Grundy Reporter

Coal City CUSD #1 Board Study Session of the Whole met Oct. 25.

Here is the minutes provided by the Board:

Roll Call 

President Miller called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. in the Coal City Community Unit School District #1 District Office Board Room. In attendance were Board members Robert Bianchetta, Mary Gill, Shawn Hamilton, and Ken Miller. Board members Jeff Emerson, Quint Harmon and Chuck Lander were not in attendance. Superintendent Kent Bugg, CSBO Jason Smith, Director of Curriculum and Instruction Tammy Elledge, and board secretary Karen Vota were also in attendance.

Board Strategic Plan Update

Dr. Bugg provided an update on the Board Strategic Plan in the following areas related to the Health and Human Services goals:

• Develop a plan to disseminate the availability of benefit services to staff.

• Expand coordination of social services between the community and school by offering informational presentations to the community related to health and wellness.

• Expand health related services to families by partnering with other non-profit organizations.

Dr. Bugg noted that he is very proud of the progress has been made in bringing services to community families. Help for Hope has moved into the old Unit Office and other service organizations including We Care of Grundy County, The Salvation Army, PADS, Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program are holding office hours as needed. Dr. Bugg is also working with District personnel and community members to expand the current Back Pack Program.

Additional Staff

CSBO Jason Smith discussed the possibility of adding a permanent custodial sub position and a part- time technology support position this year. The permanent custodial substitute would assist in covering for absences and limiting "B Schedules" in the buildings. The Board believed that this addition would benefit the District. The Board also discussed the addition of a part-time technology/data management position to assist in various areas. The District currently has 2000 Chrome devices, which is triple what we had with the current technology staff of two. The technology department also manages Google accounts for all students grades 2 through 12, and all staff members. There are also 200 teacher MacBooks, 50 iMacs, and 50 PCs, as well as the addition of 200 VOIP phones back into the classrooms. Additionally, the District testing center has seen a dramatic increase in the number of online tests. The Board was in favor of adding a 5 hour per day support person for 190 days per year. The goal of this position will be to better support faculty and staff with their technology support needs.

Solar Energy Meeting

Dr. Bugg updated the Board on the recent meeting that was held with Trajectory Energy Partners. Board members Robert Bianchetta and Chuck Lander were also in attendance at this meeting. The District was approached by Trajectory Energy Partners with a proposal to put a "behind the meter" solar project on the roofs of our schools. The goal would be to offset energy costs now and into the future.

After reviewing the proposal, the Board didn't feel that the annual $7,000 savings was worth the risk of placing solar panels on the roofs of our schools. Although our roofs are all relatively new, one roof issue could completely wipe out any savings the District would receive in energy costs over the 20 year life of the solar panels.

2017 Tentative Levy

CSBO Jason Smith reviewed the 2017 Tentative Levy. The District is required to file the tentative levy in December of each fiscal year. This year's tentative levy shows the value of the Dresden station at $490 million, which is consistent with the final year of our tax agreement with Exelon. The County Assessor also provided a value of all other EAV (Equalized Assessed Value) for the District of $295,789,536, which is an increase of 5.1% over the previous year. This number is still subject to change due to the impact of potential tax objections and TIFs within our school district.

Finance Reports

The monthly revenue and expenditure summary reports for September were reviewed. Detailed reports were available in the Business Office for review prior to the meeting. The Treasurer’s report, investment report and Lunch Report for September were also reviewed.

Open

a) Items not known at agenda preparation time – none.

b) Sharing Ideas / Information

Dr. Bugg reported that Auditorium Manager Jack Micetich was working with his Event Management Class to come up with a new name for the High School Auditorium. The group will make a presentation to the Board during a future meeting.

Closed Session

At 6:28 p.m. a motion made by Ms. Gill and seconded by Mr. Bianchetta to go into closed session for the purpose of considering information regarding personnel.

Roll Call Ayes: Mary Gill, Robert Bianchetta, Mary Gill, Shawn Hamilton, Ken Miller Nays: Absent: Jeff Emerson, Quint Harmon, Chuck Lander Motion Carried.

Adjournment

Mr. Hamilton moved and Mr. Bianchetta seconded to adjourn at 6:42 p.m. the Board Study Session of the Whole meeting.

http://www.coalcity.k12.il.us/unit/agenda_minutes/minutes17-18/BSSWMinutes_10_25_17.pdf