South Central Reporter

Mt. Olive Community Unit School District 5 Board of Education met Sept. 17.

Here are the minutes provided by the board:

The Board of Education met in regular session on September 17, 2025 in the library. The meeting was called to order at 6:32 p.m. by President David Brunnwoth. Present at roll call were Bertels, Brunnworth, Knes, Readenour, Remer, Rimar, and Skertich. Also present were Interim Superintendent Cann, Secretary Durbin, Principal Scheller, Principal Martin, Jen Stockstill, John Hanafin, Chase Martin, Kim Carlile, Cindy Butler, Jade Mathis, Ken Loy, Roger Kratochvil, Alyssa Aubuschon, Gretchen Pfieffer,

Jean Jubelt arrived at 6:50

Motion by Readenour, seconded by Skertich to adopt the agenda and approve the minutes of the regular board meeting of August 20th, 2025. All ayes. Motion carried.

Recognition, comments, and correspondence from employees and public: A. Mt. Olive School Board Recognition Award- “Beacon of Education” Award presented to Roger and Mary Kratochvil for their continued dedication and support of the Mt. Olive Education Foundation.

Roger spoke about the history of the Academic Foundation, its founding members, and the many contributions it has made over the years. He then presented a check for $60,000 to the school district. The funds will be allocated as follows:

$18,000 for a district-wide intercom upgrade

$17,000 for K–5 reading curriculum

$10,000 for school supplies, including computers, textbooks, and licenses

$10,000 to upgrade the high school science labs

$5,000 to improve staff communications with two-way radios for staff and buses

The Board and Mrs. Cann expressed their sincere gratitude for this generous donation B. Alyssa Aubuchon as a new member of the Illinois State Board of Education Student Advisory Council.

C. FOIA requests:

1.Lake County Gazette requests for Names and honors of all students in your high schools recognized by the College Board as AP Scholars. Principal. Martin addressed this request stating that we have only dual credit classes, no Advanced Placement.

2. Lake County Gazette request for names of Middle school graduates. Principal Scheller addressed this request. Only names were shared.

D. The annual financial report (audit) as presented by Loy, Miller, Talley, Certified Public Accounts for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2025.

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

Financial Report for August 2025:

Mrs. Cann reported the Education Fund is sitting at $1,771,400.17. The Building Fund is at $352,126.16. The Transportation Fund balance is $406,941.81. The Working Cash Fund is at $242,222.83. The total of all funds is $4,809,134.98.

Motion by Remer, seconded by Knes to approve the financial report for August 2025. All ayes. Motion carried.

Unfinished Business:

None

New Business:

Motion by Skertich, seconded by Rimar to approve the annual financial report as presented by Loy, Miller, Talley, Certified Public Accounts for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2025. Roll call: 7 ayes. Motion carried

Motion made by Rimar, seconded by Knes to approve the 2025-26 Mt. Olive School District Budget. Roll call: 7 ayes. Motion carried

Principals’ Reports:

Mr. Martin reported the following:

• I want to congratulate both Mrs. Davis and Mr. Simmons on the birth of their beautiful kiddos.

• I also want to thank Barb Osmoe and Peter Dederich for taking long term sub positions to cover these maternity and paternity leaves. This has truly allowed us to keep the changes and unknowns to a minimum as the school year continues.

• Update on enrollment as we have had some students move. The HS is at 152 in person students, 30 students from Raymond, and 11 8th graders who attend HS math courses.

• We are trending in a positive direction with our ABC data.

• Attendance: Enrollment has gone up slightly each of the last two years.

o 23/24- 93%

o 24/25- 94%

o 25/26- 95%

• Behaviors

o 23/24- 97 incidents with 7.7 days

o 24/25- 56 incidents with 3 days

o 25/26- 31 incidents with 0 days

• Grades

o 23/24- 37 on SAP list

o 24/25- 45 on SAP list

o 25/26- 31 on SAP list

• The MO Homecoming parade went very well. I thought our students, sponsors, and band did an excellent job.

• The HS Homecoming will be next week September 22nd - 27th. The dance will be Saturday 7-10.

• Homecoming Court and King/Queen will be announced at 6:30.

• Mr. Lesko was able to take a field trip to the Orpheum in Hillsboro. The Mt. Olive students and Raymond students watched a movie, had discussion in person, and went to lunch together. This was a unique opportunity to bring these students together for class.

