School Board Niles Township District 219, Cook County, Illinois AMENDED MINUTES Monday, December 16, 2013
The meeting was held in the Board Room of the District Office located at 7700 Gross Point Road, Skokie, Illinois. I. Call to Order and Roll Call Board President Robert Silverman called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. Board Members present at roll call: Sheri Doniger, Carlton Evans, Jeffrey Greenspan, Ruth Klint, David Ko, Robert Silverman, Eileen Valfer II. Closed Session It was moved by GREENSPAN and seconded by KLINT to recess into closed session to discuss the appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance, or dismissal of employees, collective bargaining, purchase of property, security procedures, student disciplinary cases, the placement of individual students in special education programs and other matters related to individual students and pending litigation. A roll call vote was taken. Voting Aye: Doniger, Evans, Greenspan, Klint, Ko, Silverman, Valfer. The motion carried. The Board recessed into closed session at 6:42 p.m. III. Open Session It was moved by DONIGER and seconded by KLINT to return to open session at 7:55 p.m. A roll call vote was taken. Voting Aye: Doniger, Evans, Greenspan, Klint, Ko, Silverman, Valfer. The motion carried. IV. Recall to Order Mr. Silverman recalled the meeting to order at 8:01p.m. and the Pledge was recited. V. Changes / Additions to the Agenda The green personnel handout was added to the Agenda. VI. Audience to Visitors (on agenda items only) There was no Audience to Visitors requesting to speak. VII. Student Representative Comments Niles West – Stephanie Knoor highlighted the upcoming events at Niles West: Winter Dance in February; the theme is “snow coming,” winter assembly for choir and orchestra will be this Friday, winter break will start December 23 and students will return to school on Monday, January 76, 2014, notification will be given to seniors who applied for early action, Dance Marathon raised over $400 thanks to Dr. Ness’ donation of two Bears’ tickets for the Bears/Packers game. The ECC meeting centered around a discussion to save the plates in the cafeteria from being thrown out. Niles North – Maggi Kreisheh highlighted the upcoming events at Niles North: Choir and Orchestra Holiday Concert Tuesday, December 17 in the Niles North Auditorium. The one Act Play Festival will start December 18 and will run through Friday, December 20. There will also be a community performance which will celebrate the Green Playwrights on Wednesday at 10:00 a.m. The student government is currently holding a food drive which will run until December 20. VIII.
Community Representative Comments There were no community representative comments.
IX. Approval of Consent Agenda It was moved by DONIGER and seconded by VALFER to approve the Consent Agenda as amended. A roll call vote was taken. Meeting Minutes of December 16, 2013
Page 1 of 5
Doniger, Evans, Greenspan, Klint, Ko, Silverman, Valfer. The motion carried. Included in the Consent Agenda: Monthly Bills and Payroll totaling $7,544,669.06 Personnel
−
Approved the retirement of the following certified staff: NAME Real, Lori
−
POSITION/LOCATION Art / North
Approved the transfer of the following support staff position for the 2013-2014 school year: NAME Moy, Jean
−
FROM Executive Secretary, Science S4-Step 8, 205 days
POSITION / LOCATION SWIFT Aquatics / North SWIFT Aquatics / North Library / North
EFFECTIVE DATE December 11, 2013
RATE $15.00/Hr. $15.00/Hr. $8.25/Hr.
