Macon Reporter

Maroa-Forsyth Community Unit School District No. 2 Board of Education met Monday, Dec. 12.

Here are the minutes as provided by Maroa-Forsyth CUSD No. 2:

MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE MAROA-FORSYTH BOARD OF EDUCATION, MAROA, ILLINOIS, COUNTY OF MACON

December 12, 2016

Secretary C. Ruwe called the meeting to order at 6:08 p.m. The following members were present; Rhonda Braden, Kristi Harjung, Chad Ruwe, and Lindsey Wise. R. Corey, and J. Snyder were absent. James Keith attended via phone.

A motion was made by L. Wise and seconded by C. Ruwe to move into closed session at 6:09 p.m. to “conduct student discipline hearings” and to “consider information regarding appointment, employment or dismissal of an employee or officer” All members present voted aye. Motion carried.

M. Williams, K. Kahler and B. Stewart, were also present. S. Nicholas was also present.

L. Wise moved to adjourn from closed session at 7:02. Seconded by C. Ruwe. All members present voted aye. Motion carried.

Secretary C. Ruwe reconvened the meeting at 7:07 p.m. The following members were present: Rhonda Braden, Kristi Harjung, Chad Ruwe, John Snyder, and Lindsey Wise. Russ Corey, James Keith and John Snyder were absent.

Also present were Superintendent Williams, Principal Kahler and Principal Stewart. District Counsel S. Nicholas was present.

Secretary C. Ruwe asked if there were any visitors that would like to address the Board.

S. Pope raised concern on the condition of the bus fleet and asked the Board to look into all options.

M. Williams presented the Treasurer’s report. C. Ruwe inquired if the negative fund balance in the Bond and Intesrest fund was unusual. M. Williams stated this was the result of large bonds payments coming due December 1, when not all revenue had yet to be received. L. Wise moved to approve the treasurer’s report as presented. Seconded by C. Ruwe. All members present voted aye. Motion carried.

The consent agenda was presented containing three items: December 6, 2016 meeting minutes, December bills, and the band/chorus spring of 2018 trip request. K. Harjung questioned the minutes that were missing.

M. Williams stated he was not involved with the closing of the last meeting and did not have the information. C. Ruwe stated the issue was his fault by not getting information to Superintendent Williams in time to be added to the packet. L. Wise questioned band/chorus trip if it did not match up with Spring Break. M. Williams stated Mr. Weisenborn stated the dates were flexible and would reconsider if there is not a spring break. A couple of the bills were questioned by members present.

J. Keith phoned in at 7:22.

J. Keith questioned the minutes missing. J. Keith inquired about the band/chorus trip if it did not align with spring break. He also questioned a payment in the bills. M. Williams reported this was part of a settlement agreement that was discussed and detailed in the Board notes. K. Harjung moved to approve the consent agenda. Seconded by L. Wise. All members present voted aye. Motion carried.

M. Williams presented the proposed 2016 levy. It was explained the majority of funds were controlled by tax limits and the non-limited funds remained the same as the previous year with a small exception to the Bond and interest fund due to the increase in payments. C. Ruwe opened the floor to questions from the Board of Education. None: C. Ruwe opened the floor to questions from the Audience. M. Hoffman question the impact from the wind farm. M. Williams stated there was a significant amount of new revenue in year one, but the state reduced our allotment of general state aids in subsequent years. However, he reported there was an increase in revenue as a result of the wind farm. No other comments were presented. L. Wise moved to close the Truth in Taxation Hearing. Seconded by C. Ruwe. All members present voted aye.

Motion carried.

M. Williams explained the levy resolution also needed approval. C. Ruwe moved to approve the 2016 levy resolution in the amount of $8,547,327. Seconded by L. Wise. All members present voted aye. Motion carried.

M. Williams presented the abatement resolution for the grade school alternate revenue bonds. The agreement with the Village of Forsyth provides the revenue for payment. M. Williams stated the Forsyth revenue covers the majority of the payment but if there is a shortfall the District will use county sales tax revenue for the difference. C. Ruwe moved to approve the abatement resolution in the amount of $1,224,063. Seconded by R. Braden. All members present voted aye. Motion carried.

M. Williams presented the abatement resolution for the high school bonds. It was stated the $500,000 abatement would meet the 33.33% abatement the Board agreed to when pushing for county sales tax as well as cover the potential payment for the $300,000 issuance in working cash bonds. C. Ruwe moved to approve the abatement resolution in the amount of $500,000. Seconded by L. Wise. All members present voted aye. Motion carried.

