MINUTES OF BOARD OF EDUCATION MEETING
Homewood-Flossmoor High School, 999 Kedzie Avenue, Flossmoor, Illinois
September 19, 2006
Mrs. Scariano called the meeting to order at 7:32
p.m. The following board members were
present for all or part of the meeting:
Mr. Butler
Dr. Mayer
Dr. Farrell
Mr. Lites
Mr. Galatz
Mrs. Sutton
Mrs. Scariano
The presence of a quorum was noted and the meeting
declared duly convened. Superintendent
Murray, Principal Mansfield, Human Resources Director Thieman, and Business Manager
Parchem were also present.
Approval of Minutes. Mr. Galatz moved, seconded by Dr. Mayer, that the Board of Education approve the regular meeting minutes of August 15, 2006. Roll Call: Ayes – Mr. Butler, Dr. Farrell, Mr. Galatz, Mr. Lites, Dr. Mayer, Mrs. Sutton, Mrs. Scariano. Nays – None. Motion carried.
Comments. Mrs. Scariano welcomed the audience and is especially pleased to
have students here tonight.
Terese
Frederickson, a Glenwood Estates resident and taxpayer, has been piqued and interested
in the articles she has read based on what is happening with the administration
and teachers. She wants the Board of
Education to consider the fact that our state is mandated by our nation to be
obliged to fulfill its mandates through the No Child Left Behind Act. In order for NCLB to actually become a
process and idealistically a thing to work toward, the Board of Education
should not forget the teachers.
Teachers should not be left behind for NCLB to be visible and active.
Mr.
Galatz asked Dr. Murray to include a briefing to the Board and community on
whom in the school is addressing the operation of the school and absences in
staffing regarding the issue of pandemic bird flu that is anticipated in the
fall and winter seasons.
Dr.
Farrell attended last Thursday night’s back to school night. It was a gratifying night for him to have a
chance to talk to his son’s teachers.
He is very grateful that we have a night like that and it was wonderful
to meet the teachers.
Dr.
Mayer seconded Dr. Farrell’s comments, as he thoroughly enjoyed the process of
meeting his daughter’s teachers. It is
nice to place a face to the comments his daughter shares each day. Dr. Mayer is impressed with the teachers who
seemed very professional. Dr. Mayer
told the students in the audience that he really did not know how they made it
from building to building, as he was tardy last Thursday.
Mr.
Lites agreed with Dr. Farrell and Dr. Mayer, joking that he would cost the
school a lot of money in state aid if he were in school, because he was late to
four classes. One different thing Mr.
Lites is doing this year than he did with his other two children who have
graduated from H-F, is using Parent Connect on our website. Parent Connect really helped Mr. Lites
prepare so he could get the most out of his conversations with the
teachers. He was able to ask specific
questions about his daughter’s progress.
The website makes back to school night even more pleasurable.
Mrs.
Scariano noted that she attended the ribbon cutting of SPEED’s new campus. SPEED is our special education coop. The new building is gorgeous. Mrs. Scariano had been District 233’s liaison
for SPEED for many years. Now Dr.
Farrell has taken on that role. Mrs.
Scariano is pleased to see that we were able to get grant money to build a new
campus for special children. It is
amazing, and she urged anyone who had the opportunity to tour the facility,
which is located in Chicago Heights.
2006-07 Budget Adoption.
Mr. Lites moved, seconded by Dr. Mayer, that the Board of Education
adopt the Budget Resolution for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2006 and
ending June 30, 2007, as recommended by the Finance Committee and the Business
Manager. Roll Call: Ayes – Mr. Butler, Dr. Farrell, Mr. Galatz,
Mr. Lites, Dr. Mayer, Mrs. Sutton, Mrs. Scariano. Nays – None. Motion
carried.