EFFECTIVE DATE November 11, 2013 November 11, 2013 December 16, 2013
Approved the employment of the following stipend positions for the 2013-2014 school year: NILES WEST Marching Band, Drill (Visual Caption, Asst.) Wrestling, Assistant *Indicates not a District 219 employee
−
TO Executive Secretary, Human Resources S4-Step 8, 260 days
Approved the employment of the following part-time/temporary staff for and 2013-14 School year: NAME Booth, Steve Gillespie, Melissa Maizenberg, Daniella
−
EFFECTIVE DATE May, 2018
NAME *Meinhardt, Daniel *Espinoza, Juan (.25)
Approved the employment of the following certified substitute for the 2013-2014 school year: Bonges, Matthew
− Approved the transfer of the following administrative position for the 2013-2014 school year: NAME Murphy, Edmund
FROM Director World Languages, 205 day calendar
TO Director of Personnel and Compliance, 260 day calendar
EFFECTIVE DATE January 21, 2014
− Approved the resignation of the following support staff: NAME Salam, Mustafa −
POSITION/LOCATION Paraprofessional, Science / North
Approved the following employment action: CASE # DISCIPLINARY ACTION 2014-E03 Kim Landini - Suspension without pay one (1) day 2014-E04 Kim Landini – Release 2014-E05 Larry English - Suspension without pay five (5) days
Meeting Minutes of December 16, 2013
EFFECTIVE DATE December 11, 2013 EFFECTIVE DATE December 16, 2013 December 17, 2013 February 26, 2014, March 4, 2014, March 6, 2014, March 11, 2014 and March 13, 2014 Page 2 of 5
− Approved the Minutes of the November 18, 2013 Board of Education Meeting-Open and Closed − Approved the authorization for the Administration to award the bid for food service equipment for the Niles North Cafeteria renovation for $1,137,737.00. − Approve the purchase of Infinite Campus Food Service POS System at a cost not to exceed $53,170.00. − Approve the acceptance of a $25,000 donation from Intel Corporation as a part of the Skokie Best Buy employees winning the 2013 Score with Intel Core competition grand prize. Superintendent’s Report Dr. Gatta thanked the Board for attending the ongoing activities in the schools. There are two major issues that Dr. Gatta is following and will keep the Board abreast: (1) new changes in the pension law and (2) the state testing system. Dr. Gatta will update the Board when more information is available with regard to preparing for these major changes. X. Principals’ Report Niles North - Dr. McTague congratulated the varsity teams for their win over Niles West at the District 219’s Crosstown Classic. The Niles North Pep Band will perform as the House Band for Northwestern University Men’s Basketball. Congratulations to Hanna Bowes, a Niles North Visual Art’s student, who was announced as the winner of the 2014 Annual Ravinia Festival Poster competition. International Club hosted the International Winter party last week. The Niles North Islamic Club sponsored its education forum for almost 200 staff members. Dr. McTague thanked the club sponsors and those who helped put on these wonderful events. Other events this week will be the Holiday Concert, the One Act plays and Hot Chocolate with the Principal. Niles West - Dr. Ness stated that the Crosstown Classics was really great with lots of good spirit. The Cyber-Smarts class, working with students and parents will be held at Niles West. The topic will be “preparing your child in a visual environment.” There will also be a band concert in the auditorium. On Wednesday morning the varsity athletes will have an interactive play addressing risky teen behavior and the potential consequences to that behavior and healthy communication and decision-making. Niles West is also hosting a Chicago land Workshop on school policies, to update the staff on technology and policies. Last month Gary Gustafson, the varsity baseball coach, was voted into the Illinois High School Coaches Hall of Fame. This month Bob Williams, our basketball coach, was voted into the Coaches Hall of Fame. The Pep assembly recognized four students in Fine Arts. Winter break will begin shortly; school will resume on January 6 and final exams are January 14 through 16. XI. Board Member Comments There were no Board member comments XII. Board Committee Reports Eileen Valfer commented that EPAC’s first meeting will be on Thursday, December 19. Jeff Greenspan commented the Facilities Committee has a full agenda and received an award of merit for the Aquatic Center at Niles North. Business − 2015-2019 Strategic Plan (Discussion Only) The goal is to adopt the Strategic Plan in February. The Administration made some edits to the last draft. There was a discussion on the language of Goals and the Value Statement. − 2015-2019 Building Maintenance Plan Power Point Presentation presented by Legat (Discussion and Action) Representatives from the Legat Architectural firm presented a PowerPoint presentation