Reed Remembered, Vacancy Filled

County Truancy Ordinance Stays On The Table

By Tom Kocal, TKocal@prairie-advocate-news.com

Funding issues, appointments, and tabled items were just a few of the topics discussed and acted on by the Carroll County Board at their March 20 regular meeting. But the first item on the agenda was a sad one.

Board Chairperson Sharon Hook (D-2) notified the audience that former D-3 Board member Dave Reed of Milledgeville passed away Wednesday night, March 19.

"Dave served in the military in Viet Nam, had a long career with the Illinois State Police, and was a County Board member for 16 years," Hook said. "He spent his whole life in service. He was a friend, and he will be missed."

The Board accepted with regret the resignation of Reed at the January meeting, due to health problems. Reed was first elected to the Board in 1992. (Reed's obituary is in this week's issue). A vacancy resolution was prepared to fill Reed's position at the February meeting.

Lamoreux Appointed

At Thursday's meeting, a familiar face re-joined the Board. Lou Lamoreux of Lanark was unanimously appointed to fill Reed's vacant seat. Lamoreux could not attend this meeting, and will be sworn in at the April 17 meeting.

In a lighter note, Hook announced that "The Judge's chair has collapsed." Hook told the Board that she took matters into her own hands and instructed both judges to order new chairs, and to submit the bill to her. "I will forward the invoice to the Finance Committee, who will take care of this matter."

Regarding an issue brought up at the February meeting, Hook opened the floor for nominations for Vice Chairman of the Board. Kevin Reibel (D-1) nominated Rod Fritz (D-3). No other nominations were received, and Fritz was elected unanimously.

Later in the meeting during the Chairman's report, Hook told the Board that "Rod handled all of my Chairman's business while I was in North Carolina for 2 weeks. The County was in good hands." She added that in North Carolina, "All the trees were in bloom. and people were already mowing their lawns. I wondered why I came back!"

Truancy Ordinance Addressed

At the January 17 Board meeting, Kurt Dreger (D-1) made a motion to table the Carroll County Truancy Ordinance issue, saying "I would first like more input from the community, schools and police departments." Since then, the issue of Juvenile Truancy in the county was addressed by the State's Attorney committee in February, where State's Attorney Scott Brinkmeier explained some revisions based on several comments from the February Board meeting. Much of the discussion in committee centered around the fact that Carroll County does not have an appointed Truancy Officer. None the less, the committee voted 3-2 to recommend the revised version of Chapter 315 to the full Board.

Thursday, committee chair Fritz told the Board that a new ordinance is forthcoming, and that the committee had previously recommended a stricter draft. "This time, we're toning down the language, especially regarding fines."

The ordinance says that Carroll County "recognizes the problems presented both educationally as well as fiscally by students being truant," and that the "effort to correct these problems as well as provide more immediate consequences for persons being truant enacts this ordinance." Penalties for violation of the ordinance include not less than ten days of community service for the student, and parents may be required to participate in a parenting program.

Fritz then made the motion to approve the toned-down version, which was seconded, opening up the topic for discussion. Ron Preston (D-2) said he felt that more discussion was still needed. "All school administrators, law enforcement officers, and truancy specialists want to meet to develop a county ordinance that everyone can live with."

In the audience was Joyce Crouse, Carroll County Truancy Specialist, Marie Steifel, Regional Superintendent of Schools, and Lonny Lemon, Superintendent of the West Carroll School District. Preston asked Crouse to address the issue.

Crouse said she has worked with 158 students with truancy problems, 122 of which are currently active. "Through TAP (Truancy Alternative Program) we try to identify the issues surrounding students truancy. We also try to prevent drop-outs, and have had good success in that area." Crouse said that to date, only one student has dropped out.

She said it takes 18 unexcused absences before the student and parent(s)/guardians will be summoned to court. Sometimes, just scheduling a pre-court hearing remediates the situation, avoiding court.

"I try to work with families and discuss the ramifications of the students' and parents' actions with truancy before it is too late. They must be the ones to take responsibility for their actions, with the main focus being on the students' attendance. I really care about the success of the schools, parents being responsible, and students taking responsibility for their actions."

Steifel said that when a child misses an excessive amount of school, "there is usually a school issue, such as bullying at school, or other family issues. The parents may have a substance abuse problem, or other forms of abuse or neglect may be occurring at home. We attempt to deal with these issues first.