Application for Recognition of Schools. Mr. Lites moved, seconded by Mrs. Sutton,
that the Board of Education approve the 2006-2007 Application for Recognition
of Schools and authorize the Superintendent to forward it to the Suburban Cook
County Regional Office of Education, as recommended by the Superintendent. This is an annual application in which we
certify to the State Board of Education that we are following Illinois School
Code. The
only exception we have is regarding teacher certification. We have two new graduates who are waiting to
receive their certificates, one Indiana certificate waiting to receive Illinois
certification, and we are waiting for one provisional certification to
arrive. Roll Call: Ayes – Dr. Farrell, Mr. Galatz, Mr. Lites,
Dr. Mayer, Mrs. Sutton, Mr. Butler, Mrs. Scariano. Nays – None. Motion
carried.
Extended Field
Trip Request. Mr. Lites moved,
seconded by Mr. Galatz, that the Board of Education approve the proposed
student extended field trips for Debate, in accordance with Procedure 6310, as
recommended by the Superintendent:
September
28-October 1, 2006 West
Des Moines-Valley, West Des Moines, IA
October
27-29 Cedar
Rapids-Washington, Cedar Rapids, IA
October
31-November 2 University
of Michigan Round Robin, Ann Arbor, MI
November
3-5 University
of Michigan Tournament, Ann Arbor, MI
December
8-10 Dowling
Catholic, West Des Moines, IA
December
14-17 The
Blake School, Minneapolis, MN
January
26-28, 2007 Emory
University, Atlanta, GA
February
16-19 Harvard
University, Cambridge, MA
April
27-30 The
Tournament of Champions, Lexington, KY
Dr. Murray
explained we have Board policy if a group takes a trip outside of the state of
Illinois, they must get Board approval.
Our Debate Team is outstanding, and for the right kind of competition,
they need to go out of Illinois. The
original request was for twice as many trips, but Dr. Murray asked the coach to
prioritize the events.
Mr. Butler
indicated the purpose of the policy was first, to eliminate long field trips,
and second, to prevent loss of school days.
These trips total seventeen days out of school. Two of them held at the University of
Michigan goes from October 31 through November 5, six school days in a
row. Mr. Butler will vote ‘no’ on
this. If the list is cut down, he will
reconsider, but this is too much.
Mr. Galatz said
most of us on the Board have been long time supporters of student activities,
but he raised the question of what expectations do we have for students when
they travel? What type of orientation
are they taken through that relates to expected behavior?
Dr.
Mansfield said the expectations are the same as any other H-F students or staff
on trips. We have had situations in the
past where students were reprimanded for behavior. Dr. Murray indicated there are meetings for parents where
expectations are spelled out. Some
parents even supervise the trips.
Mr.
Butler asked if the same students would be going to the events at the
University of Michigan? During
presentations like this before, the concept was presented that there are no
debate teams in the state of Illinois that were comparable to ours. Mr. Butler has a hard time believing
that.
Discussion
ensued about the number of school days being missed and the number of trips
requested. Mr. Galatz explained there
are two formats in debate, Lincoln-Douglas and policy format. The teams are given national questions. When teams debate the same subject, it is a
learning experience to refine their skills, change their formats and
presentations and they get an opportunity to see debaters from other geographic
areas. They are not invited to
Lexington, KY unless they do well in the other tournaments. Dr. Murray added that the school does not
pay for these trips. Students and
parents fundraise and no taxpayer money is spent on these trips.
Roll Call: Ayes – Mr. Galatz, Mr. Lites, Dr. Mayer,
Mrs. Sutton, Dr. Farrell, Mrs. Scariano.
Nays – Mr. Butler. Motion
carried.
Teacher Resignation. Mr. Galatz moved, seconded by Dr. Farrell, that the Board of
Education accept the resignation of Robert Modesto, effective August 17, 2006,
as requested in his letter, as recommended by the Superintendent. Mr. Modesto worked here for fifteen years
and did a great job. He left education
to go into tennis coaching. Roll
Call: Ayes – Mr. Lites, Dr. Mayer, Mrs.
