Time for a commercial break...

Okay...actually, BOE President Arnold Burris interrupted the meeting to make a presentation of plaques to former BOE President Joe Griggs and Reverend J. L. Posey.

Back to our feature presentation...

IV. Approval of Previous Minutes - Motion made, seconded, and passed.

1. Regular Minutes of March 15 & 19, 2007
2. Closed Session Minutes of March 15 & 19, 2007
3. Special Meeting Regular Minutes of April 2, 2007
4. Special Meeting Closed Minutes of April 2, 2007

1. Regular Meeting
2. Closed Meeting

VI. Approval of Treasurer's Report - Skipped until later...but done.

VII. Approval of Payment of Bills/Payroll - Motion made, seconded, and passed.

VIII. Informational

1. CECC Building - Superintendent Gary Whitledge reported on discussions that he had had with ROE. Bottomline...no additional money coming for the upkeep of the Cairo Community Educational Center. The current tenants have indicated that they cannot afford an increase in their current rent and that they will, therefore, vacate the premises next year and seek alternate facilities...leaving CSD #1 as the only tenant. Ironically...SCC has indicated an interest in renting a couple of rooms at CJSHS...possibly in the "Green Hall". Superintendent Whitledge indicated that the Central Office might also move to the "Green Hall"...or take over the cottage.

   (Folks, do you want my editorial comment? Ready or not...if this transpires, it is a mistake of major proportions...equaled only by the decision to close the "old junior high" building in the first place! It's the best building that the District possesses. And...come basketball season, we are going to revisit the discussions on how handicapped we are by only having the one gymnasium at CJSHS. Then we will revisit maybe using the Cairo Armory...or the old Bondurant Gym...or whatever. Then we will decide that we need to open the Mescher Gym...JUST the gym, NOT the rest of the building. Then it will get cold...we'll turn the heat on...just enough to take the chill off. Someone will forget to turn it off and the District will receive a $5,000 utility bill for an abandoned building!

   In short...deja vu...all over again!!!

   If I'm not mistaken...and I may be because it's been awhile AND it's hard to hear what is going on half the time...this uproar is because the payments from ROE (or more correctly "the tenants") are running maybe $55,000 short of anticipated revenue. Yes...$55,000 is not something to sneeze at - (I mean, it's almost three months of legal fees!) - but compared to a $9 million budget and the inconvenience that will result...maybe, just maybe, this decision should be explored with an eye on a solution rather than (another) closure.

   Amen!)

2. Graduation Dates - A handout was distributed to BOE members of promotion and graduation dates with an encouragement to attend.
3. Graduation Speaker - Haven't gotten a confirmation from Mr. McPherson.
4. Building Repairs - Superintendent Whitledge wanted BOE members to let him know if they had any repairs to be considered for the summer.
5. Common Calendar - Superintendent Whitledge indicated that he would be asking the BOE to approve the calendar later in the meeting.
6. An ISBE monitoring team is spending three days in the District reviewing our handling of Special Education needs...with an emphasis on more inclusion.
7. The School Support Team has produced a report for District review and consideration. Superintendent Whitledge encouraged the BOE to find time in the future to meet with the Team to go over their findings and recommendations.
8. The Cairo Junior & Senior High School Athletic Awards Ceremony will be held on May 7th at 6 p.m.
9. An assembly will be held on May 10th at CJSHS, conducted by State Farm, concerning the use of seat belts.

10. Checks Deposited - District Account

    $4,370.50 - Rent - Roe
    2,185.25 - Major Repairs
    571.46 - Student Lunches - ROE
    59,816.75 - Personal Property Replacement Tax
    43.33 - TAMES
    50.00 - Rent - Laidlaw
    191,328.69 - State Aid-1st Payment-April
    952.00 - Tech Enhancing Ed
    3,135.00 - Title VI Rural Ed
    5,182.00 - TAP Grant Payment
    4,137.00 - Safe & Drug Free Schools
    12,162.00 - Title II Teacher Quality
    1,116.02 - Driver Education
    2,449.15 - State Lunch
    71,963.00 - Title I Low Income
    1,666.00 - Title I Comp School Reform
    1,666.00 - Title I Comp School Reform
    1,666.00 - Title I Comp School Reform
    35,773.00 - Early Childhood Block Grant
    

Prior to making a motion to go into closed session, the BOE realized that they had skipped the approval of the Treasurer's Report - Motion made, seconded, and passed.

X. Closed Session - The BOE entered closed session at 6:28 p.m. (J.L. Posey left the meeting at 7:35 p.m. Danny Brown left the meeting at 7:45 p.m.) The BOE exited closed session at 7:55 p.m.

XI. Requiring Action/Decisions By Board of Education

1. Hearing for waiver of attendance on Lincoln's Birthday - This was a 2-minute hearing...no one in the audience had any questions or comments. A motion was then made, seconded, and passed to apply for the waiver.
2. Adopt the calendar for 2007-2008 School Year - Motion made, seconded, and passed.
3. Amend 2006-2007 School Calendar - Since no emergency days were used during the school year, five days will be taken off of the calendar, making the last day of school May 24th. A motion was made, seconded, and passed to amend the 2006-2007 School Calendar.
4. Renew membership in IHSA for 2007-2008 - Motion made, seconded, and passed.
5. Consider Closed Session Minutes for calendar year 2006 - Motion made, seconded, and passed to retain the minutes as closed.
6. Consider property/casualty insurance renewal from Hinz Claims Management - Motion made, seconded, and passed to renew at a 5% increase in premium. The yearly premium is $57,000.
7. Consider bids for lawn service - There were no bids.
8. Consider bids for school vehicles
   a. John Deere Tractor - Motion made, seconded, and passed to accept the highest bid of $3,200 by Kim Bohde.
   b. Former Driver Ed Car - Motion made, seconded, and passed to accept the highest bid of $1,555 by Richard Wild.
   c. White Van - No bids.
9. Selection of Audit Firm - Superintendent Whitledge presented the BOE with a list of auditing companies that do business with area schools and suggested that they select a few of the companies and ask them to submit a proposal for auditing. After a brief discussion, it was the consensus of the BOE that ALL of the companies be contacted for submission of a proposal.
10. 2005-2006 Audit - No comment.
11. Personnel
    a. Resignation/retirements /leaves/compensation
    b. Employment
    1. Non-certificated for 2007-2008

    Superintendent Whitledge read three letters of retirement/resignation:
    a. "Tootie" Newton - Secretary - 17 years
    b. Barbara Chandler - Teacher - 33 years
    c. Rob Shepard - Athletic Director
    A motion was made, seconded, and passed (separately) to accept the retirements/resignations as tendered.

XII. Old Business - None

Prior to adjournment, the BOE scheduled a special meeting for Tuesday, April 24, 2007, at 6 p.m.

XIII. Adjourn...The BOE voted to adjourn at 8:15 p.m.

CLOSED SESSION IS FOR THE PURPOSE OF CONSIDERING INFORMATION RELATIVE TO THE APPOINTMENT, EMPLOYMENT, PERFORMANCE OR DISMISSAL OF INDIVIDUAL EMPLOYEES WHICH MAY BE OF A TEMPORARY CONFIDENTIAL NATURE, STUDENT DISCIPLINE, PLACEMENT OF SPECIAL EDUCATION STUDENTS, DISCUSSION OF LITIGATION PROBABLE, IMMINENT, FILED OR PENDING AND COLLECTIVE BARGAINING OR RELATED ISSUES.