South Central Reporter

Mount Olive Community Unit School District 5 Board of Education met Aug. 17.

Here are the minutes provided by the board:

The Board of Education met in regular session in the library. The meeting was called to order at 7:01 p.m. by President Brunnworth. Present at roll call were Brunnworth, DeVries, Essington, Osmoe, Remer, Rimar, and Skertich. Also present were Superintendent Kelly, Principal Baumberger, Secretary Butler, Marcia Schulte, John Hanafin, Dan Lesko, Jamie Ernst, Megan Skinner, Breanna Seely, Alex Wood, Michael Len, Dennis Parish, Nicole Parish, and Ellie Parish.

Motion by Remer, seconded by Skertich to adopt the agenda and approve the minutes of the regular school board meeting of July 20, 2022. All ayes. Motion carried.

Recognition, comments, and correspondence from employees and public

New employees of the Mt. Olive School District introduced themselves to the board.

Motion by Remer, seconded by Osmoe to enter closed session at 7:04 p.m. Roll call: 7 ayes. Motion carried.

Motion by Osmoe, seconded by DeVries to return to open session at 7:37 p.m. Roll call: 7 ayes. Motion carried.

Motion by Skertich, seconded by Osmoe to approve the bills and activity accounts as presented. Roll call: 7 ayes. Motion carried.

Financial Report for July 2022:

Mrs. Kelly reported the Education Fund is sitting at $594,893.19. The Building Fund is at $416,661.08. The Bond and Interest Fund is at $12,230.47. The Transportation Fund balance is $233,048.09. The IMRF Fund is at $94,926.41. Site and Construction is at $73,263.39. Working Cash Fund is at $160,889.83. Tort Immunity Fund is $56,327.55. Life Safety balance is $130,556.79. The total of all funds is $1,772,796.80 and the Operating Fund balance is at $1,405,492.19.

Budget Report: Revenues vs. Expenditures for July 2022:

Education Fund: 3% vs. 12%

Building Fund: 7% vs. 3%

Bond & Interest: 0% & 8%

Transportation Fund: 16% vs. 31%

IMRF: 8% vs. 9%

Site & Construction: 17% & 21%

Working Cash: 9% & 0%

Tort Immunity: 8% vs. 17%

Life Safety: 9% & 0%

Motion by Remer, seconded by DeVries to approve the Financial Report and the Budget Report for July 2022. All ayes. Motion carried.

New Business:

Motion by Skertich, seconded by Remer to name Illinois School District Liquid Asset Fund Plus through PMA Financial Network Inc. as our official depository. Roll call: 7 ayes. Motion passed.

Motion by DeVries, seconded by Osmoe to give authority to Jon Baumberger, High School Principal, Karrie Scheller, Elementary – Jr. High Principal, and Brandi Kelly, District Superintendent, to suspend students as outlined in the Elementary and High School Student Handbooks and Mount Olive CUSD No. 5 Board Policy Manual. All ayes. Motion carried.

Motion by Skertich, seconded by DeVries to approve the tentative budget for fiscal year 2023, place it on display for a minimum of thirty days, and hold a budget hearing at 7:00 p.m. on September 21, 2022. Roll call: 7 ayes. Motion carried.

Motion by Osmoe, seconded by Remer to approve the hazardous bus route for the 2022-2023 school year. All ayes. Motion carried.

The first reading of the Risk Management Plan took place. There are no changes from last year.

Motion by Skertich, seconded by Remer to allow JFL to use the Mt. Olive School District football field as a backup field. All ayes. Motion carried.

The first reading of the Elementary and Jr. High handbooks took place. There are no changes this school year.

Principals’ Reports:

Mr. Baumberger reported the following:

∙ The high school held its first locker move-in night. I was very pleased with the turnout and would estimate roughly 40-50% of the student population participated. Students had the opportunity to bring items from home to put in their lockers, receive schedules, and get acquainted with the high school building.

∙ The high school recently received training regarding social and emotional learning. Teachers learned techniques to help them self-regulate their emotions, techniques for student emotional control, the impacts of informed care and best practices, as well as participated in collaborating activities with other staff members. We will be looking to further expand on this training in conjunction with the efforts set forth in our school improvement plan and social-emotional grant funding.