Sutton, Mr. Butler, Dr. Farrell, Mr. Galatz, Mrs. Scariano. Nays – None. Motion carried.
Teacher
Contract. Mr. Galatz moved, seconded by Dr. Farrell,
that the Board of Education authorize the President and Secretary to sign a
contract with Tashanna Gillenwater, Physical Education Teacher, in the amount
of $46,201.69 for the 2006-07 school year, as recommended by the
Superintendent. Dr. Murray noted Ms.
Gillenwater was a Division 1 track athlete at Iowa State. She can also teach dance, an area that is
expanding in P.E.
Roll Call: Ayes – Dr. Mayer, Mrs. Sutton, Mr. Butler,
Dr. Farrell, Mr. Galatz, Mr. Lites, Mrs. Scariano. Nays – None. Motion
carried.
Teacher
Retirement. Mr. Galatz moved, seconded by Mr. Lites,
that the Board of Education accept, with regret, the retirement of Myras D.
Osman, effective at the end of the 2007-08 school year, as requested in his
letter dated September 7, 2006, as recommended by the Superintendent. Dr. Murray said Mr. Osman has had an outstanding
career and has touched the lives of many students. One of her fondest memories of Mr. Osman is when wears gear from
World War I and acts out lessons. He
has done a very good job and will be missed a lot. Mr. Butler added that Mr. Osman has been doing Snowball for many
years. Dr. Murray thinks he has been
involved since its inception. Snowball
will have their 25th anniversary on December 22nd. Mr. Butler agreed that Mr. Osman has done a
great job with teaching and Snowball.
Mrs. Scariano’s son Tony,
who is attending the University of Iowa, had Mr. Osman for a teacher. She told Tony Mr. Osman was going to retire
and asked if Tony had any thoughts about him.
Tony said he remembers Mr. Osman as being consistent, organized, and
having the same expectations for himself as he did for the class. He is passionate, multi-faceted. No matter what Mr. Osman was involved in, he
had a passion for it and other people knew that. He never hesitated to let Tony know what was expected of him and
from him. Mrs. Scariano remembers Mr.
Osman well with his work in Snowball.
After she became a School Board member, Mr. Osman invited Mrs. Scariano
to attend Snowball and at that time he received the highest level of
recognition from Snowball. Mr. Osman
is also well known for grading AP tests and bringing all the information
gleaned from those tests and the rigorous weeks doing that back to the District
to share that knowledge with other teachers and students. Mr. Osman is a very gifted person. He is also a master gardener, loves dogs,
and is a wonderful human being – a renaissance man with many gifts that he has
shared with the district. He will be
greatly missed.
Roll Call: Ayes – Mrs. Sutton, Mr. Butler, Dr. Farrell,
Mr. Galatz, Mr. Lites, Dr. Mayer, Mrs. Scariano (with regret). Nays – None. Motion carried.
