McHenry Times

Fox River Grove School District 3 Board of Education met November 13.

Here is the minutes provided by the Board:

I. Call To Order And Pledge Of Allegiance

Board President Devin Bright called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited.

II. Roll Call

Members present were Laura Byrd, Steve Pickering, Sara Brubacher, Gerry Blohm and Devin Bright. Also present were Superintendent Dr. Tim Mahaffy, Principals Dr. Sandy Ozimek and Mr. Eric Runck and Director of Special Education, Mrs. Heather Trom. Absent were Board members Kristine Hester and Tom Mollet.

III. Welcome To Visitors, Guests, Comments & Questions

Audience members – Theresa Meshes and Sara Erdmann (ARS parents and PTO Representatives) and staff members, Jessica McKenzie and Joan Larsen – were welcomed to the meeting.

No one signed in to address the Board.

IV. Consent Agenda

A motion was made by Steve Pickering to approve the consent agenda, approve and open to the public the regular minutes of the Regular Board Meeting of October 16, 2017 and approve the closed minutes of the Regular Board Meeting of October 16, 2017, approve the October, 2017 Treasurer’s Report, approve the bills and payroll from October 14, 2017 through November 10, 2017 and approve the October Activity Accounts Report. Gerry Blohm seconded the motion. A roll call vote was taken. Voting aye – Steve Pickering, Sara Brubacher, Gerry Blohm, Devin Bright and Laura Byrd. Voting nay – None. Motion approved.

V. Request For Records Under The Freedom Of Information Act

The District received one FOIA request this month. The request was from SmartProcure requesting all purchasing records from 7/6/17 until current. The request was received on 10/12/17 and was complied with on 10/12/2017.

VI. Old Business

Class Size Update – Dr. Mahaffy reviewed the class size sheet as of 11/7/2017. There have been few changes from last month. We lost one first grade student. There are currently 414 students on campus with 209 students at ARS and 205 students at the Middle School. There are currently 5 students in ECE plus an additional 11 students in out of District placement. If these counts remain, the District will be down 6 students next year. Class size and number of sections will be discussed more thoroughly in January and February.

VII. New Business

A motion to approve the updated volunteer coach/sponsor list for FY 18 – Garrett Pfeiffer for 8th grade Girls Basketball – was made by Gerry Blohm and seconded by Steve Pickering. A roll call vote was taken. Voting aye – Sara Brubacher, Gerry Blohm, Devin Bright, Laura Byrd and Steve Pickering. Voting nay – none. Motion approved.

Review Music Curriculum Guide for K-8

Dr. Mahaffy stated that some changes already have been made to the music program and this is the first year of implementing those changes. The Curriculum Guide on the website has been updated. The new Fine Arts Standards have come out and the biggest change is that there is a need for students to do more improvisation with music. There have also been more digital resources added to the K-8 curriculum.

Tentative Tax Levy

Dr. Mahaffy presented the 2017 Tentative Tax Levy for School District 3. The levy process includes the following: the Board of Education approves a yearly budget by September 30th, the Tax Assessors in all townships assess properties and send data to McHenry County, the Board of Education approves a yearly tax extension (Levy) by the last Tuesday in December, the Tax Extension Office calculates the tax rates and amounts and the County extends the Levy and collects the taxes. There are three main cycles – assessment cycle, tax levy extension and collection cycle and a budget cycle. McHenry County is under PTELL (Property Tax Extension Limitation Law) which limits the tax extensions to an increase of 5% or the CPI, whichever is lower.

The CPI (Consumer Price Index) is determined in December of 2016 and finalized in January of 2017.

The Property Tax Extension Limiting Law (PTELL) limits tax extensions to an increase of 5%, or the CPI, whichever is lower. The CPI average for the last 5 years was 1.36%, the last 10 years was 1.82% and the last 20 years was 2.04%. The CPI for 2017 is 2.1% (.7% in 2016).