• The tables and chairs we were able to purchase with the donation from Focus 5 have all been delivered and installed. I appreciate all of the hard work from Bryce Tooley and Jeff Grider with this ongoing project to update the lobby and common areas.

• The Academic Foundation awarded Mrs. Close the Billiter Grant and she will be working with a muralist to create a teaching and painting opportunity in the new lobby area. Expected to be completed by the end of October.

• Tomorrow the Academic Foundation will be coming in to award mini-grants.

Mrs. Scheller reported the following:

2. Student Achievement & Academics

• We just completed data meetings with teachers to go over benchmarks, determine who will attend Title I, and who will be in the small groups for teacher classroom interventions and progress monitoring.

• The Student Council will implement a "Making a Difference" Award each month for junior high student council members. The hope is to build morale and honor students who are positive, kind, and make a difference in the day-to-day, with the hope that it will spread to all students. Junior high teachers will make nominations.

3. Student Life & Activities

• Middle school softball and baseball seasons concluded last week. Both teams lost the IESA 3A Regional Semi-Final games. Softball & baseball ended their seasons with a conference record of 2-3. Softball's overall record was 8-6, and baseball's was 8-10.

• Middle school girls' basketball began this week. We have 8th graders 6, 7th graders 5, 6th graders 2, and 5th graders 6—total of 19.

5. Events & Community Engagement

• The Stakeholder Advisory Group Meeting was held on Monday, the 15th. The group consists of Jill Fenton (community business owner), Lindsey Knes (board member), Julie Heyen (teacher), Kelly Titsworth (teacher), and Shelby Bertels (parent). The topics of discussion were student attendance and open lines of communication (school-to-home and home-to-school). Bob Mertz, our truancy officer, attended to talk to the group about truancy state laws and Macoupin County's truancy procedures(Truancy Review Board).

• Upcoming events: Preschool is having its first family night tonight, an ice cream social.

• We recently had our fundraiser kick-off assembly. Students are excited to earn the cool prizes we are offering. Selling items earns prizes: winning prizes include extra recess, a movie and popcorn, a chance to throw a pie at me and teachers and paraprofessionals, lunch with me, and a gift card. Classes can also earn a pizza party.

• Recently attended the FOCUS 5 meeting, where we were asked what some bigger ticket items the school could use. It was mentioned to replace the red mats on the wall in the cafeteria. Other discussions were held about class parties, hallway decorating for holidays, and ways to increase participation in FOCUS 5. I want to thank them for their continued support.

• I also want to thank the Academic Foundations for all their support. Tomorrow, mini grants will be awarded to our teachers. The Foundation recently donated funds to help us purchase an updated reading curriculum.

• We are so lucky to have two excellent supporting organizations supporting our district.

7. Facilities & Operations

• I would like to thank Jeff and the janitorial staff for the excellent work they continue to do in keeping our school clean and well-maintained.

8. Celebrations & Spotlights

• Student of the Month was announced. This month's character trait was Respect. 21 Prekstudents received this honor.

• Roger and Mary’s dedication and generosity, along with the unwavering support of the entire Academic Foundation, have made a tremendous difference in the opportunities we are able to provide our students. Their years of commitment have been instrumental in the Foundation’s success, and we are truly grateful for their time, effort, and vision in helping our school community thrive.

Superintendent’s Report: Mrs Cann reported the following:

-The district was awarded the REAP grant in the amount of $36,000.

-Mrs Cann expressed her appreciation to the café staff for their dedication and for consistently providing high-quality meals.

-We received one bid for the handicap ramps. Efforts are being made to obtain two additional bids, and the matter will be discussed further at the October meeting.

Motion by Rimar, seconded by Skertich to enter into closed session at 7:59 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 Rimar, seconded by Skertich to return to open session at 8:25 p.m. Roll call: 7 ayes. Motion carried.

Motion by Knes, seconded by Readenour to accept the resignation of Josh Martin as JH boys track coach. Roll call: 7 ayes. Motion carried.

The next regular board meeting will be at 6:00 pm on Wednesday, October 15, 2025 in the school library at 804 West Main St., Mt. Olive, IL.

Motion by Skertich, seconded by Rimar to adjourn at 8:25 p.m. All ayes. Motion carried.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1E2wdZOs8FKcQadjqDD3TwW2JOnA4mxHj/view