CAT Tracks for March 19, 2004 CAIRO FOP & BOE MEETINGS

CAT representatives attended two local meetings on Thursday, March 18th. The first was a joint meeting of the Cairo FOP and the Cairo BOE at 1 p.m. and the second was the regular monthly meeting of the Cairo BOE. State Superintendent of Schools Robert Schiller attended and participated in the joint meeting. Here are the high(?)lights...

During the joint meeting, the Association appealed for a more measured approach to the RIF being proposed by the District...noting that the announced RIFs did not provide a workable schedule for the coming school year...that under the proposal, there would be no staff to provide offerings mandated by the state. Unfortunately, the appeal went unheeded. Following a brief closed session, the Cairo FOP voted to authorize (without change) the RIFs proposed to the Association by the Cairo BOE on March 8th and enacted at a Special Meeting on March 10th.

Other business at the joint meeting...

* Superintendent Schiller opened the meeting by criticizing the budget presented by Governor Blagojevich...stating that it would fall far short of solving the financial problems faced in Cairo...and the rest of the state. He encouraged the Board and union representatives to contact their elected representatives and encourage support of the proposal made by the ISBE for additional funding for schools. (I'd say that the Governor has gotten the attention of the ISBE since he threatened to take away their control over schools by instituting a new Department of Education. All of a sudden, ISBE has emerged as our savior...after threatening to shut us down last year!)

* The FOP administrators presented a detailed financial analysis of the District, showing how the actual status of the District compared with its budget. According to the analysis, the District has made significant progress during the past year in balancing expenditures with receipts. However, (not counting the $925,000 loan from ISBE) the District still finished in the red. (It was noted that tax relief granted to the Bunge Corporation reduced District revenues by approximately $86,000 and that a decrease of 12% in local tax assessment accounted for an additional loss of $20,000 in revenue.)

* Following the FOP administrator's financial presentation, Dr. Schiller pointed out that the District relied heavily on state and federal funding...to the tune of 92% of our revenue...THAT is why "you are in a fix." Unfortunately, Superintendent Schiller offered no suggestions for changing that dependence...again...only a promise of more STATE dollars if we support his funding plan over that proposed by the Governor. (Is this where I'm supposed to say something like "this has been a paid political announcement"?)

* An agenda item on the status of the search for a new superintendent for Cairo School District Number One must have been handled in closed session since that item was skipped without mention.

* Regional Superintendent Dan Anderson made a report on the efforts of his office to assist area schools...all of which suffer the same problems as Cairo. An exploration of the feasibility of offering joint classes is taking place...including an effort to get the four districts to draft common class schedules to facilitate such offerings...and for the use of the distance learning facilities. Superintendent Anderson also indicated that the ROE might start a curriculum office to provide expertise (possibly at a reduced cost) to the area schools.

*A final note about the RIFs. Just prior to adjournment, Superintendent Isom appealed for help from ISBE - that with the RIF of approximately 40% of the certified staff, the District would have a large sum of "professional development monies" left over...monies that could not be spent training individuals who were no longer employed by the District. ISBE representatives stated that they understood the situation...but that hopefully the District would get news about the funding of its grants by the end of May and could hire many/most people back...and thereby use the money.

The meeting was adjourned at 2:41 p.m.

*Remember "HOT, HOT, HOT"...when the (closed) junior high school building topped all attendance centers with its $6,000 gas bill? Well...they fixed it...it's down to a "normal" number. But...you know it takes water to put out a fire! The water bill for the (closed) junior high school building topped all attendance centers last month at over $300. Hey, at least water is a lot cheaper than gas!

*The BOE voted to renew its property and casualty insurance with Jackson & Gray. The only change...the District decided to add $10,000 of insurance at a cost of $161 to cover employee theft. (I guess they are afraid that some of the fired employees might try to prove that "you CAN take it with you!")

*Upon the Superintendent's recommendation, the BOE voted to adopt the procedures used at CJSHS for securing monies for use at ALL attendance centers. Following this adoption, the Superintendent then announced that fundraising activities could now resume. (I'm sure that some of you know what this is about...I missed it!)

*EAT, EAT, EAT...I failed to mention that the District had a large spread of food at their 1 p.m. joint meeting with the FOP...catered by Chartwells. Well..."waste not, want not"! After voting to go into closed session, there was a break while "leftovers" were transported from the kitchen to the Board room...so many leftovers that it took several people several trips to accomplish the feat. (The CATs were invited to eat at 1 p.m., but respectfully declined. The CATs were not invited to the evening meal.) Although the amount of money involved is insignificant, it's still VERY tacky to treat yourself while professing a financial crisis...and voting to fire over half of the District! Appearances CAN mean everything! I WILL NEVER FORGET attending a Cairo BOE meeting "back in the day" - during an earlier time of financial crisis - and watching a Board member speak with his mouth full of food (literally smacking his lips) complaining that "I thought we cut the snacks at Emerson for pre-school!"

*Following dinner - uh, closed session - the BOE approved the following recommendations by the Superintendent:

- Hire C. Scott as Girls Softball Coach
- Hire T. Purchase as Assistant Baseball Coach pending certification
- Hire M. Woodson as Assistance Junior High Girls Track Coach pending certification
- Hire L. Baldwin as High School Boys Basketball Coach for the 2004-05 School Year
- Vacate all other extracurricular coach/sponsor positions for the 2004-05 School Year
- Accept the resignation of H. Martin for the purposes of retirement
- Accept the resignation of L. Morris as Athletic Director
- Hire C. Williams, R. Pickett, and A. Houston as District Administrators for the 2004-05 School Year

*In action of its own volition, the Board authorized the Superintendent to explore a drug testing policy for students. The Board also voted to approve the use of drug-sniffing dogs in the District.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:52 p.m.