CAT Tracks for June 29, 2003

CAT Tracks for June 29, 2003

REGULAR JUNE FOP MEETING

Better late than never…

The regular June meeting of the Cairo Financial Oversight Panel (FOP) was called to order at 10:30 a.m. on June 26, 2003. The Panel approved the minutes of its previous three meetings and then turned immediately to “Consideration of Actions Approved by the Cairo District #1".

Superintendent Isom gave a brief report of actions taken at the Cairo BOE meeting of June 19th. (See the June 20th edition of the CAT Tracks for details.)

In late developing news…Superintendent Isom reported that the school nurse “hired” by the BOE at its Jun 19th meeting had informed him that she had taken another position. The Superintendent indicated that he was still interviewing and hoped to have a recommendation for the Board at its Special Meeting on June 30th. He also announced that Larry Morris had resigned the position of Athletic Director.

A couple of items DID draw the attention of the FOP…with some apparent displeasure:

The FOP inquired as to the status of the CHS Principal position that had been advertised. The Superintendent responded by stating that the Board had taken no action…that he had interviewed an external applicant who was highly qualified. The FOP followed up that response by asking if the Cairo Board had “revisited” the issue of filling the vacancy (through transfer of current personnel). The Superintendent said that the BOE had “discussed it”, but had taken no action. This did not appear to please the FOP.

One member of the Panel expressed concern over the legal expenditures of the District, indicating that he was NOT inclined to approve one of the “action items” on the list. That item was tabled and withdrawn from the list approved. (Not being privy to the items presented to and reviewed by the FOP members, it was not clear whether the objection was to an amount being spent for a specific legal service or to the Cairo BOE’s reauthorization of the legal provider for the coming fiscal year.) When the Superintendent responded to the FOP’s concern that “the District is in current litigation”, the FOP indicated that the item would be discussed in closed session. As a follow-up to this discussion, the Superintendent was asked how much money the District had spent on legal services for the year. When the Superintendent responded with a figure of $100,000 - which seems VERY CONSERVATIVE in light of what Barney billed for fighting the CAT! – FOP members responded that THAT was a lot of money.

The FOP then turned to the next item on the agenda – “Report from consultants”. Their only comment was that the District’s cash flow situation had been remedied with the District’s receipt of the $925,000 emergency load from ISBE.
The FOP voted to go into closed session at 11:15 a.m. It voted to come out of closed session at 12:10 p.m. The Panel took no action on items considered in closed session.
Prior to adjournment, the Superintendent informed the Panel of negotiations between local entities (the school district, the city, and the county) and Bunge Corporation. (Again, the details are in the June 20th edition of the CAT Tracks.) When the FOP inquired as to how much tax revenue the District would lose, the Superintendent responded with a figure of $90,000 a year. When the FOP panel followed that question with an inquiry as to how many years the abatement would be for, the Superintendent speculated a period of 10 years. The FOP was quick to note that $90,000 per year for 10 years would almost exactly equal the emergency loan just received from ISBE. (It seems that CSD #1 can never catch a break!)

The FOP adjourned at 12:15 p.m. (Next FOP meeting is scheduled for July 24th.)