McHenry Times

Alden Hebron School District 19 Board of Education met Nov. 20.

Here is the minutes provided by the board:

President Norton called the regular meeting of the Board of Education of Alden-Hebron Community Consolidated Unit School District #19 to order at 7:00 p.m.

Roll Call

PRESENT: Mr. Norton, Mr. Winkelman, Mr. Madsen, Mrs. Johnson, Mr. Berg, Mrs. Smith 

ABSENT: Mrs. Combs

ALSO PRESENT:

Dr. Debbie Ehlenburg-Superintendent, Tim Hayunga-MS/HS Principal, Tiffany Elswick-ES Principal/Asst. Supt., Scott Redden-Buildings & Grounds, Cyndie Erckfritz-Transportation, Karen Fallon-Kindergarten teacher, Patti Peisert-1st grade teacher, Colleen Geils-Media Specialist, Sophie Matla-1st grade, Michelle Fay-5th grade, Erica Schwanke-2nd grade, John Lalor-Athletic Director, David Manning, Ray Stalker, Dr. Nick Ciccotosto, Heidi Vanderstappen, Mark Vanderstappen.

CORRESPONDENCE

 10/22/19-FOIA from Shamus Quinn, Indiana, Illinois Iowa Foundation for Fair Contracting— requesting bid, contract and start/end date information for the ES parking lot/circle drive work. Satisfied on 10/31/19

 10/29/19-FOIA from Bethany Simpson, SmartProcure duplicate of a request from 9/26/19, asking for contact information for all current staff members. Satisified on 10/29/19 with a note stating that this request had previously been satisfied on 9/27/19.

COMMUNICATIONS

Public Comments None

Staff Comments

Dr. Ehlenburg presented the BOE members with Certificates honoring their service to the District. In addition, Mrs. Smith and Mrs. Combs received Master Board Member/Leadership pins from the Illinois Association of School Boards in recognition of hours spent on Board Member training.

Ms. Schwanke and Ms. Fay demonstrated the Mystery Skype program that their students are using. Their classes skype with other classes in undisclosed locations. The children ask descriptive questions of each other such as, “Is your state bordered by the Mississippi River?”, etc., until they can guess the geographic location of the other class. The exercise strengthens critical thinking skills and encourages global citizenship.

Board Comments

Mr. Winkelman encouraged those present to come out and support student athletes. He mentioned that HSBBB starts next week.

Consent Agenda

The following were reviewed under the consent agenda:

*A. Approval of October 16 and October 23, 2019 Regular Meeting minutes

*B. Recap of October 2019 Expenditures

*C. Treasurer’s Report for October 2019

*D. Approval of Current Invoices & Payroll

*E. Personnel Report

*F. Fund Raising Requests:

 Student Ambassadors—Paper goods drive for Veterans at New Horizons

 Life Skills—Holiday Cookie Jar Fundraiser for field trips and job outing opportunities

Mrs. Johnson moved, Mr. Winkelman seconded to approve the Consent Agenda as presented. Ayes: Mr. Norton, Mr. Winkelman, Mr. Madsen, Mrs. Johnson, Mr. Berg, Mrs. Smith

Nays: None

Absent: Mrs. Combs

BUSINESS

ADMINISTRATION

Tiffany Elswick-ES Principal Report-as presented Mrs. Elswick also mentioned the following:

 Elementary calendar items: Sweets with Santa on 12/7; K-1 concert on 12/12; PreK concert on 12/16.

 She commended Ms. Bradley and Mrs. Sutherland and all staff and students for the hard work they did for the Veteran’s Day Celebration at the ES. Despite the snow, there was a very good turnout of Veterans and community members. Mrs. Geils was kind enough to stream the program on FaceBook Live for those who couldn’t make it due to the weather.

 The Raptor System was successfully tested on 10/22 with the Police Chief.

 IReady data was shared

 Illinois school Report Cards for the District were shared: MS/HS received a commendable rating and ES received an exemplary rating

Tim Hayunga-MS/HS Principal Report-as presented Mr. Hayunga also reported:

 He has been in contact with a company that produces systems that contain sensors for the toxins in vaping materials. He was directed to investigate further and report back to the BOE.

 Presented the MS/HS College and Career Readiness plan.

Dr. Debbie Ehlenburg-Interim Superintendent Report-as presented Dr. Ehlenburg updated the BOE on the following:

 Community Engagement project: postcards have gone out; small group listening sessions with Jill Huskisson took place yesterday; the Community Survey is online with hard copies available in both buildings

 ASA has been submitted to the NWHerald for Publication as is the law. Made the suggestion that the District apply for a waiver of publication of the ASA for next year because it is extremely costly for the District to have published and it is made available in the District Office as well as on the website.

