Sesser-Valier Community Unit School District No. 196 Board of Education met Dec. 12

By Philip Gonzales

Feb 7, 2023

Here are the minutes provided by the board:

CALL TO ORDER

A regular meeting of the Board of Education of Sesser-Valier Community Unit School District No. 196 was held in the High School Library at 6:00 PM on Monday, December 12, 2022. The meeting was called to order by President Megan Rounds.

ROLL CALL

Secretary Zimbro called the roll with the following result:

Members Present: Acosta, Barry, Menser, Rounds, Sample, Spence, Stacey

Members Absent: None

Staff Present: J. Henry, N. Page, K. Jones, L. Zimbro, B. Gunter, R. Payne, T. Masters

Visitors Present: Jason Hoffard

PUBLIC COMMENT & CORRESPONDENCE

None

REPORTS

SVEA: Rachel Payne reported the staff enjoyed their Thanksgiving break. This month is full of activities including Polar Express night, band and chorus concert and the junior high sock hop. Students and teachers are also preparing for upcoming semester exams.

LABORERS' LOCAL 773: No report.

CUSTODIAL & MAINTENANCE SUPERVISOR: No report.

K-8 PRINCIPAL: Mr. Jones, Elementary/JH Principal, presented information regarding the following to the board: Trust fund, recent events/activities, upcoming activities, and the SAP (Student Assistance Program) Christmas report.

H.S. PRINCIPAL: Mrs. Page, High School Principal, presented information regarding the following to the board: Trust fund, upcoming calendar entries, list of students receiving special achievements and awards, and the CAP/TAP Christmas report.

SUPERINTENDENT: Mr. Henry, Superintendent, presented the following information to the board:

1. The consent agenda for this month's meeting includes the following additional item(s):

Approval of a resolution referencing disposition of obsolete equipment Approval of the 2022 tax levy resolutions

2. Following the board's adoption of the Tax Year 2022 levy this evening, the necessary documents will be filed in both Franklin & Jefferson Counties on or before the due date (last Tuesday of December; December 27, 2022).

3. Heartland Mechanical has begun work securing the equipment, supplies, and materials needed for Phase I (Summer, 2023) of the District's HVAC project. To date, we have been very pleased with how the project is shaping-up, and, based on his first impressions, Mr. Henry believes the district will have a very good experience with Heartland over the next 3 summers.

4. The January/February, 2023, policy update cycle includes a fairly large update from PRESS (Issue #110, October, 2022). Superintendent Henry has begun working on this update and recommend that the Board Policy Committee meet immediately following the regular January, 2023, board meeting to review the changes. Mrs. Zimbro or Mr. Henry will reach out to policy committee members to confirm availability for that date/time (January 9, 2023).

5. The Franklin County Regional Delivery System (Vocational Cooperative) is currently working on updating the organization documents and intergovernmental agreement(s). Mr. Henry expects to recommend board action on the revised intergovernmental agreement at the regular January, 2023, board meeting.

6. On Tuesday, November 22, 2022, Superintendent Henry met with Franklin County Sheriff's Deputy Ron Howard, who was recently appointed as a school resource officer (SRO) in the Sheriff's Office. Following that meeting, Deputy Howard sent a county-proposed agreement for the District's consideration. Mr. Henry is currently working on some school-specific revisions to that agreement to send back to the Sheriff's office for discussion/consideration. He is hopeful to have this process finished up and be able to recommend board adoption in mid-January.

Superintendent Henry also referred the Board and others in attendance at the meeting to the November, 2022, Treasurer's Report and the cash reserve fund balances listed as of November 30, 2022, prior to the Board's adoption of the 2022 Tax Levy resolutions (same information as was presented in the Truth-in-Taxation hearing immediately prior to the regular board meeting).

CONSENT AGENDA

A motion was made by Stacey and seconded by Menser approving the minutes of the previous meeting: November 14, 2022 (Regular Board Meeting); Treasurer's report; bills in the amount of $350,263.04 and salaries in the amount of $408,045.52; adoption of resolution referencing disposition of obsolete school equipment; adoption of resolution authorizing final aggregate tax year

levy for year 2022; adoption of a resolution authorizing tax levy for fire prevention safety, energy conservation, disabled accessibility, school security and specified repair purposes

for 2022; adoption of a resolution authorizing tax levy for tort immunity for year 2022 and adoption of a resolution authorizing tax levy for special education purposes for year 2022, as presented.

Roll call voting was as follows:

Yeas: Acosta, Barry, Menser, Rounds, Sample, Spence, Stacey

Nays: None

There being seven (7) yeas and zero (0) nays, the president declared that the motion carried.

OLD BUSINESS

None

NEW BUSINESS

AUTHORIZATION FOR DISTRICT SUPERINTENDENT TO ADJUST INDIVIDUAL FUND LEVIES, NOT TO EXCEED BOARD-APPROVED AGGREGATE TAX LEVY FOR 2022: A motion was made by Stacey and seconded by Acosta to authorize the District Superintendent to adjust individual fund levies, not to exceed the Board-approved aggregate tax levy for 2022, as presented.

Roll call voting was as follows:

Yeas: Barry, Menser, Rounds, Sample, Spence, Stacey, Acosta

Nays: None

There being seven (7) yeas and zero (0) nays, the president declared that the motion carried.

CLOSED SESSION: At 6:19 PM, a motion was made by Acosta and seconded by Spence to enter into closed session for the purpose of discussing the following exceptions to the Open Meetings Act:

a) The appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance or dismissal of specific employees of the public body (5 ILCS 120/2(c)(1), as amended by P.A. 93-57)

b) Collective negotiating matters between the public body and its employees or their representatives, or deliberations concerning the salary schedules for one or more classes of employees (5 ILCS 120/2(c)(2)

Roll call voting was as follows:

Yeas: Menser, Rounds, Sample, Spence, Stacey, Acosta, Barry

Nays: None

There being seven (7) yeas and zero (0) nays, the president declared that the motion carried.

RECONVENE FROM CLOSED SESSION: At 7:48 PM, a motion was made by Stacey and seconded by Acosta to reconvene from closed session.