Quincy Reporter

Mendon Community Unit School District 4 Board of Education met Oct. 16.

Here are the minutes provided by the board:

1. Call To Order - Pledge of Allegiance

BOE members Arnsman - Fleer - Garmer - Janssen - McClelland - Rolando - Shaffer Supt. Riddle Admins Arnsman-Sheffler Bus. Mngr. Whelan

C.A.T. Coordinator - Klusmeyer

2. Approval of Agenda Motion: Fleer 2nd: Rolando Vote: 5-0 approved

Addition: Resignation of Deena Schulz - senior class sponsor

3. Public Participation - Visitor and Comments (3 min. limit)

3.1 Special Recognition

3.1.1 Josh Arnsman and Shelly Sheffler - National Principal's Week

Principal Appreciation Day Oct 25

We would like to thank them for their leadership and caring as well as their time, effort, and work they give to the students, staff and district. We thank them for all they do and are very glad they are part of our Unity Team.

3.2 Visitors

3.2.1.Senior students and senior parents shared with the board concerns about the senior class trip and with the sponsor

3.3 Correspondence

Closed Session The Board will enter Closed Session to discuss: A) the appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance, o dismissal of specific employees, specific individuals who serve as independent contractors, or specific volunteers of the School District or legal counsel fo the District, including hearing testimony on complaint lodged against an employee, a specific individual who serves, as an independent contractor, or i volunteer of the District; B) collective negotiating matters between the School District and its employees or their representatives, or deliberation: concerning salary schedules for one or more classes of employees: C) the purchase or lease of real property for the use of the District; DJ the setting of. price for sale or lease of property owned by the District; E) the sale or purchase of securities, investments, or investment contracts; F) emergency securit procedures; G) student disciplinary cases; H) the placement of individual students in special education programs and other matters relating to individua students; () pending, probable, or imminent litigation; Лattorney/client privilege; evaluation of attorney: K) approval of certain closed session minutes fo distribution to the public; or other matters appropriate for a closed meeting pursuant to the Open Meetings Act. An additional Closed Session may bi necessary if all discussions are not concluded prior to returning to open session ENTER CLOSED 7:03 pm RE-ENTER OPEN 7:41 pm

4. Consent Agenda Motion: Rolando 2nd: Garmer Vote: 6-0 approved

4.1 Approve Sept 18, 2024 Board Meeting Minutes

4.2 Approve Bills and Activity Fund Reports

4.3 Approve Bills Payable

4.4 Approve Fund Balances

4.5 Approve End of Month Report for Previous Month

5. Administrative and Committee Reports

5.1 Principal Reports

Mrs. Sheffler thanked the HS football team and cheerleaders for coming over to the elementary and welcoming the elementary students in the morning. She also wanted to say thank you to the Art Club and the FFA for the outreach they did during Homecoming Week. At the halftime of the Thursday night game we had our first "No Unity without U-n- 1o event which paired our kindergarten class with this year's senior class. The seniors and kindergartners exchanged pins on the 50 yard line symbolizing the transitioning of the newest Unity students with our outgoing Mustangs. Thank you to Denise Tallcott and Summer Stifel for their help with the organization and pins,

The Book Blast is going well and the hope again is to put books in our students' hands that they can keep and take home. Special Person's Day was another success. Thanks to all that made it possible.

Mr. Arnsman said the MS/HS was wrapping up the first quarter with P/T conferences this week. He wanted to thank Mrs. Pilkington for another great Homecoming. He also thanked Mrs. Sheffler, Mrs. Tallcott and Mrs. Steffel for the "No Unity with U-n-1" event.

5.2 Business Manager Report (Financial Dashboard)

Mrs. Whelan informed the board that the audit was officially completed. We are 25% through the year and on target for FY26.

5.3 Curriculum, Assessment and Technology Director

Mr. Klusmeyer and Mrs. Zanger attended an IAR workshop providing information on the use of data analysis. This will be shared with staff as they review the IAR data from the past year. We are working with our ROE in providing a math specialist to work with our mathematics department and elementary staff in providing a resource and support in math instruction in the classroom.

5.4 Superintendent Report

The gym floor is progressing very nicely. We are hoping to have it completed by the first week of November. The new design from the coaches group really looks very nice.

The leak which was from the HVAC unit has been repaired but we did find an additional area from the exhaust fans. We had Klingner out with a construction engineer who determined the leakage has been ongoing and needs to be addressed by removing the exhaust fans and filling them in since they are no longer in use. We also identified two other foundational issues on the front of the building which will be addressed.

A letter was sent to the Warsaw parent the board directed the superintendent to ban for a year. The letter stated if he wanted to protest it, he would have the opportunity before the board at a board hearing on the matter. We have not heard back from him as of this time.

At one of our recent superintendent meetings, we discussed the rash of threats towards schools online through social media, etc. It has become pervasive throughout not only Illinois but in other states as well. Often it is innocuous comments that become misconstrued into what some believe are threats. Other times it is coreless comments or even some joking around that is taken too far. In our most recent case, it appears to have originated from some comments that were made and overheard then spread over Snapchat. When I was made aware I immediately contacted our local authorities who were able with the assistance of the FBI to track down where it began. This did take time and we were under our "Secure" protocol and our district staff did very well. Our transparent communication was very much appreciated by our staff/parents/community. It was also praised by the superintendents group. Other area districts used it as a template for communicating out to their public so we would have consistent communication.

We are updating our handheld two-way radios so that we all have the same model across the district. They have not been updated in many years and we have a great deal of them that do not always work or have issues. We found this as part of our review of our last threat assessment reflection. There were a couple of other items our Leadership Team discussed that we will be updating and changing to better deal with any threats.

5.5 Finance Committee - will meet to review Signage program

5.6 Policy Committee - will set mtg to review PressPlus policies for next mtg

6. Action Items

6.1 Approve any matter discussed in Executive Session as necessary, and limited to those matters authorized for discussion in Executive Session by motion of the Board and/or Personnel List Motion: Rolando 2nd: Fleer Vote: 6-0 approved Hire: Tom Shaffer - MS basketball coach

Recognize resignation: Deena Shulz - senior class sponsor

6.2 Consider and take action on the FY24 Audit

Motion: Rolando 2nd: Fleer Vote: 6-0 approved

The audit was completed with only one finding. It is the repeated assertion that as a small school we continue to maintain checks and balances by having the superintendent review finances as well as the board prior to approving

6.3 Consider and take action on library request

Motion: Shaffer 2nd: Garmer Vote: 5-1 approved (Arnsman dissenting)

The librarian has requested to order a number of new books for the library and we are sharing for your approval..

7. Information Item

8. Adjournment

8.1 Adjournment 7:50 pm

8.2 Next Meeting - The next Regular Meeting of the Board of Education will be held on Wednesday, November 20, 2024, in the Unity High School Band Room at 6:00 p.m.

http://www.cusd4.com/uploads/4/1/9/5/41958557/october_16_2024_board_report.pdf