Extra-Responsibility
Contracts 2006-07. Mr. Galatz moved, seconded by
Mrs. Sutton, that the Board of Education authorize the President and Secretary
to sign extra-responsibility contracts with the following persons for the
2006-07 school year, as recommended by the Superintendent:
Jennifer
Lazuka Dean 5,958.00
Craig
Fantin Dean 5,958.00
Paul
Kolimas Department
Chair 6,000.00
Paula
Crawford Department
Chair 6,000.00
Jacob
Vallicelli Department
Chair 6,000.00
Deborah
Larsen Department
Chair 6,000.00
Keith
Dombkowski Assistant
Boys Golf Coach 4,608.00
Carl
Coates Assistant
Boys Golf Coach 4,608.00
Todd
Elkei Head
Varsity Boys Soccer Coach 5,385.00
Vince
Bove Assistant
Varsity Boys Soccer Coach 5,128.00
Rick
Veldboom Head
Sophomore Boys Soccer Coach 5,670.00
Charles
Ward Head
Freshman Boys Soccer Coach 4,155.00
Emmanuel
Allie Associate
Boys Soccer Coach 2,567.00
Anthony
Kruse Head
Varsity Girls Volleyball Coach 4,608.00
Molly
McBride Assistant
Varsity Girls Volleyball Coach 5,128.00
Wendy
Bean Head
Sophomore Girls Volleyball Coach 4,608.00
Jennifer
Elwess Associate
Sophomore Girls Volleyball Coach 2,567.00
Amy
Krueger Head
Freshman Girls Volleyball Coach 3,839.00
Jennifer
Lazuka Associate
Freshman Girls Volleyball coach 2,567.00
Rick
Pavinato Head
Girls Golf Coach 5,385.00
Brad
Kain Assistant
Girls Golf Coach 4,155.00
Chris
Stiglic Head
Boys Golf Coach 5,790.00
Tim
Caldwell Head
Girls Swimming Coach 6,455.00
Colleen
Gorman Assistant
Girls Swimming Coach 3,839.00
Rick
Carlson Assistant
Girls Swimming Coach (Diving) 5,934.00
Tim
Caldwell Swimming
Activities Director 5,130.00
Brian
McCarthy Head
Boys Cross Country Coach 6,455.00
Tom
O’Keefe Assistant
Boys Cross Country Coach 5,670.00
Gary
Haut Head
Girls Cross Country Coach 6,455.00
Rich
Lucchetti Assistant
Girls Cross Country Coach 5,934.00
Lauren
Chasey Head
Field Hockey Coach 5,790.00
Anna
Ward Associate
Field Hockey Coach 2,567.00
Everlyn
Falkner Assistant
Field Hockey Coach 3,839.00
Michael
Sacks Head
Girls Tennis Coach 5,385.00
Crystal
Johnson Assistant
Girls Tennis Coach 3,839.00
Tom
Bailey Head
Varsity Football Coach 7,193.00
Terrell
Alexander Assistant
Varsity Football Coach 4,992.00
Jerry
Verde Assistant
Varsity Football Coach 5,385.00
John
Konecki Assistant
Varsity Football Coach 5,790.00
Chris
Maniatis Assistant
Varsity Football Coach 6,183.00
David
Klawitter Assistant
Varsity Football Coach 5,790.00
Scott
McAlister Head
Sophomore Football Coach 6,455.00
Nick
Kapchinski Assistant
Sophomore Football Coach 3,839.00
Craig
Fantin Assistant
Sophomore Football Coach 5,670.00
Mike
Patterson Associate
Sophomore Football Coach 2,567.00
Brian
McLaughlin Head
Freshman Football Coach 6,455.00
Mike
Mikos Assistant
Freshman Football Coach 4,155.00
Robert
Assise Assistant
Freshman Football Coach 4,155.00
Matt
Knoepke Associate
Freshman Football Coach 2,567.00
Marc
Condotti Strength
& Conditioning Coach (Fall) 4,155.00
Robert
Fichter Athletic
Trainer (Fall) 6,018.00
Steve
Szymkowiak Athletic
Trainer (Fall) 7,193.00
Jim
McLaughlin Weight
Room Supervisor (Basketball) 5,130.00
Tom
Bailey Weight
Room Supervisor (Football) 5,130.00
Johnna
Armellino Head
Varsity Football Cheerleading Coach 4,992.00
