MINUTES OF THE BUDGET HEARING OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION FIELD SCHOOL LEARNING CENTER 2055 Landwehr Rd, Northbrook, Illinois 60062 7:00 PM September 24, 2015 CALL TO ORDER The Budget Hearing of the Board of Education was called to order by President Spector at 7:11 PM. ROLL CALL Board Members:
Present: Laura Greenberg Arrived 7:17 PM Melissa Choo Valentinas Robert Resis Daphne Frank Kosta Skoulikaris Robert Spector Peter Stamatis District Administration Present: Dr. Alexandra Nicholson, Superintendent of Schools Cathy Lauria, Chief School Business Official Recording Secretary: Tina Nielsen A quorum of the Board was confirmed by President Spector. PRESENTATION OF FISCAL YEAR 2016 BUDGET Chief School Business Official, Cathy Laura, summarized the 2016 Budget wherein she stated that the tentative budget was available for review for the past 30 days and that the final budget was not much different than the tentative budget overall. The budget presentation from the August meeting for the tentative budget was completely updated with final budget numbers and summarized at the September meeting. One clerical correction was made in the legal budget which was not included in the final budget sent out in the board packet. The error is listed below: ● The legal budget, which is in the State format, listed a $1,050.00 expense in the column labeled as a 500 object, instead of a 600 object. This change was made in the final budget that was brought to the Board meeting for approval. Member Greenberg made a motion to adjourn the Budget hearing. Member Frank seconded the motion. The motion passed on a roll call 7:0.
MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION FIELD SCHOOL LEARNING CENTER 2055 Landwehr Rd, Northbrook, Illinois 60062 7:00 PM September 24, 2015 CALL TO ORDER The Regular Meeting of the Board of Education was called to order by President Spector at 7:36 PM. ROLL CALL Board Members: Present: Laura Greenberg Melissa Choo Valentinas Robert Resis Daphne Frank Kosta Skoulikaris Robert Spector Peter Stamatis District Administration Present: Dr. Alexandra Nicholson, Superintendent of Schools Cathy Lauria, Chief School Business Official Recording Secretary: Tina Nielsen A quorum of the Board was confirmed by President Spector. ADDITIONS OR CHANGES TO THE AGENDA Superintendent Nicholson added pending litigation to Item XII for discussion in closed session. READING OF COMMUNICATIONS TO THE BOARD OF EDUCATION None INTRODUCTION OF NEW STAFF WInkelman Elementary School Principal Kahn and Field Middle School Principal Murphy introduced their new staff and had them tell a little about themselves. STRATEGIC PLAN PRESENTATION Superintendent Dr. Nicholson and Director of Curriculum and Instruction Dr. De La Cruz presented the Strategic Plan. CONSENT AGENDA Superintendent Nicholson requested to pull item VIII. k. p. of the Consent Agenda to discuss in closed session. Member Resis stated that there was an error on the attendance of the August 13, 2015 Special meeting as well as the attendance of the August 24, 2015. Member Frank
made a motion to approve the consent agenda items, aj and qv. Member Choo Valentinas seconded the motion. The motion passed pending corrections 7:0. ACTION ITEMS Based on the Budget hearing discussion, Member Greenberg made a motion to approve the 20152016 Budget. Member Frank seconded the motion. The motion passed on a roll call 7:0. Superintendent Nicholson stated that this time of the year we are required to fill out an Application of Recognition of Schools that involves a series of questions that we need to answer. We have to include who our teacher assistants are and if we have any new principals. This application needs to be approved by the Board of Education, is then sent to the Regional Office of Education for review, and then is submitted to the Illinois State Board of Education. This is an assurance that we are following all the school codes and regulations that we are required to follow in the State of Illinois. Member Skoulikaris made a motion to approve the Application of Recognition of Schools. Member Stamatis seconded the motion. The motion passed 7:0. Chief School Business Official Cathy Lauria summarized the recommendation to approve the Administrative Compensation Report for the 20152016 school year wherein she stated was required through the Illinois School Code Public Act 960434. This report lists the salaries and monetary value of benefits received by its administrative staff. Member Skoulikaris made a motion to approve the 20152016 Administrative Compensation Report. Member Resis seconded the motion. The motion passed 7:0. Mrs. Lauria summarized the recommendation to approve signers for the bank accounts at Northbrook Bank & Trust Company. She stated that as of July 31, 2015, Tony Adams, the Treasurer of that Board, retired. Dr. Craig Schilling, retired Assistant Superintendent for Business at Glenbrook High School District 225, has been appointed to fill his position. Due to this changeover, all of the districts that are a part of this treasury investment group are required to add Dr. Schilling’s signature as one of the approved signers on our bank accounts. Also, we need to have signatures reauthorized for our District. The signers needing reauthorization are Dr. Alexandra Nicholson, Superintendent, and Glenbrook HIgh School 225’s current Assistant Superintendent for Business/CSBO, Hillarie Siena. Member Choo Valentinas made a motion to approve the account agreements with Northbrook Bank. Member Frank second the motion. The motion passed on a roll call 7:0. INFORMATION AND DISCUSSION ITEMS Principal Kahn shared the following with the Board: ● Expansion of the after school clubs to include Homework, PE, Drama, Korean, and Chorus Clubs. ● Offering outside vendor programs after school including Amazing Minds, Chess Wizards, Noggin Builders, and Young Rembrandts. ● Having two grade levels go to lunch / recess at the same time, putting recess before lunch, and adding time for smoother transitions to / from lunch and recess.
