Chambana Sun

Heritage Community Unit School District No. 8 Board of Education met July 20.

Here is the minutes provided by the board:

The Board of Education of Heritage Community Unit School District No. 8 met at 7:00 p.m. for a regular meeting. Vice-President Tate called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Members in attendance: Ashbrook, Benschneider, Elmore, Montgomery, Tate, Wells.

Also in attendance: Marsha Block, Ariel Wells, Marissa Lewis, Tressica Jeffers, Logan Jeffers, Michelle Shanks, Nathan Shanks, Jodi Bear, Tiffany Paul, Justin Lee, Kristi Sanders, Corey White, Tom Davis, and Laura Benschneider.

In public comments, Tiffany Paul addressed the board regarding the districts return to school plan. She is glad that the district is doing their best to get the children back into school and expressed concerns about remote learning. She herself struggled with helping her child with the online courses and did not feel the feedback from teachers happened in a timely manner. She hopes the kids can stay in school as she did not feel the on-line learning was beneficial.

No HEA report.

Motion by Asbhrook, second by Montgomery to approve the minutes of June 15, 2020. Motion carried by unanimous roll call vote, 6 Ayes.

Motion by Elmore, second by Benschneider to approve the bills, including the supplemental bills as presented. Motion carried by unanimous roll call vote, 6 Ayes.

Motion by Ashbrook, second by Elmore to approve the remaining financial reports as presented. Motion carried by unanimous roll call vote, 6 Ayes.

Motion by Montgomery, Second by Elmore to approve the employment of Bryce Cherry as High School Student Council Sponsor and to accept the resignation of Emilie Sorensen as JH Volleyball Head Coach. Motion carried by unanimous roll call vote, 6 Ayes.

The VGH Boys Basketball Cheerleading Sponsor position is still open.

Motion by Elmore, Second by Ashbrook to approve the Illinois Prevailing Wage Act attached to school board packet and retrieved from web site listed, May 18, 2020 posting. Motion carried by unanimous roll call vote, 6 Ayes.

Motion by Benschneider, second by Ashbrook to approve Deana Wolf and Tom Davis as Freedom of Information Officers for Heritage CUSD #8 for dissemination of requested information for the 2020- 2021 school year. Motion carried by unanimous roll call vote, 6 Ayes.

Motion by Montgomery, second by Wells to approve the first reading of the June 2020 PRESS ISSUE 104 Policy Updates for first reading. Motion carried by unanimous roll call vote, 6 Ayes.

Motion by Ashbrook, second by Elmore To approve the 2020-2022 Contract Agreement between the Heritage community Unit School District #8 and the Heritage Education Association for a 2-year agreement with annual 3.5% pay increases, increases to extracurricular coaches and sponsor stipend, and other associated language and contract format updates, pending final approved editing of MS Word contract files and Excel salary schedules and attorney review. Motion carried by unanimous roll call vote, 6 Ayes.

Motion by Benschneider, second by Montgomery to approve the bids for food, milk, and bread with Kohls Wholesale to supply food, Illini Institutional to supply milk, and Alpha Baking to supply bread for the 2020-2021 school year. Motion carried by unanimous roll call vote, 6 Ayes

Report Number 7 moved to close session with action to follow. No Principals Reports.

Return to Learning Draft Plan Fall 2020 was put out Stakeholders last week. There were 60 questions from teachers and staff that followed the publishing of the plan. Many of the answers to the questions will need to come from Champaign Public Health. The parent survey had 168 responses from parents which covers about 300 of the students. 80% of the respondents were in favor of in- school learning or a combination of in-school learning and remote learning. 20% were in favor of remote learning only. The district is looking for the best plan for student safety and teacher safety. The goal is to provide 4 hours of instruction covering the core classes. During those 4 hours of instruction, students will discuss with teachers the expectations of remote learning in case the district does have to shut down. Remote learning will look different for each teacher, grade level, and classroom. Students will not be using lockers or dressing for PE. The proposed shorter day is mostly due to the complications of the lunch hour with the limitation of 50 people to a room. For example, the JH/Elem building would need to have 7 lunch periods. The one hour of remote learning later in the day is primarily for offering office hours for older students to communicate with teachers and to teach students how to be on-line learners. The younger students might cover art or PE. The hour would take place before 3:00 p.m. to fall within school hours. If full time on-line learning is needed, administration will talk with teachers and discuss individual plans. The board would like to see quid lines sent home to parents on what to expect from the individual teacher if full on-line learning is needed. ISBE is still addressing how to best accommodate our students in Special Education. Non- Certified staff will still have a full day. Teachers’ Aides will assist with prep in the afternoon, for example. Mrs. Sanders stressed the start of the school year will look very different. This is all very new to everyone involved. Administration will work closely with teachers to figure out what the new day will look like and hopefully reach a comfortable point.

