President Tamara Peterson called the regular meeting of the Board of Education of Bloomingdale Elementary District 13 to order on Monday, December 14, 2009 in the district office at 7:33 p.m.

Roll Call
Present: Mrs. Diane Birkley, Mrs. Fina Klco, Dr. Donald Litchfield, Mr. Terence McKeown, Mr. Cary Moreth, Mrs. Linda Wojcicki, Ms. Tamara Peterson

Absent: None

Others Present: Dr. Kim Perkins, Dr. Linda Schielke, Dr. Darlene Ruscitti (ROE), Linda Segal, Patricia Meyer, Leslie Stavnem, Bonni Rothbaum, Jeremy Gabriel, Kathy Ogden

Consent Agenda
A motion was made by Mrs. Wojcicki and seconded by Mrs. Klco to approve the items shown in the Consent Agenda to include the regular session minutes from 11-23-09; the Approval of Bills in the Education Fund for $52,619.24, the Operations and Maintenance Fund for $45,659.88, the Transportation Fund for $77,271.26, and Payroll (12-10-09) in the amount of $393,892.33 as shown in F.D. 12/14/09-1; the Fund Balance Report as shown in F.D. 12/14/09-2; the Balance Sheet as shown in F.D. 12/14/09-3; the Revenue Report as shown in F.D. 12/14/09-4; the Expenditure Report as shown in F.D. 12/14/09-5; the Activity Report as shown in F.D. 12/14/09-6; the Resignation of Erica DeMuir as a paraprofessional at DuJardin effective 12-1-09; the Employment of Stephanie Wruck as an Early Childhood paraprofessional effective 11-20-09 for a salary of $10.25 per hour; a Family Medical Leave for Dana Thomas effective 10-19-09 through 3-4-10 (FMLA originally submitted 6-22-09).

Roll Call Vote

Ayes: Wojcicki, Klco, Birkley, Litchfield, McKeown, Moreth, Peterson
Nays: None
Motion Carried: 7 - 0

Superintendent’s Report
Dr. Darlene Ruscitti, Superintendent for the DuPage County Regional Office of Education spoke to the Board. Dr. Ruscitti is making her rounds of all DuPage County schools sharing her message of county office services available and current happenings such as: a receipt of $500,000 in gifted funding (1,200 teachers have been trained), Equity in Excellence (encourage more diversity in education), $10 million grant from the DuPage Health Department to target obesity among students, and an October 16th session on bullying (sharing of district “best practices”). Dr. Ruscitti also asked that we encourage community members to complete the 2010 census, so as not to miss out on needed funding. She also shared that Secretary of Education Arne Duncan will be working on the reauthorization of No Child Left Behind (NCLB). Dr. Ruscitti closed her presentation to the Board by extending congratulations to District 13 for the “great things” she is seeing and hearing about us.

Dr. Schielke gave a brief overview of the new “Rocket Math” program being used by students. The program works with two students partnering, one student learns, while the other serves as the checker. Rocket Math has three phases to its program – accuracy, fluency, and automaticity level. Only two new math facts are introduced at a time.

Dr. Schielke shared that the current social studies textbooks at Westfield will need to be replaced for 2010-2011. After researching different publishing companies, the committee has chosen Glencoe (our current provider) as its choice for replacement social studies books. The committee will make a presentation to the Board at its January meeting, at which time they will demonstrate new materials and provide purchase costs.

Board Reports and Requests

• B.I.G. - No Report
• CCTS! - No Report
• Education Foundation - No Report
• LEND – Mrs. Birkley reported that Dr. John Butts from Lake Park High School facilitated the strategic planning meeting which was held last week. The committee had developed a survey to help in their planning efforts and received responses from 28 people. Strategic priorities will be identified and submitted for approval in January. Mrs. Birkley shared with the Board the mission statement that was crafted by the committee.
• NDSEC - Dr. Litchfield reported that the NDSEC Board discussed the programs housed in area school districts and the continuation of the availability of said classrooms. District 13 will continue to house four multi-needs classrooms for the 2010-11 school year reimbursed at a rate of $15,000 per classroom.

Board "Salutes"
The following people received a “salute” from one or more board members and/or the superintendent/assistant superintendent for their contributions to the Bloomingdale School District community:

• Westfield parents Amy Dahly and Lori Deichstetter for the donation of the Mobi teacher wireless tablet systems through Westfield STP/Love for Lucy Foundation in the amount of $1600.
• PE teachers Tom Buchholz, Kelly Giffin, Jeremy Gabriel, Jessica Maynard, Fred Allman, and Mike Ryan for their participation in the DuPage ROE Fitness Gram Assessment.
• Westfield’s student council for organizing the fundraising at school for recipients of the Bloomingdale Township Sharing Tree. A total of $2,161.87 was collected and the student council purchased gifts for children in need.
• Eighth grade student Katsushi Minami for earning the honor of being first chair with his alto saxophone in the Illinois Music Educator’s Association festival band and festival jazz band. Katsushi competed against 40 other very talented students to earn this honor.
• Westfield staff members Deyana Matt and Karma Krzysiak for their hard work in planning the 7th grade field trip to the Art Museum.
• Dr. Kim Perkins for being named Ambassador of the Year by the Bloomingdale Chamber of Commerce.

