Brookwood School District 167 Board of Education met Monday, May 20.
Here is the minutes provided by the board:
I. CALLTOORDER
President Doreen Davis called the Board of Education Committee Meeting of Brookwood School District 167 was called to order at 6:34 pm.
Roll call was answered by: Vice President Sandra Washington, Secretary Mary Taylor, Member John Dixon, Member Tiffany Graham and President Doreen Davis.
Absent: Member Mark Myers, and Member Roslon Seals.
5-Present
2-Absent
II. CITIZEN’S COMMENTS: (Limited to Agenda Items) NONE
Approved to enter Closed Session Approved: 5-0 Taylor/Dixon
III. CLOSED SESSION:
The Board went into closed session at 6:34 p.m. to discuss the appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance, or dismissal of specific employees of the public body or legal counsel for the public body, including hearing testimony on a complaint lodged against an employee of the public body or against legal counsel for the public body to determine its validity.
The Board returned from Closed Session at 7:10 p.m.
I. CALL TO ORDER/PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE/ROLL CALL
The Regular Meeting of the Brookwood School District 167 Board of Education was called to order by President Doreen Davis at 7:10 p.m.
Roll call was answered by: Vice President Sandra Washington, Secretary Mary Taylor, Member John Dixon, Member Tiffany Graham and President Doreen Davis.
Absent: Member Mark Myers, and Member Roslon Seals.
II. CITIZEN’S COMMENTS None
III. SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT
Superintendent Bethany Lindsay:
Good Evening Board of Education, Staff and Community Members; we have a
presentation from Champion a Before and After Care provider. Welcome George and Satara from Champions. They will be providing us with information. Earlier this year we drafted a survey in response to the concerns that have been expressed about the lack of before and after school care in our district. Some of the concerns that parents shared was that they needed access to before and after care; they preferred that the service be provided at the school where the student is in school. They felt confident and secure knowing the teachers and they did not feel comfortable transporting their child to a secondary location after school hours. We did a survey and our survey response have been in support of the before and after school care program being offered. It has only been presented as a parent paid option, just as it is in Orland Park, Downers Grove, Alsip, Matteson, Gurnee, North River and Deerfield. We want our parents to have that same access, but only if it’s backed up by our parents accessing it. The parents did respond favorably to the survey. Satara came out and met with myself, Debra Sudd and Kathy Hatczel. She did say that the program was a learning program with a curriculum that’s engaging and fun. It emphasizes STEM, exercise and kinesiology, literacy and connection to the community. So they are here to present you with more information and share what there program has to offer. Thank you Satara and George.
A. Introduced Champion Afterschool Care
Good Evening and thanks for giving us an opportunity to present tonight. We are with Champion, we were contacted by your district because of our reputation with other districts. Some of the school districts that we partner up with in this area are: Orland Park, Alsip, Gurnee, Woodland. We want to make sure we create a partnership with your district and that our program provides a safe place to go and a fun learning experience for our children and families feel confident that the children are in a safe place. Everything we provide we bring out; we do provide service on no school days, early release days and holidays that the school has so we can make sure that children are safe and off the streets. We want to ensure that children have a safe place to go.
My name is George, and I am the Regional Director for the Midwest, I want to say, “I am a real dad and father of two.” So I have had personal issues and objectives for doing KinderCare our parent company, it is the nation’s leader in afterschool care and Champions is subsidiary. I like your logo which is very similar to our motto. I couldn’t stop smiling because they are taking the most important quality. Our children are messages to the future and we must prepare them for the road to success. I wanted to be a part of a company that has a solid footprint and is the nation’s leader in early childhood education. And Champion is also the largest before and after program. Last week we just celebrated our 50th year in the industry. No other company can say that, in the course of 50 years; we have serviced 2 million children through our company. Some companies have Kindercare at work for those working parents. We are a childcare, not a daycare. We want to make sure are children are engaged, educated so it’s continuity with a curriculum and their energized to. All these STEM related topics. We are expanding to Iowa even, the word is spreading to Superintendents and they are asking for the aftercare program. With over 100 programs out there the first one that comes up is Champion. High quality education program that is spreading by word of mouth. We have them come home feeling better and smarter about themselves. It’s not only a professional mission, but a personal one.
Even though the kids don’t see it as a learning environment, we make it fun and educational. Our curriculum is very hands on. Every single day there is something different we are doing. Our curriculum is a two week based, so we rotate every two weeks. We provide homework help, as well as focus on excelling to help them achieve their next level; we provide a snack and a fitness activity. We understand that some children will be there from 6:00 am to 6:00 pm and we want to get them out and fit.