The EAV is the Equalized Assessed Valuation or one third of the sum of the market value for all properties in the district. The Extension (the dollar amount of the levy) is subject to the PTELL, so if the EAV goes up more than the CPI, the District cannot access it all, except for new properties. If the growth in the EAV is greater than that of the CPI, the tax rate will decrease. If the growth in the EAV is less than that of the CPI, the tax rate will increase. Dr. Mahaffy stated that this is not an exact science. Dr. Mahaffy also prepared a District 3 Tax Levy FAQ with responses which was shared with the Board.

There is no penalty for guessing too high with the tax levy. The District will not receive any dollars above PTELL. There is a big penalty for guessing too low. If the District does under levy or chooses not to levy, the tax rate gets locked and the difference between what the limited rate is and what the District levies for is lost every year moving forward.

Public Act 096-0504 states that a taxing district may, in its discretion and if applicable, include the following in their notice:

V. The taxing district has estimated its equalized assessed valuation to secure new growth revenue and must adhere to the Property Tax Extension Limitation Law (PTELL or “tax cap” law). PTELL limits the increase over the prior year in the property tax extension of this taxing district to the lesser of 5% or the percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which is (insert applicable CPI percentage increase).

Districts used to include this paragraph in their Public Notice.

Dr. Mahaffy stated that at the time the Levy is approved and submitted to the County Clerk’s office (by the last Tuesday in December), a district does not know the EAV, new construction and the true impact of hitting the maximum rates in our various funds. All of these are finalized in the spring.

Dr. Mahaffy stated that new in 2017 with Senate Bill 1947 – School Funding Bill – eliminates the maximum rate in the Education Fund. District 3 will no longer hit the maximum rate in the Education Fund and will no longer need to balloon levy in the Transportation Fund and then do a transfer to the Education Fund.

The PTELL tax cap does not affect the Bond and Interest Fund. McHenry County extends whatever is needed to pay the bond principal and interest plus approximately a 1% increase.

Dr. Mahaffy reviewed the tax abatement history for School District 3. A district may choose to abate property taxes which allows a district to capture the PTELL allowable rate while limiting or decreasing the tax increase to taxpayers. District 3 has abated the last four years – 2013 & 2014 ($100,000 each year) and 2015 & 2016 ($150,000 each year). With these abatements, District 3 has taken in $200,595 less than the District actually levied.

The estimated total EAV for 2017 for District 3 is about $105M. The estimated new construction for 2017 was $111,000. This makes a change of 7.22% from the prior year.

The limiting rate is at 5.1923% with an estimated capped extension/levy just under $5.5M. District 3 is estimated to receive just under $5.7M. No Truth in Taxation Hearing is required since District 3 is at 4.99%.

A motion to approve the Tentative Tax Levy as presented was made by Steve Pickering and seconded by Laura Byrd. A roll call vote was taken. Voting aye – Gerry Blohm, Devin Bright, Laura Byrd, Steve Pickering and Sara Brubacher. Voting nay – none. Motion approved.

VIII Policy

A motion to approve the second reading and adoption of the following new or revised policy: 2:140 – Communications To and From the Board – was made by Laura Byrd and seconded by Steve Pickering. A roll call vote was taken. Voting aye – Devin Bright, Laura Byrd, Steve Pickering, Sara Brubacher and Gerry Blohm. Voting nay – none. Motion approved.