● Paying PE teachers a stipend to be with the students during recess, in addition to the recess supervisors, to help get students involved in play. Superintendent Nicholson summarized District’s 109’s intent to withdraw from NSSED. She explained District 109 held presentations for NSSED member district administrators and prepared a video and powerpoint highlighting their special education programs. NSSED and member districts had questions not covered by these presentations. For example, data to show their special education program’s effectiveness was requested. NSSED Superintendent Dr. Tim Thomas prepared a letter for member districts stating there will be no financial impact on the remaining member districts if District 109 withdraws. Superintendent Nicholson shared that she questioned if there would be a negative impact on the services NSSED provides, and Superintendent Thomas assured her there would not be. Dr. Thomas did share that he believes the special education families and students in District 109 will be negatively impacted because District 109 will no longer have quick access to assistance by other organizations. Superintendent Nicholson further explained that when a district requests to withdraw from NSSED, it is consensual or nonconsensual. If they withdraw with all 17 member districts approving their resolution, it is consensual. Consensual withdrawals go directly to the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) for final approval. Approving the resolution indicates the district believes District 109 can provide excellent special education services to its students without being a member of the NSSED coop. If one or more districts disapprove or abstain, it is nonconsensual. If nonconsensual, the request then needs to be reviewed by Lake Cook, Northfield Township, and New Trier Township before being sent to the ISBE. Superintendent Nicholson stated she will share other information she receives during the next month, and that the Board needs to take action or decide to abstain from taking action on District 109’s resolution during our October Board meeting. Member Choo Valentinas stated that some of the Lake County Schools have withdrawn from NSSED and have come together to offer special education services for their students. She also shared that these districts have driven the changes in the NSSED fee structure, including District 109. Chief School Business Official Cathy Lauria summarized the Treasurer’s report, which includes the General Ledger Summary, the monthly budget summary, and the Year to Date Reports for August 2015. The following information was highlighted: ● The General Ledger Summary, which is part of the Treasurer’s Report, lists the transfers and abatements approved by the Board separately from the regularly listed revenues and expenses. This duplicates the format of the summary pages on the legal budget. For our purposes, they are displayed separately to illustrate the bond dollars moved between the fund, per the resolutions approved by the Board of Education. ● On the monthly summary report, the revenues and expenses will appear inflated because the movement of these dollars appears more than once as they are transferred between funds. The numbers highlighted in blue show the $10 million figure that is reflected in revenues and the $9 million figure in expenses based on the bond issuance. These figures are overinflated due to the movement of the dollars between funds. The expenses are less than the revenues due to the fact that the total amount of the bond issuance will not be expended all in one year though all revenues have been received
this year. ● The graph for the year to date summary is also different for the same reasons. BOARD REPORTS President Spector stated he is responsible for the Northfield Township Board President meetings and will be contacting the other Presidents to schedule meetings when necessary. Superintendent Nicholson stated that at the Northfield Township Superintendent Meeting, they talked in length about District 109 . They also discussed the high schools looking at their starting times and possibly changing these. Also all districts are having issues with Septran and checking to see what other options there are for that type of transportation. These discussions will continue into the next couple of meetings. Member Choo Valentinas distributed and summarized NSSED reports. She also summarized the executive search for a new NSSED superintendent. Member Stamatis summarized the Glenview Plan Commission wherein he stated they are in the middle of their comprehensive plan. He handed out brochures showing what Glenview would like to do in the next decade. He also shared that this Friday is Parents’ Night Out at the North Branch. Member Resis shared that the next meeting of the Northbrook Economic Development Committee is October 14, 2015 at 7:00 AM. Member Frank shared that the Education Foundation’s 5K is this Sunday. She also shared that the PTC had their first meeting on Friday, is sponsoring the fall catalog sale, and is having a mother and son bowling night and a father daughter dance. STUDENT ENROLLMENT Superintendent Nicholson summarized the monthly student enrollment. RECOGNITION OF AUDIENCE None ACTION ITEMS FROM CLOSED Member Choo Valentinas made a motion to approve the leave of absence request from Stacy Geller in its entirety. Member Frank seconded the motion. The motion passed 7:0 Member Choo Valentinas made a motion to approve the leave of absence request from Carolyn Shoemaker in its entirety. Member Frank seconded the motion. The motion passed 7:0 Member Resis made a motion to approve the leave of absence request from Carlissa Pokora in its entirety. Member Greenberg seconded the motion. The motion passed 7:0
Member Frank made a motion to approve from the consent agenda in the regular session items kp. Member Greenberg seconded the motion. The motion passed 7:0. ADJOURN Member Frank made a motion to adjourn. Member Greenberg seconded the motion. The motion passed on a roll call 7:0 at 10:19 PM. _____________________________ ________________________________ Board President Board Secretary _________________ Date