Other
Board members were asked to return their Myers Briggs descriptors to Ms. Peterson.

Freedom of Information Act Request
Dr. Perkins reported on the receipt of two Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. The Daily Herald sent in its annual request for board meeting dates. And, a reporter for the Daily Herald sent an email requesting information on two former staff members related to title, job description, retirement year, and whether their positions were covered by a collective bargaining unit.

Certificate of Tax Levy (F.D. 12/14/09-7)
A motion was made by Mrs. Birkley and seconded by Mr. Moreth to certify Compliance with the Truth in Taxation Act, adopt the Working Cash Levy Resolution, approve the Certificate of Tax Levy, authorize the Board President and Secretary to sign the necessary documents, and authorize the finance director to deliver these to the County Clerk’s office by the last Tuesday in December.

Roll Call Vote

Ayes: Birkley, Moreth, Klco, Litchfield, McKeown, Wojcicki, Peterson
Nays: None
Motion Carried: 7 – 0

Board Meeting Schedule (F.D. 12/14/09-8)
A motion was made by Mrs. Klco and seconded by Mrs. Wojcicki to approve the meeting dates for January 2010 through December 2010. Voice Vote: all ayes

Resolution to Move Funds from Working Cash Fund to Education Fund R#10 (F.D. 12/14/09-9)
A motion was made by Mrs. Wojcicki and seconded by Mrs. Birkley to adopt the Resolution for the Permanent Abatement of Funds from the Working Cash Fund to the Education Fund and direct the Board President and Secretary to sign said resolution.

Roll Call Vote

Ayes: Wojcicki, Birkley, Klco, Litchfield, McKeown, Moreth, Peterson
Nays: None
Motion Carried: 7 – 0

The Working Cash Fund will be abated by the amount of $258,900. As directed by a signed order from President Peterson, a public hearing will be held on January 25, 2010 for the purpose of receiving public comments concerning the intent of the Board to transfer the above monies from the Educational Fund to the Operations and Maintenance Fund.

Naming Open Meetings Act and Freedom of Information Act Compliance Officers (F.D. 12/14/09-11)
A motion was made by Mrs. Klco and seconded by Dr. Litchfield to appoint Kathy Ogden as its Open Meetings Act and Freedom of Information Act compliance officer at a rate of $1,275 yearly.

Roll Call Vote

Ayes: Klco, Litchfield, Birkley, McKeown, Moreth, Wojcicki, Peterson
Nays: None
Motion Carried: 7 – 0

Dr. Perkins gave a brief overview of the changes to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) which will take effect January 1, 2010. Revisions to the Act were made in order to demonstrate greater transparency within public bodies by creating the presumption that all records should be made public. While the school district agrees with the intent of the Act, one concern we have that is shared by other school districts is that evaluations should be made exempt from FOIA requests. Dr. Perkins stated that he does not feel that it is appropriate to make public a teacher’s evaluation, and does not intend to comply should a request of this nature be received.

2010-2011 School Calendar
The Board reviewed a draft of the 2010-2011 school calendar which is inline with most of the feeder districts and Lake Park High School. The calendar will be an action item on the January meeting agenda.

Budget Projections
Dr. Perkins shared current fund balances and a five-year budget projection through the aid of various charts and graphs crafted by Finance Director Janis Prehn. The Board will use this information to help them as they begin planning for teacher contract negotiations. Board members were asked to pay particular attention to the chart entitled Financial Summary & Projection: Operating Funds. It shows the breakdown of revenues and expenditures that make up the current budget, next year’s preliminary budget, as well as estimated budgets for the following three years. Estimated salary figures for FY12 through FY14 were based upon 2.3% increases.

For Information
Informational items included:

• Enrollment Report (Ms. Peterson commented on the sixth-day enrollment numbers as they compare to previous years.)
• Regional Office of Education 2008-2009 Annual Report
• IASB Workshop (Members Peterson, Wojcicki, and Birkley will attend the Basics of Law on Board Meetings an Practices workshop on Feb. 1, 2010)
• NDSEC Classroom Usage

Closed Session – Discussion of Collective Negotiating Matters and Employment of Personnel
A motion was made at 9:16 p.m. by Dr. Litchfield and seconded by Ms. Peterson to enter into closed session after a brief recess for the purpose of discussing collective negotiating matters between the district and its employees or their representatives, or deliberations concerning salary schedules for one or more classes of employees 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(2); and, the appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance, or dismissal of specific employees of the district or legal counsel for the district, including hearing testimony on a complaint lodged against an employee or against legal counsel for the district to determine its validity. 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(1) as amended by P.A. 93-0057. Voice Vote: all ayes

The Board returned to regular session at 10:30 p.m.

Adjournment
A motion was made by Mrs. Klco and seconded by Mrs. Birkley to adjourn the meeting at 10:31 p.m. Voice Vote: all ayes

Tamara J. Peterson, President
Linda Wojcicki, Secretary