Community High School District #71

Central Community High School District #71

7740 Old U.S. 50, Breese, IL 62230
BOARD OF EDUCATION - Regular Meeting
Monday, November 20, 2023  7:00 PM

AGENDA

The regular meeting of the Board of Education of Central Community High School was held on November 20, 2023 at 7:00PM in the Media Center.

Members present were Mary Lou Voss, Tanya Kampwerth, Jeff Kampwerth, Kori Voss, Laura Jansen, Amy Kruse and Tim Richter.  Visitors included Mara Koerkenmeier and Kelly Ross.  Roger Freeze was absent.

The agenda was approved on a motion by Amy, second by Tanya.  Roll call vote: Aye – Mary Lou Voss, Laura Jansen, Kori Voss, Tanya Kampwerth, Tim Richter, Amy Kruse, Jeff Kampwerth.  Nay – None

The minutes of the previous meeting were amended and approved on a motion by Jeff, second by Laura.  Roll call vote: Aye – Mary Lou Voss, Laura Jansen, Kori Voss, Tanya Kampwerth, Tim Richter, Amy Kruse, Jeff Kampwerth.  Nay – None

 The financial report and payment of bills were reviewed and accepted on a motion by Tim, second by Kori.   Roll call vote: Aye – Mary Lou Voss, Laura Jansen, Kori Voss, Tanya Kampwerth, Tim Richter, Amy Kruse, Jeff Kampwerth.  Nay – None

 As you all know, Central High School was recently awarded the “Exemplary School Designation” from the State of Illinois.  We would like to express our sincere gratitude to the board for the celebration festivities that were conducted on October 27th.  It was a truly awesome day to be a Cougar. 

 The parking lot water retention pond has been expanded, and the drainage system around the new lot has been greatly improved.  This project is nearly complete, and you may have noticed a large berm of topsoil in the south side of that property.  That topsoil may be used to dress up the area around the field house (at a cost to the contractor), or it may simply remain (similar to our other berms around the soccer field.)  Although the contractor was optimistic that the Field House construction may begin this fall, it              looks like we are now looking at the spring.  Ultimately, the completion deadline will still be the same, but we are now looking at an early March start on the project.  When we made the decision to add extra space to the front of the building, it resulted in the shop drawings needing to be redrawn.  Due to this delay, along with the upcoming winter weather, the contractor said it would be better for the dirt and concrete work to be done in the spring.  With that, we have been moving forward with other aspects of the project.

 After the first reading of our new Bullying and Harassment Policy (Board Policy 7:180) during our meeting in September, it will be my recommendation to approve the new policy on Monday. Bullying, intimidation, and harassment diminish a student’s ability to learn and a school’s ability to educate. Preventing students from engaging in these disruptive behaviors and providing all students access to a safe, non-hostile learning environment is one of our most important responsibilities as a district.  A motion to approve the new bullying and harassment policy (Board Policy 7:180) as presented was made by Amy, second by Kori.  Roll call vote: Aye – Mary Lou Voss, Laura Jansen, Kori Voss, Tanya Kampwerth, Tim Richter, Amy Kruse, Jeff Kampwerth.  Nay – None  

 Becky and Dr. Foutch has worked to develop a preliminary tax levy for review by the board.  (The 2023 Tax Levy is for funding to be collected in 2024.)  There are several options again for this year’s levy that will take into consideration our financial situation and long-term financial needs. Our estimated assessed valuation continues to grow.  A motion to set a Truth in Taxation hearing for December 18th at 6:45 was made by Kori, second by Tanya.  Roll call vote: Aye – Mary Lou Voss, Laura Jansen, Kori Voss, Tanya Kampwerth, Tim Richter, Amy Kruse, Jeff Kampwerth.  Nay – None

 There are two projects that will need to be put through a bid process.  Both of these items were included in our budget for the Field House and Classroom Remodel Project. The first item is the replacement of storage cabinetry in the Art Classroom.  The current cabinetry in that area is falling apart, and is in desperate need of an update.  The project would include the replacement of all storage and under sink cabinets in that area.  Estimated total cost of that project should not exceed $25,000 so it will need to be issued for public bid.  The 2nd project is the installation of turf flooring in the New Field House.  Although the cost of this project will be 100% covered by PAWS, it will still need to be issued for public bid. Essentially, the project will include installing approximately 9600 sq. feet of Broadloom Adrenaline 5mm turf in the main area of the building. A motion to approve the letting of bids for the replacement of storage cabinets in the Art classroom and the installation of turf flooring in the new field house, which will be covered by PAWS was made by Laura, second by Jeff.  Roll call vote: Aye – Mary Lou Voss, Laura Jansen, Kori VossTanya Kampwerth, Tim Richter, Amy Kruse, Jeff Kampwerth.  Nay – Nonee