M. Williams presented the second reading of proposed nepotism policy. He indicated the policy included the two minor changes that were suggested last month. K. Harjung questioned the need for the policy. L. Wise stated she had concerns with the policy as well. R. Braden stated she felt this was a small town and would be difficult to enforce. There was continued discussion on the intent of the wording. J. Keith questioned wording within the policies and the changes that were made. M. Williams state the only changes that were made was a “will” was changed to “shall” and the description for event staff was changed. J. Keith stated he didn’t recall certain wording that was included. S. Nicholas stated the changes referenced were made from the initial draft provided by C. Ruwe. The only changes made were the two alluded to by M. Williams. K. Harjung felt there were changes coming in administration and now was not the time to implement policy. After further discussion J. Keith moved to approve the policy as presented. Seconded by C. Ruwe. Roll Call Vote: J. Keith Aye, C. Ruwe Aye, R. Braden Nay, K. Harjung Aye, L. Wise Nay. Motion Carried.

M. Williams reported that First Midstate was running into some difficulties selling the $300,000 in working cash bonds as a result of the recent increase in interest rates. It was reported the resolution would need to be tabled until January. After a brief discussion, C. Ruwe moved to table the resolution issuing $300,000 in working cash bonds. Seconded by L. Wise. All members present voted aye. Motion carried.

M. Williams reported in a related note, with the increase in interest rates the savings for the refinancing of the alternate revenue bonds and general obligation bonds were not as great as originally discussed. He would suggest advising First Midstate to continue with the process if the general criteria that was needed to refinance was still being met. C. Ruwe inquired if this was the case for both bonds. M. Williams stated it would be close for the general obligation bonds but the larger, alternate revenue bonds would still save the District a substantial amount of money at the end of the payment cycle. A home refinance example was relayed to the Board and Audience. After brief discussion the consensus was to move forward with the refinance if recommended criteria was met.

J. Keith left the meeting at 7:53.

L. Wise moved to employ Rebecca Boliard as an elementary teacher. Seconded by R. Braden. All members present voted aye. Motion carried.

K. Harjung moved to employ Jessica Schrage as a Middle School Language Arts teacher. Seconded by C. Ruwe. All members present voted aye. Motion carried.

L. Wise moved to approve the additional compensation for Barb Ozier for additional band responsibilities. Seconded by R. Braden. All members present voted aye. Motion carried.

B. Stewart presented the course handbook updates for the 2017-2018 course handbook. Course additions were highlighted. K. Harjung inquired if a class was to be offered next year if it had to be in the handbook. It was reported courses offered must be approved in the course handbook as well as with several other entities. She stated this will affect the schedule that her group was working on. After a brief discussion L. Wise moved to approve the course handbook changes as presented. Seconded by C. Ruwe. All members present voted aye. Motion carried.

M. Williams presented several options that were included in the packet to address the transportation fleet. Options included both short-term and long-term options as well as the pros and cons of each scenario. R. Braden stated she had expressed concern with the cost of repairs for the past several months. Transportation Director Lutrell reviewed several issues/concerns with the fleet. Several statistics on fleet usage were presented as well. K. Harjung stated she felt something needed to be done but she was unsure of committing to three years. L. Wise questioned how much would 1-2 short term bus leases help. C. Ruwe questioned delivery time on the buses and if they were readily available. M. Williams was asked about the history of the fleet issues. He stated fleet issues had increased, but they were not dramatically different than the past few years. When asked if there was a recommendation, M. Williams stated there is nothing budgeted to address the fleet at this time. After further discussion, L. Wise moved to approve the lease of two buses for the remainder of the year for up to $14,000. Seconded by R. Braden. All members present voted aye. Motion carried.

M. Williams presented two repairs quotes that were received Friday as part of the Administrators report. The first of which was for repairs to the sewer system at the grade school which will cost roughly $5,000. The second addressed issues with the rollers and motors on the high school bleachers. The repairs were approximately $25,000. He stated if the District was going to continue to use the facility as designed the repairs need to be made. C. Ruwe and K. Harjung questioned if there were alternatives. There were also questions presented on bidding requirements. M. Williams stated the bleachers were proprietary and presented some issues with general contractor’s addressing the issues. After a lengthy discussion, it was agreed to proceed with the repairs and the administration is to explore ways to avoid the situation with the bleachers in the future.

B. Stewart and K. Kahler highlighted information within their administrator’s report. B. Stewart commented on the improvements in facilities available to our students at the tech academy.

A motion was made by L. Wise to adjourn the meeting at 8:52 p.m. Seconded by R. Braden. All members present voted aye. Motion carried.