"But between the 18 days of unexcused absences and a court date, a lot of time can elapse, which doesn't help the situation. This new ordinance could allow a faster response time on our part," Steifel added.

"The sooner we can connect them to Social Services and deal promptly with the other issues, we may be able to prevent the student from being 'labeled' a truant. A label like that can follow a child throughout their lives. We want to nip it in the bud more quickly. We will also hold the parents more responsible. You'd be surprised how many K to 1st grade students have truancy problems. At that young age, the problem definitely lies with the parent's lack of responsibility," Steifel concluded.

Fritz said that he was glad that the wording of the ordinance can be altered to a more "middle of the road" agreement. "I wouldn't want to see good, responsible parents that take their child out of school for what the system calls an 'unexcused absence' be held by those same standards."

Supt. Lemon told the Board that county schools have literally lost millions of state-aid dollars in the past ten years due to truancy problems. "This is our share of money that the state gives us that we are missing out on." Lemon said that it was the chronic truancy problems that the schools' are really concerned with.

"Right now at West Carroll High School, we have 108 kids with 13 or more unexcused absences. That's awful."

Besides the loss of revenue to the school districts, Lemon added that this issue has the ability to hurt economic growth in Carroll County, and probably already has.

"Potential new residents that are attracted to this area because of the rural lifestyle and safe neighborhoods want a quality education for their children. Before they make a move, they investigate these issues."

Lemon agreed with Preston, asking the Board "not to pass an ordinance that is unenforceable. We've made good strides, people in our district are responding, and I feel that we've turned the corner on this problem. We need your help."

At this point, the Board unanimously agreed to table the Truancy Ordinance to allow local officials to agree on more acceptable wording.

Board of Review Adjournment Date Extended

The Board then approved a resolution to extend the adjournment date for the Board of Review at the request of Vivian Eaton, Supervisor of Assessments. The resolution states that "The . . . Board of Review is engaged in the completion of its work for the assessment year but that its work cannot be completed until April 30, 2008," and that "the Board finds this extension to be in the best interests of the public and the taxing bodies of the County."

Per Diem Discussed

Amending the Per Diem for Board members was on the agenda, but Fritz reported that the SA/Finance Committee was not prepared to make a recommendation. A question was raised about compensation for Board members who attended a regularly scheduled committee meeting that lacked a quorum of the committee members, therefore making it unable to hold the meeting and conduct any business.

At the March 13 SA/Finance committee meeting, SA Brinkmeier believed that the past practice had been that without a quorum there was no meeting, therefore no reimbursement. But other committee members said that that had not always been the practice in the past. Fritz said that Brinkmeier would provide a revision of the Ordinance under Chapter 40-1 at the April committee meeting that would provide for reimbursement under these circumstances.

Other Committee Reports

Reporting for the Highway Committee, Shawn Picolotti (D-1) said that the highway fund is currently $40,000 over budget in the Maintenance of County Roads line item, and $3500 in the Overtime line item, due to the hard winter. The Board will communicate with Kevin Vandendooren with the Hwy. Dept. as to how his budget progresses through '08.

Kevin Reibel (D-1) of the Sheriff/Property Committee reported on the vintage 1970's elevator in the Courthouse. Because of its age, replacement parts are not available, and a full hydraulic replacement unit is recommended.

Some of the flat roofs on the Courthouse need to be fixed due to leaks. The committee is researching peaked roofing to avoid future problems.

Reibel said that an upgrade to the camera security system in the Courthouse was approved by the committee. The system may be converted to digital cameras to enhance image quality.

In other action:

- Hook appointed John Bimm to a 5-year term on the board of the Carroll County Housing Authority.

- A $100 gas station gift card that was presented to Brian Woessner, County Clerk, from a Veteran who had previously received assistance from the County Veterans Assistance Program, was given to the Sheriff's Dept. to use for gas purchases.

- The Veteran's Assistance office have altered their hours. They will be open from 9 to 5 Mondays, and from 9 to 1 Wednesdays in order to reduce travel time.

- CC Animal Control said the cost for euthanasia was raised from $12.50 to $22.50 at the Mt. Carroll Vet Clinic. To stay in compliance with state law, an additional shot must be given to each animal prior to euthanasia, increasing the cost. The surrender fee will be raised from $35 to $50 to defray the cost.

Comment on this story

Go back to Prairie Advocate Home Page