South Central Reporter

Mt. Olive Community Unit School District 5 Board of Education met Jan. 15.

Here are the minutes provided by the board:

The Board of Education met in regular session on January 15, 2025, in the library. The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by President David Brunnwoth. Present at roll call were Brunnworth, Essington, Knes, Osmoe, Remer, Rimar, and Skertich. Also present were Superintendent Kelly, Principal Scheller, Principal Martin, Secretary Durbin, Jen Stockstill, Nikki Garrels, Janet Readenour, and John Hanafin.

Motion by Rimar, seconded by Knes to adopt the agenda and approve the minutes of the regular board meeting & Truth in Taxation Hearing minutes of December 18th, 2024, and Policy Meeting minutes of January 14th, 2025. All ayes. Motion carried.

Recognition, comments, and correspondence from employees and public:

A. Board Norms: Follow chain of command, assume positive intent, and mutual respect.

B. Board Values: Integrity, mutual respect, and excellence.

C. Board Priorities: Culture, academic performance, facilities (with a focus on safety), and finances.

D. Dr. Kelly thanked Braden Niehaus for helping one of our bus drivers last week during her morning route.

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

Financial Report for December 2024:

Mrs. Kelly reported the Education Fund is sitting at $094572.81.

The Building Fund is at $744187.79.

The Transportation Fund balance is $368362.76.

The Working Cash Fund is at $231215.82.

The total of all funds is $3,438,339.18.

Budget Report: Revenues vs. Expenditures for December 2024:

Education Fund: 58% vs. 47%

Building Fund: 67% vs. 22%

Bond & Interest: 161% & 72%

Transportation Fund: 48% vs. 63%

IMRF: 76% vs. 44%

Site & Construction: 40% & 17%

Working Cash: 74% & 0%

Tort Immunity: 77% vs. 30%

Life Safety: 104% & 61%

Motion by Osmoe, seconded by Remer to approve the financial report and the budget report for December 2024. All ayes. Motion carried.

Unfinished Business:

Last month, the board approved a technology lease to update classroom technology. We have received 30 desktop computers that will be placed in classrooms. The technology department has prioritized placement based on need.

New Business:

Motion by Skertich, seconded by Essington to approve the policies in Press Policy Issue 117. All ayes. Motion carried.

Seniority Lists have been provided to our Teacher’s Union for review. Non-Certified Seniority List will also be provided for review to ensure accuracy.

Motion by Remer, seconded by Knes to approve the participants in Learning, Leading, and Serving agreement with Grand Canyon University. All ayes. Motion carried.

Principals’ Reports:

Mr. Martin reported the following:

• Focus 5 provided hot chocolate, coffee, and donuts to the students as a Holiday treat.

• 61 students achieved High Honors for first semester

• 40 additional students achieved Honor Roll for the first semester.

• We are looking forward to adding Industrial Maintenance as a career pathway with LLCC through the SCI center.

• We received news today that the HS was awarded the Pearl Lawson Becker Randall grant to upgrade the HS computer. This grant is awarded through the Academic Foundation and totals almost $50,000.

• The second semester is now officially going. Any class changes have been finalized. Students and Teachers are beginning to regain the rhythm of the school day.

• We did have a successful e-learning day on January 10th.

• We had six students Kyle Bone, Sarah Lesko, Nadia Moultrie, Hannah Moultrie, Maleah Moultrie, and Tyler Mix earn spots on the SIUE Bi-State Band. They will attend a festival at SIUE January 17th-18th to rehearse and perform at a concert.

• Thank you to Mrs. Moultrie for chaperoning this trip with our band students.

• January 22nd is a Workforce Exploration Night at LLCC. This is for Sophomore through Senior students who are interested in Dual Credit opportunities, workforce development, and College Now Classes. Mrs. Monke has been working to get this information to parents and students.

• Mr. Simmons will be Hosting the County Scholar bowl tournament in February.

• Report cards will be handed out Friday, January 17th.

Mrs. Scheller reported the following:

• Report cards were sent home with elementary and junior high students today.

• We will be having our first-semester celebration on Friday, January 17th. We will recognize honor students, perfect attendance, student of the month for the first semester, top 10 readers, any student who has received a red ticket for following the month's behavior expectation, junior high house point winners, and 5th-grade shark tank project winners.

• K-8 teachers and I are starting a curriculum review for the new reading and math curriculum. We will review and request samples and pilot curriculums before deciding on the curriculum we will implement.

• We will continue working with our learning partner and prepping for the big IAR state test.

• A culture and climate survey (Pulse) was sent to all teachers and staff. This survey checks on what the staff feels about how the culture and climate is in the school. The results from this survey, compared to the first survey of the year, show a great improvement in how the staff feels about the culture and climate. We still have room for improvement but I am pleased with our progress.

• A survey was sent to teachers, and they answered questions that will allow me to compile a list of teachers' strengths and where they can help other teachers in areas of growth. This list will help teachers find a teacher who is strong in an area they would like to have personal/professional growth in. They will be able to contact each other for support in various areas of education.

• Our Culture and Climate Survey the staff completed showed a lot of growth from our initial survey. 100th day of school is January 31st. Class will be conducting some fun 100th day activities.

Superintendent’s Report:

Dr. Kelly reported the following:

Property Tax Relief Grant: We applied for the Property Tax Relief Grant. Although we’ve applied this year (and in past years), to the best of my knowledge we have not received this grant.

HLS Project Update: The HLS (Health Life Safety) projects are ongoing, and the HVAC Building Automation conversion began on January 9. This project will help improve the building automation systems, providing better control and efficiency.

Motion by Osmoe, seconded by Skertich to enter into closed session at 7:33 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. Discussion of pending and probable litigation against, affecting, or on behalf of the Board of Education and the District. Roll call: 7 ayes. Motion carried.

Motion by Skertich, seconded by Remer to return to open session at 8:38 p.m. Roll call: 7 ayes. Motion carried.

Motion by Skertich seconded by Remer to accept the resignation of Toby Osmoe, Maintenance Coordinator. Roll call: 1 present, 6 ayes. Motion carried.

Motion by Osmoe seconded by Rimar to approve the resignation of HS Cheer Coach, Kailea Dobrinich. Roll call: 7 ayes. Motion carried.

Motion by Knes seconded by Osmoe to approve the resignation of HS Cheer Coach, Alexis Zeller. Roll call: 7 ayes. Motion carried

The next regular board meeting will be at 7:00 pm on Wednesday, February 19, 2025, in the school library at 804 West Main St., Mt. Olive, IL.

Motion by Skertich, seconded by Remer to adjourn at 8:45 p.m. All ayes. Motion carried.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LtIcw6RJEJd0nlILaXc2sdz5tOmiRWol/view