delineating the renovation work that has to be accomplished to bring the buildings up to code at Niles North, Niles West and the District Office during fiscal years 2015-2019. It was moved by KLINT and seconded by DONIGER to approve the 2015-2019 Building Maintenance Plan. A roll call vote was taken. Voting Aye: Doniger, Evans, Greenspan, Klint, Ko, Silverman, Valfer. The motion carried. − Annual Review of Programs and Personnel (Discussion and Action) Pankaj Sharma, History Teacher and President of the Niles Township Union of Teachers, commented that the Union supports the school-based health clinic, but voiced concerns about the District replacing social workers, psychologists and nurses with outside contractors for services that are already provided. Meeting Minutes of December 16, 2013
Page 3 of 5
There was a discussion on the Annual Review of Programs and Personnel and a vote on individual sections of the Annual Review. It was moved by DONIGER and seconded by EVANS to approve the school days review and recommendation. A roll call vote was taken. Voting Aye: Doniger, Evans, Greenspan, Klint, Ko, Silverman, Valfer. The motion carried. It was moved by DONIGER and seconded by KLINT to approve the proposal for a third party provider for school based health clinics to Niles North and Niles West A roll call vote was taken. Voting Aye: Doniger, Evans, Greenspan, Klint, Silverman, Valfer. Voting Nay: Ko The motion carried. It was moved by VALFER and seconded by DONIGER to approve Student and Parent Surveys in the 2014-15 school year to be administered at the completion of a course via final exam days. A roll call vote was taken. Voting Aye: Doniger, Evans, Greenspan, Klint, Ko, Silverman, Valfer. The motion carried. There was a discussion on Pathway to College Readiness and one change was made, changing K-12 to K-14. It was moved by GREENSPAN and seconded by DONIGER to approve the Pathway to College Readiness and as amended. A roll call vote was taken. Voting Aye: Doniger, Evans, Greenspan, Klint, Ko, Silverman, Valfer. The motion carried. − Summer School Classes (Discussion and Action) Summer school course offerings were discussed for the upcoming summer school program. It was moved by DONIGER and seconded by VALFER to approve the summer school classes. A roll call vote was taken. Voting Aye: Doniger, Evans, Greenspan, Klint, Ko, Silverman, Valfer. The motion carried − 2013 Property Tax Levy Request (Discussion and Action) The Board is freezing the overall levy for a second year in a row. This will hold as long as there is no shift in commercial and residential real estate. A resolution will be presented at the February Board meeting. It was moved by SILVERMAN and seconded by DONIGER to approve the Resolution for the 2013 Property Tax Levy Request. A roll call vote was taken. Voting Aye: Doniger, Evans, Greenspan, Klint, Ko, Silverman, Valfer. The motion carried − FY 2013 Audit (Discussion and Action) Representatives from our auditor explained and highlighted various sections of the Audit. It was moved by DONIGER and seconded by KLINT to approve the FY 2013 Audit. A roll call vote was taken. Voting Aye: Doniger, Evans, Greenspan, Klint, Ko, Silverman, Valfer. The motion carried Meeting Minutes of December 16, 2013
Page 4 of 5
− Policy/Procedures Second Reading (Discussion and Action) There was a discussion regarding Policy/Procedures and a motion was made to table this policy until the next Board meeting. It was moved by DONIGER and seconded by VALFER to approve the Policy / Procedures Second Reading with the exception of policy 6:40 (Curriculum Development) which is tabled until the January Board meeting. A roll call vote was taken. Voting Aye: Doniger, Evans, Greenspan, Klint, Ko, Silverman, Valfer. The motion carried XIII. Old Business There was no old business XIV. New Business There was no new business XV. Audience to Visitors (on items related to District business) There was no Audience to Visitors discussions XVI. Information Items − Monthly Financial Report – October 2013 XVII. Closed Session It was moved by GREENSPAN and seconded by DONIGER to go into Closed Session for purpose of employee discipline, student discipline and potential litigation and to adjourn therefrom with no action taken. A roll call vote was taken. Voting Aye: Doniger, Evans, Greenspan, Klint, Ko, Silverman, Valfer. The motion carried. The meeting adjourned at 10:45 p.m. to go into Closed Session. The Board returned to Open Session on December 17, 2013 at 12:20 a.m. XVIII. Adjournment It was moved by DONIGER and seconded by KLINT to adjourn the meeting. A roll call vote was taken. Voting Aye: Doniger, Evans, Greenspan, Klint, Ko, Silverman, Valfer. The motion carried. The meeting adjourned at 1:00 a.m.
____________________________ President
Meeting Minutes of December 16, 2013
____________________________ Secretary
Page 5 of 5
