CAT Tracks for December 13, 2012

CAT Tracks for December 13, 2012

The Cairo Board of Education held its "rescheduled" regular meeting on Thursday, December 13, 2012 at 6:00 p.m.
Below is the agenda with the previously advertised spartan commentary...
(AMENDED!)

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
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2012
6:00 P.M.
AGENDA

I. Call to Order - 6 p.m.

II. Roll Call - All members were present (Rodney Moore arriving at 6:05 p.m.)

III. Examples of Excellence - CHS FACS (aka Home Ec) Teacher Jane Adams presented a slide show of an activity that she used to "reconnect" with students...a "Fall Feast". (Her first "tour of duty" was from 1980-1994.)

IV. Recognition of Guests/Comments From Public and Employees:

CSD #1 FOP Financial Adviser Lee Rogers thanked the BOE for their cards and support following the recent passing of his wife.

Bishop Derek Eurales - Stated that the community must be involved for the school system to be effective, but that to do that, the community needed to be informed. Bishop Eurales told the BOE that they had his support, but that they needed to talk "to" each other, not "at" each other.

A parent complained about music that was played at a school event...music that allegedly included inappropriate lyrics, including curse words. She indicated that her husband was a DJ and could have provided the service of "cleaning up" the song for use at school functions.

Former BOE Member Danny Brown next spoke...supporting the comments of the previous parent. He took the Superintendent and a BOE member to task for attending the program and not reacting or intervening. (The Superintendent and BOE member stated that they did not hear the offending lyrics.)
(CAT Tracks Editor's Note: Mr. Brown gave me a copy of a letter which he states was sent to local media, the Regional Superintendent of Schools, and the Illinois State Board of Education. Read the letter.)

Next, the teacher/sponsor of the event in question went to the podium and indicated that she also did not hear the offending lyrics...but that if someone needed to be blamed, she would accept responsibility. She also indicated that she would take steps to assure that there would not be anything offensive in any future events in which she was involved.

Finally, changing the subject, a parent rose to state that she felt that favoritism was being shown in the school system. She complained that her child was being sent to the Alternative Classroom as many as three times a week without her being notified. She also alleged that a counselor had been brought in to meet with her son without her being notified.

V. Approval of Previous Minutes

Regular Minutes of November 8, 2012
Closed Minutes of November 8, 2012

VI. Approval of Agendas

Regular Meeting
Closed Meeting

VII. Approval of Treasurer's Report
VIII. Approval of Payment of Bills/Payroll
IX. Informational

Tim King made a presentation to the BOE about a proposed issue of General Obligation Refunding School Bonds. (See Item X. #5 further down on this agenda.) Bottom Line: With a lower interest rate (2.94%) that the original bonds, the District will save $155,000.

School Board Secretaries Relieved of Election Duties on Christmas Eve - The District will close for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. The filing deadline is being extended an extra day...until 5 p.m. on December 26th.

New Pension Reform Bill Possibilities - Superintendent Andrea Evers stated that there are maybe four scenarios being floated, but that she foresees the District having to absorb more of the cost...transitioning over a number of years, an additional 0.5% per. However, nothing has been decided upon as yet.

Superintendent Evers made additional comments about the success of the activity organized and conducted by FACS Teacher Jane Adams.

Superintendent Evers commented on the mural that now adorns one full wall of the Board Room, a mural done by the same artist (Heather Amundsen) who did the USS Cairo Mural at 34th and Sycamore and the first two panels of the River Wall Murals at 14th and Ohio. (CAT Tracks Editor's Note: The Board Room mural is impressive indeed. I haven't checked the District website lately to see if they have posted pictures. If not, I shall endeavor to do so myself.)

Superintendent Evers made some other announcements of upcoming events.

Checks Deposited - District Account
1,904.36 - Fresh Fruit & Veggie Grant
4,172.32 - TAMES
142,450.73 - State Aid
39,393.00 - Title I Low Income
9,463.00 - Title II Teacher Quality
6,225.17 - Refund Employer - Teachers' Retirement System
1,019.87 - Refund Employer - Teachers' Retirement System
384.11 - Refund Employer - Teachers' Retirement System
500.00 - Touchstone Energy Grant - Ryan O'Shea
13,560.00 - Title I Low Income
142,450.73 - State Aid
698.03 - State Breakfast/Lunch
1,266.19 - Fresh Fruit & Veggie Grant
3,367.51 - TAMES

