CAT Tracks for October 15, 2012
REGULAR BOE MEETING...MINUTES

The Cairo Board of Education held its "rescheduled" regular meeting on Monday, October 15, 2012 at 6:00 p.m. The meeting was conducted at Cairo Junior/Senior High School, the new location for the District Central Office...in the area formerly known as the "Green Hallway". (The hallway has been repainted WHITE!

The entrance for this and all future BOE meetings is at the southwest corner of the building...with the newly painted green doors. (They were brown last year; blue last month.)

Below is an annotated agenda to serve as "minutes"...

Cairo School District No. One
"MAKING A SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE!"
4201 Sycamore Street
Cairo, Illinois 62914
Telephone 1-618-734-4102
Fax 1-618-734-4047

CAIRO BOARD OF EDUCATION
CAIRO SCHOOL DISTRICT NUMBER ONE
REGULAR SCHOOL BOARD MEETING
MONDAY, October 15, 2012
6:00 P.M.

AGENDA

I. Call to Order - 6 p.m.

II. Roll Call - Coleman, Harris, Nelson, Gooden, and McBride. (Moore arrived at 6:15 p.m.)

III. Examples of Excellence - CJSHS Principal Zena Madison had the honors. She explained that she was going to have students present, but that the cancellation of school disrupted that plan. Principal Madison announced that several CJSHS students had participated in an NAACP writing contest and that one Cairo student had placed 4th. (My apologies for not being able to hear the name.)

IV. Recognition of Guests/Comments From Public and Employees - None.

V. Approval of Previous Minutes - A motion was made, seconded, and passed.

  1. Public Hearing Minutes of September 20, 2012
  2. Regular Minutes of September 20, 2012
  3. Closed Minutes of September 20, 2012

VI. Approval of Agendas - Superintendent Evers indicated that the only change was that she would be presenting information about the water situation. A motion was made, seconded, and passed.

  1. Regular Meeting
  2. Closed Meeting

VII. Approval of Treasurer's Report - Superintendent Evers provided some "insight". She reported that the District had received the final payments in various categories for FY12. She also indicated that State Aid funding had been increased slightly...from 88% last year to 89.something% this year. A motion was made, seconded, and passed.

VIII. Approval of Payment of Bills/Payroll - No discussion. A motion was made, seconded, and passed.

IX. Informational

  1. Discuss the Implementation of an Age Policy for Attendance at School Activities/Sports Events Without Parent/Guardian Supervision ( Madison/Pickett) - Problems at the first girls' basketball game. It had been decided not to have security. However, there was a fight involving six students. There was also much "activity", younger children "up and down constantly...not interested in watching the game. There were two teachers to watch the doors and monitor access, but that proved to be not enough. Principal Madison indicated that in the past, there had been a requirement that an adult had to accompany, supervise, and be responsible for younger students and children...that maybe this policy should be implemented once again. (The two principals remained in the BOE room during closed session.)

  2. Other - Water situation. (See separate post.)

  3. Checks Deposited - District Account

    14,488.77 - Federal School Lunch
    7,933.33 - Federal School Breakfast
    1,314.64 - Verizon - E-Rate Funds
    142,450.73 - State Aid
    21,793.05 - Spec. Ed. Extraordinary
    38,885.75 - Spec. Ed. Personnel
    39,787.83 - Transportation & Vocational
    9,856.55 - Spec. Ed. Transportation
    56,152.00 - Title I Low Income
    10,821.00 - Title II Teacher Quality
    471.28 - State Breakfast/Lunch
    35,159.45 - Personal Property Replacement Tax

X. Closed Session - The BOE voted to enter closed session at 6:14 p.m. The BOE voted to exit closed session at 7:00 p.m.

XI. Requiring Action/Decisions By Board of Education

  1. Personnel employment, resignation, release, discipline, or compensation

      a. Employ Head Softball Coach- High School - Larry Woods - A motion was made, seconded, and passed.

      b. Employ Assistant Softball Coach- High School - Latrice Wood - A motion was made, seconded, and passed.

      c. Employ Freshman Boys Basketball Coach- High School - Chauncey Hughes - A motion was made, seconded, and passed.

      d. Employ Head Boys Basketball Coach - Jr. High School - Bernard Brown - A motion was made, seconded, and passed.

      e. Employ Assistant Boys Basketball Coach - Jr. High School - Julian Watkins - A motion was made, seconded, and passed.

    CAT Tracks Editor's Note:

    We interrupt the flow of these run-of-the-mill agenda items for...

    A VERY IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT!!!

    Can I get a drum roll please...

  2. Dissolve Retainer Relationship With Robbins, Schwartz, Nicholas, Lifton & Taylor, Ltd. - A motion was made, seconded, and passed. (Nah, nah, nah, nah...hey, hey, hey...goodbye!!!)

  3. Enter Into Retainer Relationship With Tueth, Keeney, Cooper, Monhan & Jackstadt - A motion was made, seconded, and passed.

    POSTSCRIPT:

    If your reaction to this "very important announcement" was...

    "Huh?"

    ...then you failed the "paying attention" quiz. (Follow-up Question: Where have you been for the past 7 years???)

    Your penalty is that you will have to await the "minutes" of this meeting to be clued in. (Remedial Homework Assignment)

    (Hopefully, you have now realized that Robbins et al was the "James Gibson Law Firm"...paid over $200,000 to fight James Gibson...paid over $200,000 to lose to James Gibson...three or four times, I lost track. Will the District learn from this colossal mistake? Stay tuned...time will tell.)


    We now return to our regular programming...

  4. Approve Combining The Cairo Jr/Sr High School Imprest Account And The Revolving Fund Account - A motion was made, seconded, and passed.

  5. Other
    • Something about a letter to go to parents (concerning the unattended children at school activities.)

    • Superintendent Evers announced a big sporting event! I think I got this right: The CHS Boys and Girls basketball teams will play the Egyptian Boys and Girls basketball teams on Friday, January 11th at the FedEx Forum, home of the NBA Memphis Grizzlies. (The two teams will play in the afternoon and then stay to watch an evening contest between Memphis and San Antonio.)

    • Superintendent Evers informed the BOE and audience that Hope International was in the process of taking control of the old Junior High building (former District Central Office.) She indicated that everyone should expect to see cosmetic changes as Hope International takes measures to make the building more energy efficient. Apparently, replacing the windows was a nonstarter. The windows will be painted a color to match the exterior of the building and "filled in"...there was too much window surface to do otherwise. She also announce that Hope International had informed her that Larry Baldwin would be starting a youth program, beginning with younger children. Additionally, Hope International is allowing District sports teams to use the gym for practice after school. All-in-all, very positive developments are in store for the coming months.

    • BOE President Artie McBride announced that "We still need Booster Club members.)

XII. Old Business - None.

XIII. Adjourn...A motion was made, seconded, and passed to adjourn at 7:14 p.m.

CLOSED SESSION IS FOR THE PURPOSE OF CONSIDERING INFORMATION RELATIVE TO THE APPOINTMENT, EMPLOYMENT, PERFORMANCE OR DISMISSAL OF INDIVIDUAL EMPLOYEES WHICH MAY BE OF A TEMPORARY CONFIDENTIAL NATURE, STUDENT DISCIPLINE, PLACEMENT OF SPECIAL EDUCATION STUDENTS, DISCUSSION OF LITIGATION PROBABLE, IMMINENT, FILED OR PENDING AND COLLECTIVE BARGAINING OR RELATED ISSUES.