∙ The high school will be meeting with Dr. David Lett from Litchfield to explore opportunities for career pathways. The state of Illinois is continuing to develop pathways for students to gain meaningful skills, certification programs, and dual credit learning within the fields of vocational trades. These initiatives come with no additional funding from the state at this time but they have recently released timelines through legislation for the implementation of the career pathways.

∙ I’m pleased to announce that the high school conducted our first ever distance learning opportunity. Mr. Lesko was able to connect with students from Panhandle School District to begin efforts in providing meaningful dual credit opportunities. We are fortunate that both districts fall under Lincoln Land’s area of service and we are able to offer this course at no cost to the students. The serving district is claiming a portion of the student’s attendance from the receiving school to cover the costs of materials. We currently have 10-12 students attending from the Panhandle School District.

∙ I’d like to thank Mr. Winsel and Mrs. Markezich for their hard work this week. We recently found out that we have been teaching under a waiver with Lincoln Land that allowed us to teach welding 103 without the prerequisite welding 101 course. We have since corrected this item and will not be teaching the welding 101 course without having to change student schedules. The course will still qualify for dual credit and will not align with the proper course sequence for Lincoln Land. It has also opened the possibility that we may be able to offer an auto business management course as early as this spring, also for dual credit.

∙ Golf season is in full swing with both a boys and girls match this Friday at Timber Lakes. We wish them good luck this season.

∙ We currently have three football players, two freshmen and one sophomore participating with Litchfield High School. In talking with the students, I am pleased to report that they are enjoying this opportunity. They said Litchfield has been very open and accepting of the players and that they are fitting in with the team well. I’d like to thank Coach Carlson for working with our school district to make this a successful program and we hope that our continued efforts will help grow our participation numbers.

∙ Our cheer team has been hard at work in their practices learning new techniques, cheers, working out in the weight room, and performing fundraising activities in anticipation of their season this winter.

∙ Volleyball practices have begun. The team will participate in the Roxana tournament next Friday.

Superintendent’s Report:

Mrs. Kelly reported the following:

A. Preschool – ExceleRate Illinois – Circle of Quality

Our Preschool program has received gold star status. I would like to thank and recognize Mrs. Schulte for her hard work. We have 40 students this year in Preschool. B. Roof Report

Loyet recently provided the district a roof report at no cost. There are two areas of concern on the rooftops that we plan on taking care of as soon as possible. C. Enrollment

This year we have a total enrollment of 344 students in the grade school and junior high school. We have a total of 124 students in the high school.

D. New Website

The new website is up and running.

E. Update on IL Solar Project

We are awaiting on the approval process from Ameren. We are still looking at a wait time of three weeks to have our solar panels running.

F. Safety Committee Meeting

Our safety committee meeting will be held on August 24th at 3:15 p.m. Carol and Matt are the two board members on this committee. We will be doing a building walk through on August 31st at 4:00 p.m.

Motion by Osmoe, seconded by Remer to enter into closed session at 8:15 p.m. for the following purposes as allowed under the Illinois Open Meetings Act (5 ILCS 120/1 et seq.): Discussion of the appointment, employment and dismissal of employees of the public body and collective negotiating matters between the public body and its employees or their representatives. Roll call: 7 ayes. Motion carried.

Motion by Skertich, seconded by Osmoe to return to open session at 9:33 p.m. Roll call: 7 ayes. Motion carried.

Motion by Osmoe, seconded by DeVries to hire Max Schwab as a paid assistant Jr. High baseball coach for the 2022-2023 school year. All ayes. Motion carried.

Motion by Osmoe, seconded by Rimar to hire Adam Mielke as a paid assistant Jr. High softball coach for the 2022-2023 school year. All ayes. Motion carried.

Motion by Remer, seconded by Essington to hire Taryn Markezich as the homeless liaison. All ayes. Motion carried.

Motion by Skertich, seconded by Remer to hire Casey Hannah as high school pep club sponsor. All ayes. Motion carried.

Motion by Remer, seconded by Osmoe to hire Michael Len as an unpaid assistant golf coach for the 2022-2023 school year. All ayes. Motion carried.

The next board meeting will be held on Wednesday September 21, 2022 at 7:00 p.m. in the school library at 804 West Main St, Mt. Olive, IL.

Motion by Osmoe, seconded by Skertich to adjourn at 9:40 p.m. All ayes. Motion carried.

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