 A motion to employ Greg Meyer as a volunteer boys basketball coach was made by Kori, second by Tanya.  Roll call vote: Aye – Mary Lou Voss, Laura Jansen, Kori Voss, Tanya Kampwerth, Tim Richter, Amy Kruse, Jeff Kampwerth.  Nay – None

PRINCIPAL’S REPORT:

Parent Teacher Conferences were held on October 24th from 6-8:30 pm. We had a steady crowd, with the majority being freshman and sophomore parents. We also provided two special opportunities that evening, one for our senior parents and the other for our junior parents. Senior parents were able to attend a FAFSA informational meeting and our junior parents were able to attend a college and career readiness night. A big thanks to Trisha Lohman and Wendy Jones for planning the events.

 Artificial Intelligence (AI) is very quickly becoming the “talk” of education. On October 25, Mr. Freeze attended a roundtable discussion on the topic at Kaskaskia College that included a panel of professors along with a number of high school principals. We seem to be more ahead of the game than other high schools, but it’s going to be interesting how it evolves over the remainder of the year. Mr. Freeze is currently working with area colleges to learn how they will be implementing the new technology into their curriculums and what they expect their incoming freshmen to know. A committee is being formed here at Central to help us stay on top of this new advanced tool and it can benefit our students and teachers.

 Once again this year, our English and Math departments have met together to review and study the SAT data from the previous year. Our teachers are relentless when it comes to digging into the data. They take the information gained from that day and implement it almost immediately where applicable. Anything to give our students an edge over the competition, and our teachers are on it!

 Chance to Dance was held on October 25 at Bretz Winery. What an amazing day for our FLS students, but just as amazing for our student volunteers that went over to help out (Maya Bedard, Anthony Huegen, Mallory Strubhart, Naomi Knapp, Kylie Rakers, Josiah Boyer, Blake Hiemann, Ava Strake, Averi Marcum, Kenna Ricklefs, and Haylie Bland). Thank you to the entire FLS staff for making this day memorable for our students.

 October 27 - All County Teacher Inservice w/ keynote speaker Joe Sanfelippo, articulation time with subject areas and a celebration for being named an “Exemplary School” for the second year in a row! What an AMAZING day!!!

  We would like to congratulate the following individuals on receiving the "Give the Gift of Blue" FFA Jacket Grant from the Clinton County Farm Bureau… Bennett Becker, Maecie Carrillon, Conner Carrillon, Addison Tebbe, Alex Voss, Blake Wolter.

"Give the Gift of Blue" gives aspiring FFA members a free FFA jacket to wear throughout the 4 years of their high school career. To receive this grant, FFA members have to submit an essay describing what they planned to do in FFA and the goals they had set for their future.

 Our FLS class has expanded their learning opportunities with real world job experiences. Currently, we have several students working within our community gaining valuable experience.

Germantown Market: Quinn Tebbe and Nick Huelsmann - Wednesday afternoons stocking shelves, checking inventory, bagging groceries

Southern Bus: Gavin Netemeyer - Tuesday and Thursday mornings

maintenance: workroom and shop, bus detailing

St. Peter's True Value: Jacob Wuebbels -Wednesday mornings unloading the morning truck, stocking shelves, eventually helping with cash register.

 On November 1st our CNA students were allowed to view Live… from the Heart, a live broadcast of open-heart surgery from the Museum of Science and Industry and Advocate Christ Medical Center. Thank you, Stacey Boruff!

Kaskaskia College Career Fair - the event was held on Friday, November 3 and we had over 70 students attend the sessions.

