South Central Reporter

Nokomis Community Unit School District 22 Board met Sept. 28.

Here are the minutes provided by the board:

CALL REGULAR BOARD MEETING TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL. President Chad Ruppert called the regular board meeting to order and roll call was taken with  five board members present. Board members present were Janssen, Ruppert, Kettelkamp,  Bauman, and Tarter. Fesser and Gasparich were absent. Also present were Superintendent  Doerr, Principal Masten, Principal McDowell, and Assistant Principal Reedy. 

Guests present included Jennifer Doyen, Jill Huddlestun, Jodi Marty, and Ellen Christner. 

Mr. Bauman read thank you notes from the John “Jack” Goodwin Family and the Rick  Brueckner Family.  

I MOVE TO APPROVE THE SEPTEMBER 28, 2021 BOARD MEETING AGENDA AS  PRESENTED.  

Motion by Janssen, seconded by Tarter to approve the September 28, 2021 Board Meeting  Agenda as presented. Motion passed by voice vote.  

The Consent Agenda included for approval regular and closed minutes for August 17, 2021, bills,  payroll, and Treasurer’s Report. Additionally included for approval were the Administrative Salary  Compensation Report (P.A. 96-0434), and Certified Staff Compensation Report. 

I MOVE TO APPROVE THE SEPTEMBER 28, 2021 CONSENT AGENDA AS  PRESENTED. 

Motion by Kettelkamp, seconded by Janssen to approve the September 28, 2021 Consent  Agenda as presented.  

Kettelkamp – YEA, Bauman – YEA, Fesser – absent, Tarter – YEA, Gasparich – absent, Janssen  – YEA, Ruppert – YEA. Motion passed.  

SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT 

The FY 21 spreadsheet shows that the state still owes us $5,171 in driver’s education  reimbursement. However, for FY 22, EBF and Early Childhood payments are on time. The rest of  the mandated categorical payments are due September 30 (1st quarter payments). In addition,  expenditure reports for grants will be going in this month, so reimbursement will be coming  shortly thereafter.  

I have included the 6th day enrollment figures for your review. As you can see we are down 1  student from last year.  

We received official notice of a Petition to Detach and Annex from the ROE. A petition by  Michael and Alycia Gillock has been filed to detach out of the Panhandle district into the Nokomis  District. The hearing will be Monday, October 18 at 7:00 p.m. in Vandalia. I will attend only to  answer questions, but not to provide support or denial of request.  

I have met with SIU School of Medicine to begin working on the Sources of Strength program.  This program is in conjunction with Hillsboro Hospital and SIU School of Medicine. An anonymous survey will be given to all 6 – 12 grade students in October or November. The 

Steering Committee, which I have started developing will then meet monthly to start the program.  We hope to get it started in January. This program is a mental health (suicide prevention),  social/emotional program for JH/HS students. Hopefully, we will be able to move it down to the  elementary in the coming years.  

I have created 2 standing committees for this year and asked for volunteers to be part of those  committees. The first is to review, develop, and implement a new language curriculum for next  year in grades K-12. We have a lower elementary, upper elementary, JH, and HS teacher on this  committee along with myself and a Principal. The second is an RtI Committee. We need to  review and re-develop our Response to Intervention (RtI) Plan to make is easier to follow and  include all the new research and date requires. So far, I have had 5 teachers volunteer and a  principal. In addition, this committee will be led by myself and our School Psychologist. This  plan will give teachers resources and a guide to work with kids who are struggling before placing  them in special education.  

Tuesday (9/21/21) night we received a 30+ pages Guidance documents from ISBE and IDPH  along with an additional 30+ page of FAQ’s. This guidance was supposed to be put into place 2  weeks ago and then extended to this past Monday. Plus, there has been several court cases in the  area. Executive Order 24 & 25 did the following:  

a. Requires all school personnel be tested or submit to weekly testing.  

b. Allows the health department to quarantine for more than 24 hours without a court order. 

c. Courts have ruled that a school cannot quarantine – only the health department for 48 hours  unless they get a court order. Courts have been granted these requests.  

d. Courts have also stated that masks are a medical device and cannot be required to be worn  by more than 48 hours. This does not affect our district. However, some courts have  denied this claim. If a district receives a temporary restraining order, then they  automatically become mask optional; which eliminates our Test to Stay program (in most  cases). 

PRINCIPAL’S REPORT 

Principals provided the Board with written reports. 

OLD BUSINESS - None 

NEW BUSINESS 

I MOVE TO APPROVE THE FY22 BUDGET AS PRESENTED. 

Motion by Kettelkamp seconded by Janssen to approve the FY22 Budget as presented. Bauman – YEA, Fesser – absent, Tarter – YEA, Gasparich – absent, Janssen – YEA, Ruppert – YEA, Kettelkamp – YEA. Motion passed.  

I MOVE TO APPROVE THE FY21 MAINTENANCE GRANT AS PRESENTED. Motion by Tarter seconded by Kettelkamp to approve the FY21 Maintenance Grant as presented. Tarter – YEA, Gasparich – absent, Janssen – YEA, Ruppert – YEA, Kettelkamp – YEA,  Bauman – YEA, Fesser – absent. Motion passed 

I MOVE TO ACCEPT THE LETTER OF RESIGNATION OF JAMIE VOLKMAR  EFFECTIVE OCTOBER 1, 2021 AND THE LETTER OF RETIREMENT FOR BRIAN  HAYES EFFECTIVE DECEMBER 1, 2021.

Motion by Janssen seconded by Kettelkamp to accept the resignation of Jamie Volkmar effective  October 1, 2021 and the letter of retirement for Brian Hayes effective December 1, 2021.  Motion passed by voice vote. 

I MOVE TO APPROVE THE EMPLOYMENT OF KYLE CAMERON AS A SPECIAL  EDUCATION LIBRARY AIDE EFFECTIVE OCTOBER 11, 2021 AND LYDIA  MCDONALD AS THE JH SCHOLASTIC BOWL SPONSOR FOR THE 2021-2022  SCHOOL YEAR. 

Motion by Kettelkamp seconded by Tarter to approve the employment of Kyle Cameron as a  Special Education Library Aide effective October 11, 2021 and Lydia McDonald as the JH  Scholastic Bowl Sponsor for the 2021-2022 school year. 

Janssen – YEA, Ruppert – YEA, Kettelkamp – YEA, Bauman – YEA, Fesser – absent, Tarter – YEA, Gasparich – absent. Motion passed 

I MOVE TO ADJOURN 

Motion by Janssen seconded by Tarter to adjourn. Motion passed by voice vote. 

 https://core-docs.s3.amazonaws.com/documents/asset/uploaded_file/1632636/Sept_28__2021_Minutes.pdf