South Central Reporter

Litchfield Community Unit School District No. 12 Board of Education met Jan. 18.

Here are the minutes provided by the board:

The Litchfield Board of Education held a meeting beginning at 6:00p.m. in the Radius Room of Litchfield High School ,1705 N State Street, Litchfield, IL. 62056. Board members in attendance included: Julie Abel, President; Ron Anglin, Vice President, Valerie Cain, Secretary; David Belusko, Mark Bloome, Mike Fleming and Gregg Hires. Also in attendance were: Dr. Gregg Fuerstenau, Superintendent; Jennifer Thompson, Director of Curriculum & Instruction/ Special Education Liaison; Kris Adamson, Recording Secretary and Administrators: Juletta Ellis, Hilary Wagenblast, Russ Tepen, Adam Favre, Jeremy Heigert. Attending: Chris Kuntzman, Technology Director and Christy Bryan, IT Coordinator. Shane Cress, LEA representative; John Hanafin, Litchfield News Herald and Mary Herschelman, Journal News. Concerned parents and citizens.

Public Input

Prior to the meeting being called to order, Dr. Denise Bader, requested to address the Board of Education regarding an item that did not appear on the meeting’s agenda. Dr. Bader presented the board with information on a junior achievement program. She has previous experience in the program and thought it might be an idea that the board would want to look into for the students. The other topic she broached was a personal reminder that professionalism and accountability should be looked into in regards to the CEO program. (Creating Entrepreneurial Opportunities)

Consent Agenda

A motion was made by Ron Anglin and seconded by Valerie Cain to approve the Consent Agenda as follows:

o Approve regular and closed session minutes from meeting on December 16, 2021

o Approve monthly bills

o Approve Treasurer’s report

Background: Bills payable for January total $347,829.12. From Education fund, $131,355.15; Operations & Maintenance $41,811.81; Transportation $37,421.27; Capital Projects $135,664.04; Tort $1,576.85. Ending balance in all funds at Dec 31, 2021 is $30,611,411. Balance in operating funds is $8,595,913. Balance in Capital Projects is 12,482,692; balance in Health-Life-Safety is $7,756,668. Roll Call Vote: AYE: Abel, Anglin, Belusko, Bloome, Cain, Fleming, and Hires. Motion carried 7-0.

Old Business

A motion was made by Ron Anglin and seconded by Mark Bloome to approve the second reading of board revisions to policy, administrative procedures, and exhibits from Issue #108. There were no changes from the first reading. The next set of Press Plus changes will be presented to the Board at the February meeting. Voice Vote: YEA: Abel, Anglin, Belusko, Bloome, Cain, Fleming. NAY: Hires. Motion carried 6-1.

A motion was made by Ron Anglin and seconded by Valerie Cain to approve the extracurricular activity of an Archery Club at the high school. Roll Call Vote: AYE: Abel, Anglin, Belusko, Bloome, Cain, Fleming, and Hires. Motion carried 7-0.

Information

Enrollment for December 2021 was 1311. Peter Raterman of Poettker Construction gave his monthly update. There is a seven-week delay on thin brick due to material shortages. This will delay the start of the construction project. The delivery of steel is still on schedule. Ameren is still working on the parking lot area of the new elementary. Mr. Raterman believed that they would be complete by the end of February. Poettker would be moving equipment to the site around mid- February. Mr. Fleming had concerns about contract verbiage and delays to the project this early. Mr. Raterman assured the Board that he would keep them informed of the progression of the new elementary project and would be available to answer any questions. The Administrators gave a brief report for their buildings. 100th day of school celebrations are being planned. Plans for Camp Panther are underway. The committee has been meeting on a regular basis. The annual McGraw Basketball tournament was a success. MAP testing began in the Middle School. Chris Kuntzman and Christy Bryan presented a brief history of the district’s technology. Their presentation included the updates and handling of the technology by QNS. The contract with QNS will end on June 30, 2022 at which time all technology: servers, wireless network etc will be the complete responsibility of the district. Both Kuntzman and Bryan agree that they are capable of handling this switch over. In the meantime, there is a lot of work to be had by the department. Cybersecurity is an area that will need to be upgraded as well. The District has been very fortunate to have received funding through the Kilton Foundation to keep the districts’ technology update to date and in some areas maintained. Christy Bryan will be on a special committee for Skyward. Mr. Kuntzman has scheduled a summer recycle of outdated and “broken” electronics in the district.

Closed Session

A motion was made by Ron Anglin and seconded by Valerie Cain for the board to enter into closed session at 7:30p.m. to discuss: a) The appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance, or dismissal of specific employees of the District or legal counsel for the District, including hearing testimony on a complaint lodged against an employee or against legal counsel for the District to determine its validity. 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(1), as amended by P.A. 93-0057. b) Discussion of minutes of meetings lawfully closed, whether for purposes of approval by the body of the minutes or semi-annual review of the minutes as mandated by Section 2.06. 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(21) c) The purchase or lease of real property for the use of the District, including meetings held for the purpose of discussing whether a particular parcel should be acquired. 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(5) Roll Call Vote: AYE: Abel, Anglin, Belusko, Bloome, Cain, Fleming, and Hires. Motion carried 7-0. A motion was made by Valerie Cain and seconded by Mark Bloome to return to open session at 7:47 p.m. Roll Call Vote: AYE: Abel, Anglin, Belusko, Bloome, Cain, Fleming, and Hires. Motion carried 7-0.

Action following Closed Session

A motion was made by Ron Anglin and seconded by Valerie Cain to approve the need for confidentiality still exists and the minutes of closed sessions for the months of July 2021 to December 2021 and that the Board has determined for those to remain closed. Roll Call Vote: AYE: Abel, Anglin, Belusko, Bloome, Cain, Fleming, and Hires. Motion carried 7-0.

A motion was made by Ron Anglin and seconded by Mark Bloome to approve the purchase of real property located at 907 N. Montgomery, Litchfield, IL. in the amount of $10,000.00 from the City of Litchfield. Roll Call Vote: AYE: Abel, Anglin, Belusko, Bloome, Cain, Fleming, and Hires. Motion carried 7-0.

A motion was made by Ron Anglin and seconded by Mark Bloome to proceed with the purchase of property located at 909 North Montgomery, Litchfield, IL. in an amount not to exceed $3,000.00 from Ed and Debbie Roundcount. Roll Call Vote: AYE: Abel, Anglin, Belusko, Bloome, Cain, Fleming, and Hires. Motion carried 7-0.

Personnel

A motion was made by Ron Anglin and seconded by Valerie Cain to approve the hire of Trinity Martin as a substitute aide for the MAKE IT program. Roll Call Vote: AYE: Abel, Anglin, Belusko, Bloome, Cain, Fleming, and Hires. Motion carried 7-0.

A motion was made by Ron Anglin and seconded by Valerie Cain to approve the hire of Kimberly Weller as a substitute for the MAKE IT program. Roll Call Vote: AYE: Abel, Anglin, Belusko, Bloome, Cain, Fleming, and Hires. Motion carried 7-0.

Seeing no further action to be taken, a motion was made Ron Anglin and seconded by Mark Bloome to adjourn the meeting at 7:49 p.m. Voice Vote: AYE: Abel, Anglin, Belusko, Bloome, Cain, Fleming, Hires Motion carried 7-0.

https://core-docs.s3.amazonaws.com/documents/asset/uploaded_file/1864778/CA-_Minutes_regular_meeting_January_18_2022.pdf