November 9th we had the debut of our Rock Band under the direction of Brodie Ordaz. The band is made up of the following students…Tyree Jackson- Guitar, Singer, Keegan Kraeger- Drums, Ivylynn Beer- Singer, Hunter Farrington- Drums, Hunter Welker- Guitar, Leah Rau- Bass, Alex Mueller- Bass, Landry Watts- Guitar

Congratulations to Central's Class of 2024 Illinois State Scholars. These 19 seniors were in the top 10% academically in the state of Illinois based on their unweighted GPA and highest ACT/SAT score at the end of their junior year. They will be formally honored at Central's Academic Awards Night May 8th. The recipients are: Claire Bingman, Makenna Budde, Cole Buschmann, Merit Grawitch, Emma Haller, Abigail Hattan, Nicholas Helmink, Andrew Jansen, Julie Kueper, Taylor Mungai, Sarah Nee, Christopher Richter, Jordyn Robke, Kaydence Schroeder, Mason Shubert, Austin Thole, Jordan Van Ness, Ava Vandeloo & Griffen Wempe.

Teacher of the Year Award - Steve Ellis

Mr. Ellis is an amazing educator and coach at Central High School. Mr. Ellis teaches millwork. construction and welding. His passion for the subject matter is outstanding, and this passion is perfect for his personal approach to instruction , but what is most impressive is his special ability to connect with kids. Year in and year out, Mr. Ellis has the highest number of students in our electives classes. These numbers are just the beginning of his excellence as an educator, once students are in his classes, they realize just how special of a human being he really is. Our students leave his classes with the skills and confidence to make an immediate impact in the workforce. Mr. Ellis is a difference maker in the overall education of the students at Central and is highly respected amongst the staff, students and Central Community. All of these characteristics are great, but it's what the kids say that really matters. One student said, "He's just great, he teaches us a lot, but likes to have a lot of fun." "He has nicknames for everyone...and they stick."

Friend of Education Award - Gina Benhoff

Mrs. Benhoff is a special education teacher at Central High School. To say she is amazing would be an understatement! Mrs. Benhoff goes above and beyond in terms of finding opportunities for our students to experience life and success outside of school. She implemented Unified ESports last year which is after school and brings our special education students together with our regular education students. The biggest impact she has made with our high school students is through the STEP program and FLS volunteer program. To keep it as simple as I can for this nomination, for both of these programs Mrs. Benhoff works with parents, students and employers to ensure meaningful life experiences outside of the regular school setting. She meets regularly with employers to talk about the progress of her students and holds them accountable if they are not performing to the expected level. Mrs. Benhoff is an absolute ROCKSTAR and beyond deserving of this award.

The following is an email about our volleyball team that we received and is definitely worth sharing…

“Coach Kohnen,

I want to send a quick message to you and a compliment to your team. My daughter is a senior on the Staunton volleyball team. After our loss last night to the other team that happens to have Breese in the name, your girls walked by our team and some of your players, (don't know which ones), made some very nice comments to them. Your girls were under no obligation to say anything encouraging or caring but a few thought it was the right/appropriate thing to do. It was appreciated by our girls. Definitely a stark contrast to the other teams behavior before and after the game last night. I've been lucky enough to be a player and coach at several levels of athletics and experienced the ultimate lows and ultimate highs in both regards. Having a team of players with good character was instilled in me and something I instilled in my own teams. You have a nice group of girls that have always shown good character whether playing against us or just being around us. That's always a direct reflection of the coach and staff.”

The board entered into closed session on a motion by Amy, second by Kori to discuss personne, student related matters and contract negotiations. Roll call vote: Aye –Laura Jansen, Mary Lou Voss, Kori Voss, Amy Kruse, Tanya Kampwerth, Tim Richter, Jeff Kampwerth.  Nay – None.  Motion carried at 8:03PM.

The board entered back into open session on a motion by Jeff, second by Kori. Roll call vote: Aye –Laura Jansen, Mary Lou Voss, Kori Voss, Amy Kruse, Tanya Kampwerth, Tim Richter, Jeff Kampwerth.  Nay – None  Motion  carried at 8:36PM.

The board adjourned the meeting on a motion by Kori, second by Laura at 8:37PM. Roll call vote: Aye –Laura Jansen, Mary Lou Voss, Kori Voss, Tanya Kampwerth, Tim Richter, Amy Kruse, Jeff Kampwerth.  Nay – None

Mary Lou Voss                    Amy Kruse                  

Board President                                    Board Secretary