Finally, Dr. Ehlenburg presented a list of dates for approval as the 2020 BOE meeting dates.

Mrs. Smith moved, Mrs. Johnson seconded to approve the times and dates for the 2020 BOE Meetings.

Motion Carried.

Village

Mr. Winkelman attended the Village meeting on 11/18. Items discussed were as follows:

 Accounts payable—repairing/paving of deteriorating streets

 New Planning & Zoning Board members: Kyle Mandernack and Cyndie Erckfritz

 Lighting of Village Christmas tree

 Legalization of marijuana

 Village garbage disposal contract has been awarded to Prairie Land, effective 1/1/20

 Next Village meeting will be on 12/2/19

Finance

Dr. Ehlenburg discussed with the BOE the 2019 Tax Levy of 4.38% for Alden-Hebron SD #19.

Mr. Madsen moved, Mrs. Smith seconded to approve the 2019 Tax Levy.

Ayes: Mr. Norton, Mr. Winkelman, Mr. Madsen, Mrs. Johnson, Mr. Berg, Mrs. Smith 

Nays: None

Absent: Mrs. Combs

Motion carried

Physical Structures and Maintenance-as presented Mr. Redden reported:

 The boiler pumps in the MS/HS are both in need of work. Parts and labor will equal about $7800.00.

 He’s been unable to find a plow truck as was allowed in the budget Dr. Ehlenburg added:

 Work on the ES parking lot has been completed

 Work on the circle drive remains incomplete due to large amounts of rain this fall

Transportation-as presented

Mrs. Erckfritz added that there were two mishaps with buses last week:

 Monday, 11/11/19: Lake County bus was involved in an incident with the only damage occurring to mirrors of both vehicles. Bus was able to complete trip back to school

 Friday, 11/15/19: FT bus involved in an incident with damage along the side of bus. Students were checked by paramedics on scene, then transported back to school.

Neither incident resulted in injuries to students or staff.

Curriculum and Policy

The Curriculum and Policy committee will meet on December 4, 2019 at 7:00pm to conduct the first reading of new policies as released by PRESS. The policies will be on the December 18 BOE meeting agenda for approval.

Athletics-Mr. Lalor was present with a fall athletic wrap-up:

 Mr. Lalor stated that numbers were down for MS and HS fall teams, as is the case with most schools this year.

 HSVB and HSFB did well with their “Dig for Pink” and “Play for the Cure” fundraisers, $1500 was raised and donated to the American Cancer Society.

 The 8-man football championship is this weekend. Mr. Lalor thanked the BOE for allowing him the opportunity get the 8-man program started.

 The Booster Club Feather Party raised about $9,000.00.

Future Agenda Items

A. Vaping sensor devices

B. Application for waiver of publishing ASA for next year 

C. Elementary Recycling

COMMUNICATIONS

Public Comments

Ray Stalker inquired how the district expects to insure honesty and integrity with the community surveys.

Staff Comments

Mrs. Vanderstappen commented that her son was on the bus that was in the accident on Friday. She was not happy with how the incident was handled.

Mrs. Elswick thanked her staff for their hard work and for earning an exemplary standing on the Illinois School Report Card.

Board Comments

Mr. Norton thanked Mr. Lalor for his dedication to the student athletes and the community. Mrs. Johnson inquired about the recycling at the ES. Mrs. Matla and Ms. Schwanke explained that they are recycling paper and markers. Mr. Norton suggested that the recycling be an item on a future agenda. Mrs. Johnson extended thanks to Debbie, Tiffany, Monica, and Deanna for their work on the Community Engagement project.

Executive Session

Mrs. Smith moved, Mr. Winkelman seconded to go into executive Session at 9:05pm for the purpose of the appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance of specific employees.

Ayes: Mr. Norton, Mr. Winkelman, Mr. Madsen, Mrs. Johnson, Mr. Berg, Mrs. Smith

Nays: None

Absent: Mrs. Combs Motion Carried

Returned to Open Session at 9:39pm.

Mrs. Smith moved, Mr. Winkelman seconded to approve adding a full-time, bilingual teacher starting second semester.

Ayes: Mr. Norton, Mr. Winkelman, Mr. Madsen, Mrs. Johnson, Mr. Berg, Mrs. Smith

Nays: None

Absent: Mrs. Combs

Adjournment

Mrs. Smith moved, Mr. Winkelman seconded to adjourn the meeting at 9:41pm. Motion Carried.

https://core-docs.s3.amazonaws.com/documents/asset/uploaded_file/568627/11-20-19_minutes.pdf