Grundy Reporter

Coal City Community Unit School District #1 Board Study Session of the Whole Met Jan. 27.

Here is the minutes provided by the board:

Roll Call.

President Miller called the Board Study Session meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. in the Coal City Community Unit School District #1 Office Boardroom. In attendance were Board members Robert Bianchetta, Dan Engelhardt, Mary Gill, Shawn Hamilton, Quint Harmon, Chuck Lander, and Ken Miller. Also, in attendance was Superintendent Kent Bugg, CSBO Jason Smith, Director of Curriculum and Instruction Tammy Elledge, Director of Special Populations Sandy Rakes, Principal Chris Spencer, Assistant Principal Luke Krippel, and Board Secretary LaWanda Gagliardo. President Miller led the Board, and others present in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.

Discussion on Tier 1 District Athletic Plan

Athletic Director Dan Hutchings was in attendance and discussed the extra-curricular plans for the district now that the region has moved to the State’s Phase 4 mitigations. Mr. Hutchings provided the Board with a schedule of each sports season which have been modified due to COVID, and due to these modifications, some of the sports season’s overlap. Due to the mitigations in place, there can only be 50 people in attendance. Due to that limit, there will be no spectators, and the games will be live streamed. Dr. Bugg and the Board were in agreement that having students choose what sport they want to participate in would be a difficult decision for them to make, given that some of the athletes are multi-sport athletes. Dr. Bugg asked Mr. Hutchings to set a meeting with the Athletic Committee and to get an addendum prepared for Board approval at the next board meeting. This addendum would allow students to participate in more than one sport at a time. Principal Spencer spoke about how some of the co-curricular activities were exceling in their virtual competitions. Speech and Scholastic Bowl were two that were mentioned.

Discussion on Return to School Plan

Dr. Bugg discussed the evaluation of the district’s current practices, and any adjustments deemed necessary to continuously improve the Return to School Plan. Dr. Bugg had the building Principals conduct meetings with their faculty and staff regarding a transition to full day instruction plan. Dr Bugg has conducted weekly meetings with the Union leadership to stay abreast of any major issues and concerns the staff is having. Safety issues are not coming up at these meeting, but the main two issues are: (1) providing the best education for full-time remote learners, and (2) instructing students when students can’t move all day. The Teaching and Learning Committee has addressed most of the concerns, and are working on ideas for these two pressing concerns. Some ideas for full-time remote learners were 100% synchronous learning, or another online platform. Dr. Bugg updated the Board on his meetings with Superintendents across the County. As a group they are looking at possibly returning to full-day instruction between March 1 – March 15, with the exception of the Minooka school districts. The reasoning behind the timeframe was (1) trying to start instruction learning at the beginning of a quarter (2) hopefully it’s warmer to allow students to get outside, and (3) it would allow the county more time to get their staff vaccinated. For District 1, March 11 was the date thought to be the best date due to the fact it would allow our teachers time to prepare, and that date aligns with the rest of the Districts in the County. The Board will consider this information and take formal action at the February Board meeting.

Discussion on Prioritized Capital Projects and Life Safety Amendments for FY22 - 23

CSBO Jason Smith discussed capital projects and life safety amendments that are priority for FY22 – 23. With the announced closures of the Dresden Station, the Board decided to accelerate the completion of these projects that were already budgeted for. Most of the projects are mechanical repairs with HVAC units at the Early Childhood Center, High School, and Elementary School. Mr. Smith discussed the budget for the projects, the timeframe for the bidding process, and the estimated date for the project’s completion.

Finance Reports

The monthly revenue and expenditure summary reports for December were enclosed for review. Detailed reports were available in the Business Office for review prior to the meeting. The Treasurer’s report, investment report, and lunch report for December were also enclosed for review.

Open

Items not known at agenda preparation time – none. Sharing Ideas / Information – none.

Closed Session

At 6:59 p.m. a motion made by Mr. Lander and seconded by Mr. Harmon to go into closed session for the purpose of considering information regarding the appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance, dismissal of specific employees, collective bargaining matters, and pending litigation.

Roll Call.

Ayes: Chuck Lander, Quint Harmon, Robert Bianchetta, Dan Engelhardt, Mary Gill, Shawn Hamilton, Ken Miller Nay:

Motion: Carried.

Adjournment

Mr. Harmon moved and Mr. Lander seconded to adjourn at 7:58 p.m. the Board Study Session of the Whole meeting.

https://4.files.edl.io/a7a8/02/05/21/195936-bdb0a6d9-2791-4b28-b6fa-87232d532004.pdf