Daily Herald Article on New Teachers Contract

Patrick Garmoe's article on the new teachers contract is in today's Daily Herald, and is also available on-line here.

Getting a Fix on Assets.... Continued... To Be Continued....

The Board was to hear a presentation from Sean Rager of Industrial Appraisal Company and a proposal for doing an on-site inspection and compiling a Fixed Asset Listing for District 3. The total proposal was $5,445.00 to complete the Fixed Asset Listing. Action on the project was tabled by the Board until the December 16, 2004 meeting, as Mr. Rager did not attend the meeting, and no presentation was given.

Cursing the Glare

Fox River Grove resident, and McHenry County Board member, Dan Shea wrote a letter to the Board, asking, on behalf of several residents on the South side of the Middle School building, to consider repositioning the outside lighting on the building's South side. His letter said that the lighting illuminates the homes on that side of the building, causing sleep problems for those living in these homes.

The Board noted in this past Monday's meeting that the architect of the Middle School expansion recommended the current lighting as a way to curb vandalism. Police Chief Polston has also told the District that the lighting helps police observe the school grounds at night.

Board member Bob Nunamaker said that he walked the South side of the school grounds before the meeting, and it seemed to him that the street lights look brighter than the school lighting does. He also suggested that the South side residents have been very good neighbors, and that the district should examine if a shield can be provided to curb the brightness of the school lighting. Supt. John Hill noted that new lenses could be bought to curb the light, but wondered if the new lenses would still adequately light the school grounds. The more area that is lit, Supt. Hill said, the more chance there is that police will be able to see someone who might be tresspassing on school property at night.

The Board and Supt. Hill concluded that the the District would inform Dan Shea that they will invesitgate whether or not new lenses for the school lighting would adequately resolve the issue. If Supt. Hill discovers that new lenses would resolve the issue, and the cost is less than $500.00, then Supt. Hill will purchase the lenses; if the cost is over $500.00, the Board will need to approve the purchase.

Shocking!

The Board approved purchase of three Lifepak CR defibrillator units and three wall cabinets. Each wall cabinet has an alarm, to curb use of the defibrillator unless it is needed.

Supt. John Hill said in his presentation that a defibrillator unit will be required by the state of Illinois to be in all public buildings with athletic facilities in the next 3 years. Supt. Hill got an estimate for three units and three wall cabinets, one unit and wall cabinet for each school gymnasium. The estimate was obtained from Medtronic, and had a total cost of $6,612.30. An additional rebate of $300 is available for each unit if purchased before 12/15/2004, which lowers the cost to $5,712.30.

Board member Kay Laube inquired as to what the District's liability would be with the defibrillator units. Supt. Hill replied that, since the units will be required by law (in an unfunded mandate), the District's liability will be in not having the units available. He noted that the units offer verbal instruction and guidance to the user, and will not produce electric shock if not used properly, or if the unit detects that the victim's heart does not need electric shock.

Supt. Hill remarked that appropriate school personnel would be trained in the use of the defibrillator units, and that training may be made available to Rec. Council coaches and staff as well. Lauren Rosenthal, who was in attendance at the meeting, noted that state law requires that the most trained person at the scene of defibrillation should use the unit, and may not hand over care of the victim to someone less qualified.

Board member Gerry Blohm asked about the life expectancy of the units. Supt. Hill stated that the units have a 5-year warranty, though he expects the units to last beyond the warranty period, and that the batteries for the units and cabinets have a 2-year life expectancy.

Purchase of the three defibrillator units and wall cabinets was approved by the Board with all members voting "Yes" (Board member Don Rose not present).

Gimme Shelter

The Board considered a quote on construction and materials for improving the shelter of the school buses. Supt. John Hill approached this topic at the previous meeting, but no action was taken until the Board had a better idea of the costs involved. The improvements to the transportation facilities are needed, Supt. Hill said, because the school buses have been exposed to some degree of vandalism. Supt. Hill got one quote from Fox Valley Fence of South Elgin, IL for $8,507.00 for materials and one quote from Wilford Concrete of Fox River Grove, IL for $4,200.00 for construction.

Board member Bob Nunamaker inquired why we didn't get two quotes for the project. Supt. Hill replied that the estimates for this project are below the level which would require him to get two quotes, but that he can get additional quotes if the Board requests him to. Mr. Nunamaker said that additional quotes help him understand the value of the quotes obtained. Board member Gerry Blohm added that he likes the idea of the project being done by a local, taxpayer-owned business.

The construction project was approved by the Board with all members voting "Yes" (Board member Don Rose not present).

Don't Know Much About a Science Book

Dr. Mahaffy made a presentation to the Board, describing the process to use the $9815.18 State allotment for book adoption. District 3 gets an allotment from the state 2 of every 3 years. This year, District 3 is using its allotment mostly to adopt a new science book line.

Dr. Mahaffy explained that the allotment must be applied for each year it is available, and that it must be used to adopt state-approved textbooks only. The district is advised to apply for 5% more that allotted, because, as some school districts fail to apply, more funds become available. Dr. Mahaffy said that District 3 has always applied for the additional 5%, and has always received the additional funds.

