CAT Tracks for September 20, 2012
REGULAR BOE MEETING...MINUTES

The Cairo Board of Education held its regular meeting on Thursday, September 20, 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". (BTW: The walls are now white. Reportedly, the previously green doors had been repainted a light blue. However, the doors are in the process of being repainted once again...another shade of green.)

Prior to the regular meeting (at 5:45 p.m.), the BOE conducted a Public Hearing on the 2012-2013 Budget for Cairo School District Number One.

Below are minutes for both the public hearing and the regular meeting...


The public hearing was called to order at 5:49 p.m. with Burris, Coleman, Gooden, and Moore in attendance. (Harris arrived at 5:53 p.m.)

Superintendent Annie Evers presented the highlights of the 2012-2013 budget. I'm not going to try to quote the various numbers given...various reductions in revenues received from local, state, and federal sources. An obvious biggie was that the State of Illinois has chosen to cut state aid payments to 88% of last year...a reduction of approximately $425,000. However, Superintendent Evers indicated that there were also cuts in expenses...including an 8% reduction in teacher salaries. So, the final projected deficit for the upcoming year is "only" $159,000.

Superintendent Evers went on to say that she and the finance person looked closely at the trend for the next four years and that they projected that the District would fare fairly well...what Superintendent Evers termed a "solid outlook".

The meeting was adjourned at 5:54 p.m.

Cairo School District No. One
"MAKING A SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE!"
2403 Dr. M. L. King Jr. Avenue
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, September 20, 2012
6:00 P.M.

AGENDA

I. Call to Order - 6 p.m.

II. Roll Call - All Present

III. Examples of Excellence - Cairo Elementary Principal Rose Gayle Pickett commented on the "Rainbow of Nutrition Program"...related to the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable grant that has been received by the District for the past three years. Principal Pickett indicated that during that time, no one had visited the District to review the program, so she took it upon herself to invite a representative. (Principal Pickett brought a poster with pictures of activities associated with the program and passed it around.) In conjunction with the visit, 3rd-Grade teacher, Tina Harrell and 4th-Grade teacher, Angie Coleman, had their students prepare musical presentations extolling the virtues of eating fresh fruits and vegetable. Both teachers brought groups of students to the BOE meeting...the 3rd-grade presenting a song, and the 4th-grade presenting a rap....to the obvious pleasure of those in attendance.

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

V. Approval of Previous Minutes - Motion made, seconded, and approved.

  1. Regular Minutes of August 16, 2012
  2. Closed Minutes of August 16, 2012

VI. Approval of Agendas - Motion made, seconded, and approved.

  1. Regular Meeting
  2. Closed Meeting

VII. Approval of Treasurer's Report - Superintendent Evers presented the highlights (much the same as what was covered in her budget hearing report.) Motion made, seconded, and approved.

VIII. Approval of Payment of Bills/Payroll - BOE member Rodney Moore asked a question about a billing for security services. I missed the answer. (BTW: The AC is much quieter...and works VERY well! Unfortunately, my hearing aids do not work any better...and the BOE meetings have not yet institued closed captioning.) Motion made, seconded, and approved.

IX. Informational

  1. Thank you card - Family of Juanita Robinson Donnell (Mother of Brenda Jones)

  2. Thank you card - Family of Julia Moses

  3. Thank you card - Wilma Carter (for the support of her foundation.)

  4. Other: (There were a bunch and I didn't catch all of them.)

    • September meeting of the PSO...attendance tripled from the previous month.

    • Comments on the Fresh Fruits and Veggie Program

    • Another meeting (?) - Attendance increased from 1 parent to 75 stakeholders.

    • Move of District's Central Office is 85% complete. (One deficiency...no telephone service as yet. The CJSHS office is handling the transition. Hopefully, next week will see the installation of telephones in the Central Office area.)

    • A baseball tournament this weekend. (?)

    • A lock-in activity. (?)

    • Next BOE meeting is October 15th.

    • BOE President Artie McBride thanked BOE members, the Superintendent and the Principal(s?) for participating a forum. (?)

  5. Checks Deposited - District Account

    35,000.00 - Early Childhood Block Grant
    7,500.00 - Early Childhood Block Grant
    4,477.13 - TAMES
    1,113.30 - State Breakfast/Lunch
    55,370.00 - Title I Low Income
    10,552.00 - Title II Teacher Quality
    142,430.46 - State Aid
    13,395.42 - E-Rate Funds - A T & T
    29,000.00 - Early Childhood Block Grant
    7,500.00 - Early Childhood Block Grant
    142,430.46 - State Aid
    150.00 - Illinois Central School Bus - Rent
    3,210.08 - Final Lease Payment - August & September - Shawnee College
    142,450.73 - State Aid

X. Closed Session - The BOE voted to enter closed session at 6:20 p.m. The BOE voted to exit closed session at 7:05 p.m.

    a. Personnel Issues

XI. Requiring Action/Decisions By Board of Education

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

      a. Approve Employment - 2/7 Social Studies & 1/7 P.E. Teacher - Cairo Jr/Sr High School - Motion made, seconded, and passed to hire Brian Brandtner.