Veronica
Zavala Assistant
Varsity Football Cheerleading Coach 3,839.00
Karen
Mednick Head
Fall Pom Pons Coach 3,839.00
Kerri
Kopriva Associate
Fall Pom Pons Coach 2,567.00
Robert
Boldt Head
Varsity Ice Hockey Coach 6,455.00
Steve
Janakas Assistant
Varsity Ice Hockey Coach 5,790.00
Tom
Wagner Head
Intramural Coach 7,193.00
David
Holst Assistant
Intramural Coach 2,827.00
Sandra
Lessentine Model
Teacher 2,175.00
Molly
McBride Model
Teacher 2,175.00
Jason
Miller Model
Teacher 2,175.00
Ryan
Sheriff Model
Teacher 2,175.00
Betsy
McCabe Model
Teacher 2,175.00
Laura
Fisher Model
Teacher 2,175.00
Kathy
Tisoncik Model
Teacher 2,175.00
Paul
Fasse Model
Teacher 2,175.00
Jennifer
Serpe Model
Teacher 2,175.00
Steve
Banasiak Model
Teacher 2,175.00
Kim
Smith Model
Teacher 2,175.00
Mary
Anne Demas Model
Teacher 2,175.00
Rick
Pavinato Model
Teacher 2,175.00
Adriana
Diachenko Model
Teacher 2,175.00
Jodi
Nardella Model
Teacher 2,001.67
Brad
Kain Model
Teacher 2,001.67
Chris
Stiglic Model
Teacher 2,001.67
Michelle
Shandro Model
Teacher 2,001.67
Kevin
Thomas Model
Teacher 2,001.67
Carl
Coates Model
Teacher 2,001.67
Mollie
Frick Model
Teacher 2,001.67
Tanya
Maka Model
Teacher 2,001.67
Ted
Haldeman Model
Teacher 2,001.67
Robert
Fichter Model
Teacher 2,001.67
$343,005.70
Roll
Call: Ayes – Mr. Butler, Dr. Farrell,
Mr. Galatz, Mr. Lites, Dr. Mayer, Mrs. Sutton, Mrs. Scariano. Nays – None. Motion carried.
Approval of Expenditures. Mr. Lites moved, seconded by Dr. Farrell, that the Board of Education approve the proposed expenditures in
the amount of $1,682,693.36. Roll
Call: Ayes – Dr. Farrell, Mr. Galatz,
Mr. Lites, Dr. Mayer, Mrs. Sutton, Mr. Butler, Mrs. Scariano. Nays – None. Motion carried.
Reimbursement to
the Imprest Fund. Mr. Lites moved,
seconded by Dr. Farrell, that the Board of Education authorize the
reimbursement to the Imprest Fund in the amount of $38,576.54. Roll Call: Ayes – Mr. Galatz, Mr. Lites, Dr. Mayer,
Mrs. Sutton, Mr. Butler, Dr. Farrell, Mrs. Scariano. Nays – None. Motion
carried.
Ratification of
Payroll. Mr. Lites moved,
seconded by Dr. Farrell, that the Board of Education ratify the August, 2006
payroll in the amount of $471,760.18.
Roll Call: Ayes – Mr. Lites, Dr.
Mayer, Mrs. Sutton, Mr. Butler, Dr. Farrell, Mr. Galatz, Mrs. Scariano. Nays – None. Motion carried.
Closed Meeting. Mr. Lites moved,
seconded by Mr. Galatz, that the Board of Education move into closed session at
8:00 p.m. for the purpose of discussing collective bargaining negotiations and
security procedures and equipment under exception c-8 of the Open Meetings
Act. Roll Call: Ayes – Dr. Mayer, Mrs. Sutton, Mr. Butler,
Dr. Farrell, Mr. Galatz, Mr. Lites, Mrs. Scariano. Nays – None. Motion
carried.
Open Meeting. Mr. Lites moved, seconded by Mr. Butler, that
the Board of Education return to open meeting at 9:14 p.m. Roll Call:
Ayes – Mrs. Sutton, Mr. Butler, Dr. Farrell, Mr. Lites, Dr. Mayer, Mrs.
Scariano. Nays – None. Motion carried.
Adjournment. Mr. Butler moved, seconded by Mr. Lites, that the Board of
Education be adjourned at 9:15 p.m.
Motion carried.
___________________________ _____________________________
President Vice-President/Secretary