When meeting with the Superintendent, we did discuss that we do all the hiring. But we discussed giving the positions to Brookwood staff members first. Then depending on the number of students and ratio, then we might have to pull in others after that. When we hire Brookwood staff, we will train them, so they understand the daily schedule and the expectations that we have. How to connect with the parents, how to get the parents engaged. Once a month we offer family fun night, to get the families out. That is provided by Champion, nothing extra from them, we just ask that they come out and have fun with their child. In some districts we use the older students and put them in a leadership role to assist the younger students. The students need that ownership piece, they are working with Champion and have pride in seeing their peers grow. We do a survey at the beginning and end of our program so we can see the level. We want to make sure we are assisting with the student’s educational growth. As well, any support that the Superintendent and School Board needs, we will assist. If you need us to focus on something in particular, just inform us and we will focus on whatever it is.
The minimum enrollment for our program is 25 students on-site. So for each site we want to have the minimum number of students or we can combine them.
We will partner with the principals at the school to create a curriculum. Most of our curriculum covers all subjects.
B. STEM/STEAM Camp
Superintendent Lindsay introduced Kathy Hatczel our Curriculum Director to present on the STEM/STEM Summer Camp. The camp will be held at Longwood Elementary for five days, July 29, 30, 31 and August 1 and 2. We will only open it up to 40 students. This camp will be Free, enrollment is based on a first come first serve basis. We will have 20 students in the morning from 8:30 to 11:30 (3rd -5th Graders) and 20 students in the afternoon 12:00 to 3:00pm (6th – 8th Graders).
Students will be engaged with hands-on interactive activities that will promote collaboration, design and modeling, and creativity in science, math, engineering and technology. Parents will be invited on the last day (August 2nd) for a presentation of student projects.
IV. BOARD REPORTS
President Davis asked for the Board to read their Policies that are listed on the agenda. Board members have them in their packets.
Vice President Washington asked is this just for review? President Davis responds, Yes, please review.
Superintendent Lindsay stated that the first Monday of each year in October we will have a day dedicated to our Parent Involvement Policy – 8:95
V. BOARD COMMENTS:
Policy Committee is working on District Policy Update. If the Board Members have any additional suggestions, we will discuss at the retreat. Each Board Member has a copy of the Decorum Expectations, please review.
We are looking for a venue and a date for a Board of Education Retreat/Self Evaluation
VI. RECOMMENDED ACTIONS:
A. Approval to hire Susan Bennett as the Art Teacher for Brookwood Junior High School for the 2019-2020 school year at a salary of $59,415.00 according to the GEA salary schedule
Approved: 5-0
Taylor/Washington
B. Approval to hire Chelsea Jones as a Girls PE Teacher for Brookwood Junior High School for the 2019-2020 school year at a salary of $42,768.00 according to the GEA salary schedule
Approved: 5-0
Taylor/Graham
C. Approval to hire Karen Crettol as a Psychologist for the 2019-2020 school year at a salary of $70,000
Approved: 5-0
Taylor/Graham
D. Approval to hire Melani Boehl as the Social Worker for the 2019-2020 school year at a salary of $56,000
Approved: 5-0
Taylor/Washington
E. Approval to hire Rachele Alessandrini as a Health Clerk for the school year of 2019-2020 at the USA Rate of $15.91 per hour
Approved: 5-0
Taylor/Washington
F. Approval of the discipline and recommendation to terminate employee #520-9
Approved: 5-0
Taylor/Washington
G. Approval to purchase Annual JAMF Licenses for IPADs and MacBook Air Management via Title I Funds in the amount of $18,567.00
Approved: 5-0
Washington/Taylor
H. Approval to renew Annual Frontline AESOP (Absence Management Reporting System) subscription in the amount of $5,821.87
Approved: 5-0
Taylor/Graham
I. Approval to provide a summer STEAM Camp for students in grades 3-8 at a cost not to exceed $3,800.00
Approved: 5-0
Washington/Taylor
J. Approval of Accounts Payable Pre-List in the Amount of $847,628.16, Imprest Account in the Amount of $1,601.78, and Total Payroll in the Amount of $652,557.09 for a Grand Total Amount of $1,501,787.03
Approved: 5-0
Washington/Taylor
K. Approval of the April 29, 2019 Special Board Meeting Minutes
Approved: 5-0
Washington/Taylor
Adjournment at 7:56 p.m. ALL AYE
https://v3.boardbook.org/Public/PublicItemDownload.aspx?mk=50331547&fn=minutes.pdf
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