      b. Approve Employment - Boys Head Basketball Coach - High School - Motion made, seconded, and passed to hire Brian Brandtner. (See footnote below for "dissension".)

      c. Approve Employment - Boys Asst. Basketball Coach -High School - Motion made, seconded, and passed to hire Larry Wood.

      d. Approve Employment - Girls Asst. Basketball Coach - Jr. High (Here is where I got lost, but it was clarified to me after the meeting. Apparently one position was left off of the agenda...the position of "Girls Asst. Basketball Coach - High School". A motion was made, second, and passed to hire Alvin Wiggins for the High School Assistant's position.) Then, a motion was made, seconded, and passed to hire Joe Jangjirawat as the Junior High Girls Asst. Basketball Coach.

      e. Approve Employment - Boys Asst. Basketball Coach - Jr. High - Tabled.

      f. Approve Employment - Boys Freshman Basketball Coach - High School - Tabled.

      g. Approve Employment - Varsity Girls Softball Coach - Tabled.

      h. Approve Employment - Asst. Varsity Girls Softball Coach - Tabled.

      i. (Not on the original agenda) - Approve/Accept Resignation of Brian Brandtner As Boys Head Basketball Coach/Jr. High - Pending Board Approval As Boys Head Basketball Coach/High School - Motion made, seconded, and approved.

  2. Approve 2012-2013 School District Budget - Motion made, seconded, and approved.

  3. Approve Lease Agreement With Hope International and Cairo School District. (The lease is for ten years and includes both the CCEC and Bennett Elementary. Since the CCEC has been open up until this point, it will be the first building occupied. The first order of business will be to secure a new heating/cooling system since the existing one no longer works. The District will maintain a secondary liability insurance policy.) A motion was made, seconded, and passed to approve the lease.

  4. Approve/Accept Donation From Oris B. Hastings Charitable Foundation Equipment For Volley Ball Team - $4,397.00 - Motion made, seconded, and approved.

  5. Approve/Accept Donation From Oris B. Hastings Charitable Foundation Supplies For Business Class - Cairo Jr/Sr High School - $265.86 - Motion made, seconded, and approved.

  6. Approve Application For Recognition of Schools, 2012-2013 - Motion made, seconded, and approved.

  7. Approve/Support Consolidation of Regional Office of Education 02 and Regional Office of Education 30 - Motion made, seconded, and approved.

  8. Approve Administrator and Teacher Salary and Benefits Report - School Year 2012 - Motion made, seconded, and approved.

  9. Approve Administrative Compensation Report - Motion made, seconded, and approved.

  10. Other:

    • BOE President McBride brought an online website to the attention of the BOE members. (I didn't catch the name.) Something to do with BOE training.

    • BOE Member Moore raised the issue of parking at Cairo Elementary...couldn't something be done about the congestion and the possible inconvenience to neighbors. Superintendent Evers indicated that this issue had already been brought to her attention and that it was being worked on...that she would have further information at the next BOE meeting.

    • BOE Member Moore then asked if something could be done about the potholes around Cairo Elementary...to maybe contact the City.

XII. Old Business - None.

XIII. Adjourn...A motion was made, seconded, and passed to adjourn at 7:20 p.m.

FOOTNOTE:

Dissension among the ranks...

When it came time to vote on coaching positions, BOE member Rodney Moore expressed his displeasure at the process followed. He indicated that he had nothing against the individuals being presented for hiring, but that the selection seemed to indicate that you "needed to know somebody" in order to get hired...that the District had gotten away from one clique, only to see the rise of another. He further expressed his opinion that THAT was why the District had no contract with the teachers.

With that explanation, Mr. Moore proceeded to vote no on the coaching hirings. Also voting no or abstaining (for that or other reasons) were BOE members Artie McBride and Sheila Nelson.

CAT Tracks Editor's Note:

As for the new Board meeting room...

There are some kinks to work out.

Wasn't sure where to enter, so chose the front door. When we got down to the entrance to the former "Green Hall", the access door was locked. We could see that the south door was standing open, so we exited the west door, walked around the building and gained entrance. (However, somebody closed the south door while we were in the meeting, so if someone else arrived late...)

Restroom facilities...

There is a new one immediately outside the Board room. However, you need a key to get in...the key located inside the closed Board room. (From a comment made by Superintendent Evers, this may be a temporary situation due to a sticky lock.) The "public restrooms" are located at the north end of the hall. Unfortunately, the entails exiting through the aforementioned locked access door. (Since the meeting was short, no one had a need to use the facilities. In the event of such an occurrence, I guess spectators can resort to a buddy system to insure readmittance.

The Superintendent did see that chairs were stationed in the hallway outside the Board room for those waiting out the closed session. (Hey, this was a big deal they took away the hard-assed steps!!!)

So, all and all, the first meeting was a success.

If the BOE will promise that all future meetings will be only 90 minutes like tonight, they don't need to change a thing!

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.