IX. Administrative Report

Review 2017 PARCC Data – Dr. Mahaffy stated that the PARCC results are so different than ISAT. Dr. Mahaffy stated that he was pleased to tell the Board and the audience that District 3 was first place in the county the last two years out of 14 elementary districts. When people say they move here for the schools and the academics, we are very proud of that. We have a great staff, great administration, great kids, great parents who support education and this is what it is all about. Dr. Mahaffy reviewed the District scores as compared to the other schools in the county and specifically the other D155 feeder schools. We need to continue to make sure our students are prepared for a very progressive high school. Overall, District 3 was at 52.3% (50.8% in 2015 and 51.4% in 2016). District 3’s overall average continues to increase. Dr. Mahaffy further reviewed math scores – District 3 ranked 3rd in 2015 (42.4%), ranking 1st in 2016 (47.0%) and ranking 1st again in 2017 (52.2%). This is a 5.2% growth. The state average is 31.2%. Our county as a whole does better than the state. The Region VI schools (Cary, Prairie Grove, Crystal Lake and Fox River Grove) are traditionally at the top half. District 3 ranked 5th overall in ELA (1st to 5th). The major drop came in 5th to 6th grades. Feeder district scores also decreased in ELA. Dr. Mahaffy stated that this would be reviewed with feeder schools to see if we are aligned regionally to the State Standards or is there an assessment issue where everyone dropped from that grade level to that grade level. We want to make sure that we are not being tested on something that we are not teaching. The Administration will report back to the Board on this if they find anything out.

Dr. Mahaffy stated that these scores do not show any indication of performance issues with last year’s third grade.

Mr. Runck stated that at the MS they do a data analysis. The State provides the District with electronic files of all the PARCC scores with multiple reports. The MS reviews those reports and they come up with a list of questions that each grade level and each content area review. A sample question that the teams are asked include what is the school or grade level score for each test. Did the student exceed, meet, approach partially or did not meet. These percentages are reviewed to see how we compared to our state and how did we compare cross state (in the other states that took the PARCC exam). The Evidence Statement Analysis Report basically shows the number of test questions that were tied to a specific State Standard or Common Core Standard and how well we did on that. It also has an item analysis of how difficult those questions were and how other students in the state scored on those. Staff also reviews what our strengths are and what are our weaknesses and why might we have those strengths and/or weaknesses. We do not use just one assessment. We use MAP since we get almost instantaneous results and students take this assessment three times a year. Staff also look at when in the sequence are things taught making sure units are covered before the PARCC test. Teachers are in groups in their professional learning communities to talk about the strengths and weaknesses and then they determine what their next steps should be. We are not satisfied with the ELA results and staff are reviewing these results. We have resident experts on staff to do data analysis.

Board President Bright thanked the students, their families, teachers and administration for all their hard work. The absolute growth year after year does not happen by accident. It takes great effort from all participants. Congratulations again!

Dr. Mahaffy reviewed information through Forecast 5 a chart showing performance per student spending as compared to surrounding districts for 2016. The average amount spent per student is $11,908 for our county. District 3 is just above the average. Dr. Mahaffy stated that he feels District 3 is doing extremely well academically with our tax dollars. Dr. Mahaffy also congratulated the students, parents and teachers for these great PARCC results.

Annual Statement of Affairs -- Dr. Mahaffy reported the District’s FY17 Annual Statement of Affairs (AFR) with the Board. This is required per Board Policy 4:10. Most of this information except for enrollment comes right out of the District’s Annual Financial Report. As required by State law, the Annual Statement of Affairs must be published before December 1st. The District’s equalized assessed valuation (EAV) was 97,884,885 and the equalized assessed valuation per ADA pupil was 227,819. The total long term debt outstanding as of June 30, 2017 was $1.6M. Page 2 of the AFR covers assets and liabilities as of June 30, 2017. Page 3 gives a statement of revenues received/revenues, expenditures disbursed/expenditures, other sources/uses and changes in fund balance for the year ending June 30, 2017. Page 4 shows the statement of operations as of June 30, 2017. Page 5 shows the salary schedule of gross payments for certificated and non- certificated employees. Page 6 indicates all payments made to a person, firm or corporation over $2,500. Page 8 indicates all payments made to a person, firm or corporation of $1,000 to $2,500. Page 9 covers all payments to a person, firm or corporation of $500 to $999. Dr. Mahaffy will submit this report to the State Board of Education.

Building Principals/Director of Special Education -- Mr. Runck wanted to echo “kudos” to the staff, students and parents for the success on the PARCC exam. Mr. Runck stated that the MS held their10th annual Veterans’ Day assembly this past Friday. Mr. Danley along with Mr. Holtz and a host of other volunteers put together the assembly. This year the assembly was all student driven including the welcoming speeches. The assembly was a great success. Mr. Runck also thanked the PTO for contributing to two upcoming field trips. The 5th and 6th grades will be seeing the movie Wonder. This book is read in the 5th/6th curriculums. The 7th graders will be going to the Holocaust Museum which ties into both social studies and literature curriculum.

