Morrison School Board Holds May Meeting

By Lynnette Forth For The Prairie Advocate News

MORRISON - Members of the Morrison School Board met for a regular meeting in the High School Media Center on Tuesday May 24th 2011.

Approval was granted for the minutes from previous group meetings. During the communication and public comment portion of the meeting, members heard reports from the facilities committee, citizen’s advisory committee, negotiations committee, and the finance committee. Board member Brandon Shelton reported on behalf of the facilities committee noting that all scheduled summer projects had been decided on. He has been informed by Dr. Girard on the progress of the solar panel grants, and that she is continuing to work on grants for wind power, along with a grant for new windows.

Superintendent Girard gave her report, and told members of a phone call she had received from a citizen stating that the Morrison School District had been mentioned in Forbes magazine. The article rated the city of Morrison as one of the best school districts in Illinois where you get the best bang for your housing buck. “We can be proud of the Morrison School District where citizens get a good bang for their housing buck in our school system,” Girard said.

Handbooks have been updated and Girard mentioned that the district will probably need four sections in grades K-2 at Northside, but only 3 sections at Southside. Grants for solar power have been received totaling $18,000 to be used at the Junior and Senior High Schools. Girard noted that she had been to a workshop and learned that research is indicating that the climate within a school impacts student achievement. “One of the climate factors that impacts most directly which leads to an increase in student achievement is having excellent natural light into the classrooms. At both the Junior and Senior High Schools we have these high panels on the windows that keep the light from penetrating very deeply into the classroom.” Girard will be researching the possibility of getting some grants to replace some windows to help with this idea.

The Superintendent also informed the board that the state had come in to monitor the grants, and that the district had received a good report from their findings. “They did show us how to get some additional money back, which equaled $14,000 in the transportation fund. They showed us a different way to charge fuel that qualifies us for more reimbursement.” It was also noted that the school system will be transitioning to the new Skyward computer program.

Special Education funding will be reduced by about 1-2%. Girard noted that negotiations are going well with staff members, and that the staff members have decided among themselves to a three year soft freeze which would mean a decrease in their summer salary from $22.00 per hour to $18.00. “The staff is very good to work with, I am very grateful to have such a great staff.” Girard said.

In the Principal’s report, Joe Robbins mentioned that the Mississippi Valley Blood Center had been at Northside May 23, and they had received $250 from WalMart. The money will help with the purchase of a new sound system for the Southside Gym. Also, the PTO Book fair at Northside raised a profit of $2000 to purchase books for the North and Southside libraries.

A closed session meeting was held to discuss appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance, or dismissal of specific employees and negotiations.

Upon returning from closed session, the board moved onto discussion items which included the approval of district bills, a financial report as of April 30, Treasurer’s report as of April 30, financial comparisons from Fiscal years 09-11, financial projections for 2011, and the amended budget.

The elementary handbook changes are not significant; however, lunch fees will be raised slightly. The district is being mandated to raise the costs of some fees over the next three years. Prices will include a ten cent raise for elementary breakfast, twenty five cents for elementary lunch, five cents for 6-12 lunch, and five cents for 6-12 milk. Girard noted “we are not looking to make a profit on meals, but we choose to provide good, healthy meals.”

The enrollment report was given, and showed a continuous decrease. The technology planning committee will be meeting on 5-26 to evaluate hardware and software. Teachers will be researching some of the software to gather information. The committee will meet during the summer.

Girard approached the possibility of purchasing an activity bus for the district. The purchase of a gently used bus would save on the cost of transportation. Driving this bus would not require a CDL license, so anyone with a good driving record could use it. The bus would be used for golf, swimming, cheerleaders, wrestlers, quiz bowl, as well as junior high activities. Since no CDL is required, it would save on the cost of having to pay a driver. Girard would like to bring this idea to the next board meeting and hopefully purchase a bus this fiscal year.

The board learned that funds have been dedicated for the purchase of a Driver’s Ed car. Girard will be researching the lowest cost of ownership maintenance, gas, and resale value with local car dealerships. She will also look into Hybrid vehicles.

Regarding the school milk program, Girard told members that the Federal Government will no longer offer 1% chocolate milk to students. Schools will have to serve skim chocolate milk.

Action items included the approval of the Junior High handbook. The District behavior code was approved with the cost of approximately $40.00 monthly for random drug testing. A public forum will be held on August 1st to inform the public on the new drug testing procedures. It was noted that Junior High students MUST pass reading, English, science, and math in order to be promoted to High School. Approval of retirements was granted, and membership with IESA renewal for $325.00 was approved. Release was granted of unneeded equipment including an old hayrack, 50 computers, and 25 monitors.

The next meeting is scheduled for June 21st in the media center.

 

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