Books are recommended for adoption by a panel of grade-level teachers, plus teachers specializing in the book's area of study (in this case, science). This year, science books were recommended by McMillan/McGraw Hill, and by Glencoe/McGraw Hill. These books work as a comprehensive program from grade school through middle school. AS Dr. Mahaffy noted during the Board meeting, this makes the program more complete than the current Holt books.

Dr. Jackie Krause remarked that the current Holt books required students to bring materials from home for lab projects. She said that the new books are not as dependent on lab work, and will allow the school to provide materials for lab projects without requiring materials to be brought from home. She added that these materials could be acquired by the schools within their existing budgets.

The application was approved by the Board with all members voting "Yes" (Board member Don Rose not present).

3...2...1...Contract!

It's official! The teacher contract was signed at the Nov. 22 Board Meeting. Here is the press release furnished at the meeting:

On November 22, 2004, the Fox River Grove School District No. 3 and the Fox River Grove Education Association announced that the Board of Education and teachers have reached a three-year agreement which will run through the 2006-2007 school year. The agreement calls for a freeze of the salary schedule in the first year with an increase in retirement benefits of 1.5%. The second year of the contract will include a 1.5% increase in teachers' base salaries, plus an additional 0.5% retirement benefit. The third year of the contract includes a 2.5% increase in teachers' base salaries. The new contract includes a continuation of sharing increases in health insurance premiums between the teachers and the Board of Education.

The Superintendent, John Hill, said that the Board appreciated the professionalism and commitment to the collective bargaining process by the teachers' negotiating team. Both the Board and the teachers' association noted that they were well aware of the district's recent and continuing financial difficulties, despite the passage in the spring of a referendum to increase the educational fund tax rate. Said Rob Holton, the teachers' chief negotiator, "Everyone knows that the District's revenues have not kept pace with its expenditures, and we believe that this contract is both fair to the teachers and will help the District maintain a balanced budget over the next three years." The Board President, Paula Zasadil, echoed this sentiment, stating, "Our goal was to deliver fair pay increases to the teachers and to be fair to the taxpayers and make sure our budget will be balanced for the life of the contract. We believe that we have achieved both goals."

Teacher Contract Approval?

I'm off to the meeting tonight. One of the agenda items, under New Business, is Approval of 2004-2007 FRGEA Contract. Looks like the teacher contract is done. I'll jot down the details, and post the item tomorrow.

Steve

Getting a Fix on Assets

Here's another item from the Oct. 25 Meeting (sorry for the delay -- work and life are both busy these days!)....

At the Sept. Meeting, during the FY04 Audit Report, President Zasadil asked Supt. Hill for a quote to compile a Fixed Asset Listing. The district currently has several informal asset lists, and a Fixed Asset Listing will be required when the district is faced with implementing GASB 34 Accounting Standards, which may be required by state law.

Supt. Hill presented the report that was prepared for him by Industrial Appraisal Company. The quote presented for the Fixed Asset Listing was approximately $5,445.00. This would include Inventory and Appraisal services, annual updating of insurable value, annual updating of the Fixed Asset Report, tagging of inventory with 2,500 tamper-evident tags, and a data file in Micorsoft Excel format.

Supt. Hill remarked that the district currently maintains an asset list of all technical hardware, a/v equipment, and items valued at $500 or more, though this is done on an ad-hoc basis, and would not be sufficient for GASB 34 standard.

Board member Don Rose noted that the district is preparing a technology plan for the schools, and asked if it would make sense to wait to do any appraisal until after any new technology hardware or software approved for the plan was acquired. Supt. Hill agreed, noting that it wouldn't make much sense to tag computers that wouldn't be there very long.

Board member Bob Nunamaker questioned the value of the Listing, remarking, "This won't stop things from walking out the door." Supt. Hill noted that a Fixed Asset Listing would, among other things, track the depreciation of the assets, which would be required under the GASB 34 standard. He added that, without this tracking, the district's insurance rates could be affected.

Bob noted that a huge internal process would be needed to maintain a Fixed Asset Listing, and wondered if the district would be able to save the $5K and do the Listing in-house. Dr. Mahaffy cited the district's current inventory system which, he said, works fine on a day-to-day basis, but might not be sufficient in a catastrophic event. He noted that the schools' libraries have inventoried all televisions on carts and overhead projectors. They did this on their own, when they realized there was a need for such an inventory.

Don Rose also warned that the district might be audited by the Business Software Alliance (BSA). He noted that the Chicago Public Schools were audited and fined $12M, which they negotiated down to $1.2M.

Further discussion on the Fixed Asset Listing was tabled until the November 22, 2004 meeting.

Dist. 3 financial forecast brightens

Patrick Garmoe has an article in today's Daily Herald about the District budget now being in the black, and the phasing in of the referendum dollars and tax rates. There's also a little bit near the end on the teacher contract negotiations. You can read his article here.