Dr. Ozimek stated that Parent/Teacher conferences are coming up on November 20th and 21st. The McHenry County Conservation District will be coming on December 5th and 6th to do their annual presentations in each classroom. The Cary-Grove Swing Choir will also be coming on December 6th.

Mrs. Heather Trom wanted to take this opportunity to commend the special education staff for all their flexibility while the IEP program was having technical difficulties. She could not ask for a better team for their giving extra time to complete everything. Problems with this IEP program were across the nation.

Board Dashboard – Dr. Mahaffy briefly reviewed the Board of Education Dashboard. In December we will be approving the final Levy which must be to the County Clerk and Regional Office of Education by the 3rd Tuesday in December. The CPI-U is trending at 2.2. We are down one student from last month for a total of 428 students. Upcoming curriculum development for FY19 includes 5-8 ELA and K-4 Math because we are at the end of the digital contract in FY18. District 3 now only has one independent contractor which is our physical therapist.

X. Committee Reports

Facilities Committee Update -- This committee had two very good meetings and consisted of Board members, Administration, parents and staff. The purpose of the committee was to give some guidance to the Board to create a resolution to earmark funds for the O&M Fund. Over the past two years our auditors have been recommending the District have a formal resolution for this purpose. Dr. Mahaffy will be presenting to the Board a resolution for the $1.2M to $1.3M to earmark as a guide for the Board. It was important to the committee to know how this would impact the educational experience of our students.

XI. Announcements, Notices And Communications

None.

XII. Executive Session

A motion to adjourn from the regular session of the November 13, 2017 Board Meeting and go to executive session at 8:21 p.m. to consider information regarding the appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance or dismissal of specific employees of the District was made by Steve Pickering and seconded by Laura Byrd. A roll call vote was taken. Voting aye – Laura Byrd, Steve Pickering, Sara Brubacher, Gerry Blohm and Devin Bright. Voting nay – none. Motion approved.

XIII. Action Following Executive Session

A motion to return from executive session to open session of the November 13, 2017 Board Meeting at 8:32 p.m. was made by Steve Pickering and seconded by Gerry Blohm. A roll call vote was taken. Voting aye – Sara Brubacher, Gerry Blohm, Devin Bright, Laura Byrd and Steve Pickering. Voting nay – none. Motion approved.

A motion to approve the resignation of Bus Driver Marge Stefani at the end of the 2017-2018 school year was made by Laura Byrd and seconded by Steve Pickering. A roll call vote was taken. Voting aye – Gerry Blohm, Devin Bright, Laura Byrd, Steve Pickering and Sara Brubacher. Voting nay. None. Motion approved.

A motion to approve the revised Superintendent’s contract was made by Steve Pickering and seconded by Gerry Blohm. A roll call vote was taken. Voting aye – Laura Byrd, Steve Pickering, Sara Brubacher and Gerry Blohm. Voting nay – none. Abstaining – Devin Bright. Motion approved.

A motion to approve the resignation of Superintendent Dr. Tim Mahaffy at the end of the 2020- 2021 school year was made by Laura Byrd and seconded by Sara Brubacher. A roll call vote was taken. Voting aye – Laura Byrd, Steve Pickering, Sara Brubacher, Gerry Blohm and Devin Bright. Voting nay – none. Motion approved.

XIV. Adjournment

A motion to adjourn the meeting of November 13, 2017 at 8:34 p.m. was made by Sara Brubacher and seconded by Steve Pickering. A voice vote was taken. Voting aye – All ayes. Voting nay – None. Motion approved.

https://www.dist3.org/site/handlers/filedownload.ashx?moduleinstanceid=697&dataid=742&FileName=BOARDMIN-11-13-17.pdf