben October 24, 2022 Cafeteria Helper TBD Student Support Services Driver at KHS October 18, 2022 |
| Dominique Hayes | Head Start paraprofessional at Proegler TBD |
| Leslie Herrera | Dual Language Paraprofessional at Kennedy October 31, 2022 |
| Brianne Lindstrom | Cafeteria Helper TBD |
| Rosemary Lonergan | Cafeteris Helper at KHS October 26, 2022 |
| Lyndell Obasiolu | Paraprofessional Special Education at Edison October 7, 2022 |
| Yasmine Ochoa | Bilingual Paraprofessional at Steuben October 19, 2022 |
| Veronica Ramirez
Salvatierra | Cafeteris Helper at King October 26, 2022 |
| Steven Walls | Behavior Therapist at Edison October 11, 2022 |
| Cornelius Williams | Kays Mart/ Food Pantry at Avis Huff October 19, 2022 |
| Appointment (Extra Duty) | |
| James Banks Jr | Assistant Wresteling at KHS 2022-2023 School Year |
| Elijah Brooks | Kays Media at KHS 2022-2023 School Year |
| Reggie Odeneal-Teague | Assistant Football at KHS 2022-2023 School Year |
| Lauren Penrod | Head Volleyball KJHS 2022-2023 School Year |
| Ryan Pietraszewski | Kays Media at KHS 2022-2023 School Year |
| Kieth Wilson | Minibike Director YEP 2022-2023 School Year |
| Internal Appointment (Administrative) | |
| George Harris | Principal at Steuben October 24, 2022 |
| Internal Appointment (Support Personnel) | |
| Elaine Brookshaw
Redmond | Cafeteria Helper at Kennedy October 18, 2022 |
| Rebecca Howard
Donnie Muhammad Jennifer Olson Kathy Wilder | First Taste Program Supervisor November 1, 2022 Day Custodian at KHS October 17, 2022 Cook at Kennedy October 20, 2022 Cafeteria Helper at KHS October 18, 2022 |
New Business
Classroom: Parent Communication at the Junior High and High School.
Dr. Walters discussed communication with parents at KJHS, and KHS needs to be more consistent
Information & Proposals
1. FIOA Request
At 8:27 pm, a motion was made by Gathing, seconded by Johnston, to adjourn the meeting. All ayes; motion carried.
https://www.ksd111.org/cms/lib/IL01904746/Centricity/Domain/68/BoE%20Minutes%2010-24-22.pdf
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