CAT Tracks for June 12, 2003 2 FOR 1

Arrived a few minutes late to find both the Cairo BOE and FOP assembled for meetings...

The Special Meeting of the Cairo BOE began at 10:30 a.m. Present in the audience were Jack Hill (President of the Cairo Financial Oversight Panel - FOP), all three of the FOP Financial Administrators, Mark Mullins of ISBE, and Dan Anderson (Regional Superintendent Elect). Comments between BOE President Joe Griggs and Dr. Hill indicated the the Cairo BOE was "going first" while the FOP awaited a quorum.

First order of business for the Cairo BOE was approval of the "Cairo School District Emergency Financial Assistance Loan Agreement" between CSD #1 and ISBE in the amount of $925,000. This low interest loan (in addition to an earlier - already spent - $225,000 grant) was the main reason for CSD #1 voluntarily requesting (at the urging of ISBE) financial oversight. Therefore, approval was readily given. (The loan must be repaid in 9 yearly installments of $102,778 beginning on July 15, 2004. The interest rate is 0.535% for a total interest amount of $24,743.71 over the life of the loan.)

Following approval of the loan, President Joe Griggs invited a representative (Chris ?) of the District's architectural firm and the head of District maintenance (Lorenzo Nelson) to join the Board at the table. They spent the next hour discussing locks and doors.

President Griggs indicated that he had been made aware that many doors and recently installed locks at Cairo High School did not work. On behalf of the Board, he expressed his displeasure that considerable money had been expended and yet these problems existed. President Griggs also expressed his concern that apparently new locks had been installed on doors that did not work...that if a door had not been working, then IT should have been replaced. President Griggs indicated that the Board wanted answers...

After much discussion...it was determined that poor communications by previous architectural personnel had caused most of the problems...that they would show up unannounced, fail to identify themselves or their purpose, and leave without comment or subsequent feedback. Mr. Nelson indicated that since Chris had come on board, that the communications problem had been remedied and that the working relationship was "excellent".

Mr. Nelson indicated that the current problems were most likely the result of the age of the doors, rather than with hardware installed by the contractors. He indicated that the doors WERE working when inspected prior to installation of new locks...that the problem of ill-fitting doors had developed afterwards. As proof, Mr. Nelson gave an example of a door that had been recently inspected and found to be working properly...that failed to do so less than two weeks later.

Mr. Nelson did indicate that a couple of doors HAD been determined to be bad during initial inspection and had been subsequently replaced. In response to Board member Brenda Gooden's question about the handicap access handle on the front door of Cairo High School...the fact that it is too low...Chris indicated that the handle had been installed improperly and was scheduled for repair.

One cause was identified for the malfunctioning classroom doors at the high school...that teachers and students were placing "wooden stops" at the top of the doors, forgetting about them, and then trying to close the doors with the stops present...springing the doors. Well, as a high school teacher having one of the sprung doors, I can attest to the cause, but refute the culprit. As CHS teachers and administrators will attest, the problem of the sprung doors began with the cleaning service that was employed by the District a few years back...that was THEIR method of holding doors open during the cleaning period. (If I were to take the time, I could probably find the memo from the principal that addressed that situation...but, hey, it's summer...I'm trying to "get a life" here...)

Following the hour-long discussion, Chris was directed to "go away" (everyone present...including Chris...had a good chuckle over the phrasing) and to come back with some answers from his firm. He promised to do so.

The Board then voted to go into closed session at 11:40 a.m.

While the "audience" waited in the hallway, another member of the Financial Oversight Panel arrived...establishing a quorum. They decided that their time would best be spent by convening their meeting while the Board held their closed session.

Since the Board was using their normal meeting place, the FOP personnel decided to commandeer Ilene Pierce's office for their meeting. The meeting was called to order at 12:10 p.m.

First order of business was to approve the $925,000 loan that had just been approved by the Cairo BOE. "Debbie" (from ISBE) on conference call reported that she had just been informed that the Governor had signed the legislation providing funding for the loan. She was hopeful that the money would be available for transfer to and use by the District next week...that she was going to check on it after this meeting. (If so, that would solve the immediate cash flow problem of the District.) The FOP voted to approve the District's loan request.

The Panel next turned to a "Discussion of protocol for implementing panel findings and recommendations". The consensus was that the Superintendent and the Board President would be notified in writing with a "cc" to the FOP...that the District be allowed to react and give input prior to any final decision by the FOP.

Next on the agenda was "Discussion of the District's plans for extracurricular activities for FY 04". However, this item was skipped (temporarily) in favor of the next (related) item..."Discussion of consultant's 'Scope of Work'". (A handout of "Scope of Work" was distributed to all in attendance.) Concern was voiced over the status of the District's preparations for the 2003-2004 school year...the fact that there was no CHS principal in place (the BOE apparently not acting on a previously discussed plan at their last meeting) and that scheduling of students and assignment of classrooms had not been completed.

The doors to the Board room then opened and it was announced that the Board was out of closed session at 12:28 p.m. The Board immediately entertained a motion for adjournment and approved same.

Back to the FOP meeting...

When the Panel heard that the Board had adjourned, they decided that it would be best to relocate in the Board room in order to better accommodate all wishing to attend.

Unfortunately, this CAT had to leave for a previous commitment. So...???