New members of the administrative team at School District 166 are Assistant Principal Bill DeWitt and Superintendent Dr. Bill Crandall.
The August 18 school board meeting started on a positive note, with words of encouragement for the School District 166 school board from teacher Lorelei Livingston and Cook County Education Association spokesperson Michael McHugh, who spoke passionately in support of the school board and its efforts and in support of the proposed levy and bonding referendum. The board expressed appreciation for the positive feedback as it went forward with some difficult discussion.
Weapons policy revisited
The board reviewed the Elementary, Middle School and High School student handbooks and the consequences for bringing a weapon onto school grounds was revisited.
Board Member Deb White noted that the handbook calls for a zero tolerance weapons policy, but she said it appears to be “interpretive.”
Superintendent Bill Crandall said the school district policy is zero tolerance, but he said a situation could have multiple levels. He said, for example, a student might forget there is a knife in his or her backpack. “It could be a ‘oh geez, I forgot I had that’ situation. That’s something that may warrant suspension or some disciplinary action. But under zero tolerance, it’s expulsion,” said Crandall.
He noted that if that individual is showing the knife to another student, “We’ve added another layer.”
For a student who forgets and then realizes it and brings the knife to the office, the penalty would likely be less. “You bring it to me, I’m not going to say anything,” said Crandall. “I’m probably going to call mom or pa or whoever to come and get it.”
Board Member Deb White asked, “But what about a student who totally forgets that it’s in the backpack?”
Crandall said that would mean an investigation. How did others find out the student had a knife? “Was there any threatening going on?” he said.
“And why are we not doing zero tolerance?” asked White.
Board Member Jeanne Anderson said the school does request zero tolerance. Superintendent Crandall concurred, “We don’t want people to bring weapons of any kind to our building.”
“But zero tolerance doesn’t mean…you have to be gone from our building for a year,” said Anderson.
“So it’s still subjective,” said White. “It could still be construed as not the same rule for everybody.”
Board Member Terry Collins weighed in, noting that it may not be the same rule for every student. He said if a student has a history of having been suspended once or twice, possession of a knife for that person would be different than it would be for someone without that history.
However, Collins added, “From a board perspective, we need to know anytime the policy if violated by a student. The board needs to be vigilant against any pattern in the administration that would speak to race or gender or any other factor that presses mitigation one way or the other away from harsher penalties or toward harsh penalties…Our oversight is our responsibility.”
White noted the difficulty of dealing with these situations because the board is not privy to student information. She asked how she was to answer the public when they question disciplinary actions, noting one person tells her one thing; someone else another and it’s the same incident. She asked what she is supposed to do “when the phone call comes.”
“So we direct them back to administration?” asked White.
Crandall said board members can say that they understand the superintendent is following the school policy. He said if the school board members really want to know what happened, the board could go into closed session.
After a few more questions, the board commended administration on the updated student handbooks and a motion passed to approve it.
The ABCs of budget cuts
The conference room became very quiet when the board addressed agenda item “Discuss ABC List.” The board studied the list for several minutes before asking questions about the proposed cuts to bring the school within its budget.
The “A” list includes items that would have the least impact on the students’ education. These reduction areas total approximately $600,000. The “A” list includes things such as athletics at $137,326; eliminating co-curricular activities such as Robotics, Knowledge Bowl and other enrichment activities; not completing capital projects such as the playground, roof and floor repairs; reducing ground maintenance; and more. Also, included in the “A” list is technology infrastructure but a reduction estimate has not been included in the $600,000 yet. The chart notes only that “this could be a big category.”
The “B” list represents the next level of priority. These reductions total approximately $360,000. That list includes staff reductions ranging from eliminating one custodian, an elementary school teacher, the technology integration specialist and technology assistant, as well as significantly reducing the guidance counselor, nurse, social worker and mental health support.
The “C” list includes items that would be the highest priority to keep in the budget. These reductions total approximately $530,000. This list includes further reductions of another elementary teacher, a kindergarten teacher, reducing early childhood/ pre-kindergarten programs; creating one section of middle school and one section of high school. This list also calls for a reduction in transportation costs, but the worksheet notes that this would be difficult in this rural community where a bus route cannot just be eliminated.
At one point in the tense financial discussion, White quipped, “We could make pies and sell them.”
Finally, Collins said, “Ballots go out in October. We need something by the end of September that basically says that if the vote fails, these are the cuts that will be adopted at a minimum. I think we just need to be honest with people.”
The board agreed that it needs to finalize the list of potential budget cuts at its September 1 board meeting.
In other business
. The board reviewed the list of work being done to get the building ready for students on September 6. Maintenance Supervisor Tom Nelson expressed appreciation to Julie Nelson, Kari Benedix, Mark Falk, Hunter Farley, Casey Everson, John Pearson and Greg Pearson for all the hard work they put in over the summer.
. The board expressed concern about the bus garage and the need to park buses outside until the ground freezes because the moisture in the barn is causing rusting to undercarriages.
. Board Member Lunde reported on the efforts of the Safe Routes to School Committee. She said two “Walk to School Days” are planned, for September 14 and October 5.
. The board approved the hiring of volunteer football coach Bruce Brisson and volunteer cross country coach Dylan Dragswiek. The board also approved the hiring of Krystal Baumann as Minnesota Reading Corps Tutor.
. The board approved the 2016-2017 coaches and faculty handbooks.
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