X. Closed Session - The BOE voted to enter closed session at 6:50 p.m. The BOE voted to exit closed session at 8:20 p.m.

1. Personnel Issues

XI. Requiring Action/Decisions By Board of Education

Personnel employment, resignation, release, discipline, or compensation

a. Employ Elizabeth Nelson - School Guidance Counselor - Effective July 1, 2013
(Amended)
b. Employ Angela Alexander - School Social Worker - Cairo Elementary School - Effective January 15, 2013.
(Amended)
c. Approve Superintendent's Contract - It is a 3-year contract for the period July 1, 2013 to June 30, 2016.
(CAT Tracks Editor's Note: Okay, Christmas came early...and the spirit "moved" me. I'm sorry...what I mean to say, "I showed out!" Normally, I sit quietly with a poker face, taking notes. On this occasion, I erupted in a spontaneous demonstration...created a foolish spectacle of myself. Folks, I just couldn't help myself. Like an unexpected bolt of lightning from the sky...when Superintendent Evers announced the duration of her new contract, it dawned on me! To share my "Eureka" moment with my seat-mate, Madam CAT President, I flipped my notepad over and wrote THE name...the name of He Who Shall Remain Nameless! YES...I wrote that name and then with childish glee proceeded to scribble all over it...tearing the paper and gouging my leg in the process! HWSRN is officially dead, dead, dead to Cairo School District Number One...he will NOT be coming back as I feared! OH-MY-GOD...Tis the season to be jolly!!! If you need proof of my unabashed joy, ask anyone in the room...I've got witnesses. Except for De De, who was looking on, they may have been wondering "What the hell is wrong with him?" Well, the answer is "Not a damn thing!" My "SAD" - Seasonal Affective Disorder - went straight to "GLAD" in the wink of an eye!!! The visual proof lies at the bottom of this post. Thank you, thank you, thank you, Santa...YES, we were good CATs, indeed, and as you know...HWSRN was oh, so BAD!!!)

(Amended)
Approve Audit Report

Approve District Tax Levy

Approve Comprehensive School Improvement Plans - Cairo School District #1 and Cairo Jr/Sr High School

Resolution providing for the issue of General Obligation Refunding School Bonds, Series 2012, of School District Number 1, Alexander County, Illinois, and for the levy of a direct annual tax sufficient to pay the principal and interest on said bonds - Presentation - Tim King

Approve/Accept Donation From Oris B. Hastings Charitable Foundation Shoes For Cairo Jr. High Boys Basketball Team - $900.00

Approve Board Policy Manual

Other - There was a lot of discussion about the pending retirement of a basketball jersey on January 4th...a lot of talking at the same time...the dispute being over whether it should be the number actually worn as a player in high school or whether it should be the number worn while playing in the NBA. Nothing was settled and that was when BOE President Artie McBride decided that adjournment was in order.

XII. Old Business
XIII. Adjourn...The BOE voted to adjourn at 8:32 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.

DISCLAIMER:
Bears repeating...
...from the "Agenda Plus" of November 8, 2012.

CAT Tracks Editor's Note: There comes a time...
...to recognize one's frailties and adapt.
Well, tonight's the night!

I arrived sporting my brand new glasses, but lo and behold...
...I still couldn't hear worth a damn.
This became crystal clear before the meeting even began when the person sitting next to me had to repeat a question three times before I could piece it together and provide an "I think" response. (The question: Whether the FOP was having its meeting tomorrow - Friday - morning.)
After the meeting was called to order and roll called, the first item on the agenda was "Examples of Excellence"...something I dread from month to month. It's not that I don't want to hear about "good things" happening in Cairo School District Number One, it's that I can't hear most of what is said (especially since the presenters are facing the BOE members whereby I can't read their lips even with my new glasses!) And, it's "unscripted"; there's no "agenda" to let a person know what they are talking about. The thought of trying to hear and take notes for reporting purposes weighs heavily on my mind as each monthly meeting approaches.
And finally, we got to the "Approval of Treasurer's Report" and there was a flurry of unrelated items, some of which I caught...some of which I didn't. And, actually, in this case it wasn't so much the hearing...it was trying to take notes that could later be deciphered and the narrative rendered.

So...
...as I was sitting in the hallway during closed session (getting high on paint fumes), I pondered the future:

Quit going to BOE meetings

Keep doin' what I'm doin'

Something else

Well, let me tell you that "Option 1" has been a temptation - A DREAM! - for years. However, as long as De De O'Shea remains CAT President, it shall be a dream unfulfilled. De De took pity on me during my latter years as CAT President, after I had spent years flying solo. There is no way that I will abandon her. (If nothing else, it is always good to have a witness when you are in the presence of the assembled administration...no she said, they said!)
As for "Option 2", well, I have already addressed my concerns.
So...
...that leaves but one choice.

Beginning tonight, you will see a bare agenda...not even going to add the routine "Motion made, seconded, and passed." If there is no such comment, then you can safely assume it happened. If it is tabled or voted down, I shall so indicate.
There will be no reports of "Example of Excellence"; there will be no attempts to provide word-for-word recaps of conversations by participants.
The only "additions" that will appear are things that I deem "significant" and worthy of reporting...
...something that "catches my ear".

Call me a lazy CAT...
...we will agree to disagree!