Registration dates are August 5th and 6th. Packets will be mailed out this week to all students. During the 2 days of registration, packets will be returned to the office in Homer. Registration will not be held in the band room as in the past.

IHSA and IESA return to play is still up in the air. Volleyball, Football, and Cross Country are all practicing with limited resources and wearing masks. IHSA opened up for full practices, then repealed 2 days later. An announcement is expected later this month. NFHS is giving the district 2 free Pixellot remote cameras to record games, at the HS only, for public viewing. The district must pay for NFHS to install the cameras. The cost is $2,500.00 for two cameras. NFHS offers revenue sharing to help defer some of the cost. Viewers will log-in to the website and choose to pay a yearly fee which would cover all games the cameras record, or a one-time fee per game viewed. Only sporting events will have a fee, for example, Concerts, plays, graduations would be free.

A survey was sent to all stakeholders in the district regarding high school sports and the Co-op. The survey covered questions about staying with the Co-op for remaing sports or going on our own entirely. It also covered the possibility of an 8 man football team or do we stay with VG. The next step would be to survey the students when school resumes. Vice President Tate recommended taking action on the matter at next month’s meeting. The board was in agreement.

The annual financial audit will take place the last week of July.

With the CARES grant money, new technology has been purchased to help students in the event of remote learning. Hydrostatic sprayers were also purchased to spray down the classrooms and hallways. To date, masks, gloves, and thermometers have also been purchased. It was also mentioned that a local church has donated many sanitizing products.

Construction of the new drop off lane in Homer is underway. The entrance to the High School will also see improvements. The sign board in Homer is still down due to a lighting strike. Mr. Davis is working on getting it restored.

Local tax funding of $1.2 million came in July (after the FY end). It will be adjusted for the 2019-2020 FY.

The school board convention will most likely be canceled. The fall dinner meeting will be remote. No information has been sent out yet. Heritage HS is still hosting the Feb. Meeting.

Next month the board will discuss the start of school and extracurricular statuses, the preliminary budget for FY21, the transportation report FY20, student handbook updates, and the start of the year update.

Under other, board member Asbhrook announced that ISBE is looking for division volunteers to work on the outreach plan focused on getting more participation from school boards. She also thanked all who showed up to the meeting to give input and recognized our community for coming together to support the school.

Motion by Ashbrook second by Elmore to go into executive session to discuss the appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance, or dismissal of specific employees of the public body or legal counsel for the public body, including hearing testimony on a complaint lodged against an employee of the public body or against legal counsel for the public body to determine its validity. Motion carried by unanimous roll call vote, 6 Ayes.

Motion by Ashbrook, second by Tate to return to open session. Motion carried by unanimous roll call vote, 6 Ayes. Returned to open session at 9:38 p.m.

Motion by Asbhrook, second by Elmore to approve contracts and compensation as delineated for following employees: Deana Wolf, Myrna Madigan 3.5% pay increase. Motion carried by unanimous roll call vote, 6 Ayes.

Motion by Asbhrook, second by Montgomery to approve contracts and compensation as delineated for following employees: Laura Benschneider 3.5% pay increase. Motion carried, 5 Ayes, 1 Abstain.

Motion by Benschneider, second by Ashbrook to approve contracts and compensation as delineated for following employees: Corey White, one year agreement, 3.5% pay increase. Motion carried by unanimous roll call vote, 6 Ayes.

Motion by Ashbrook, second by Elmore to approve contracts and compensation as delineated for following employees: Tom Davis, Kristi Sanders, extend one year agreement, 3.5% pay increase. Motion carried by unanimous roll call vote, 6 Ayes.

Motion by Benschneider, second by Tate to adjourn the meeting. With all members in agreement, the meeting adjourned at 9:44 pm.

https://heritage8.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Board2020.pdf