001Everybody ready on this end? Shannon, you ready? Everybody on this end ready. Let's get this show on the road. What do you think? You ready to get the show on the road? Right on. Let's call this meeting to order. Madam Secretary, will you call roll, please? Garrison here. Lawler here. Henshaw here. Wesley here. Moore here. Bund. Yes. Mr. Williams, you want to lead us in the pledge. Have I picked on you before? Okay, you're going to lead the pledge tonight then. Starting time you'd like. I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible with liberty andice for all. Thank you. I know you're doing it. Is someone going to who's introducing our education excellence? Then let you got the floor.
002So we have Mrs. Fy Shore here tonight from Marian Junior High School Choir and they have been awarded a very prestigious honor um from Disney. So she is here to tell us all about it. And I apologize if I offend you by saying that looked like Pat Blue ribbon on there. That would never occur to me. We're very different in that way. Linda, you can move up or you go anywhere you want to. Good evening. Um, I'm Elizabeth Biasy Shore and I am the choir director at Marian Junior High. I have taught for 32 years, 29 being in the Marian unit 2 school district. 12 of those years I spent as the high school choir director. The last show I directed at Marion High School was High School Musical. And yes, this is a 17-year-old
003t-shirt. Um, so save everything. Um, and then I spent the last 17 years at the junior high. And knowing that I've been at the junior high for 17 years, that honestly that just blows my mind. It's unreal. Um, the idea that I've taught for 32 years is equally mind-blowing. Um, but the biggest award so far of my career has been to receive this honor from Disney. It's the Disney um on Broadway School of Excellence. And I just happened to come across an email this summer, end of July. and they were having a contest to win um royalties, all your royalties free, your um production materials free, and then some Broadway workshops with your musical. And I thought, well, you know, our musicals are pretty good. So, sure, I'll apply. And we had to have a
004student statement, and this is before school started. So, I thought about the leads that I had in the Willy Wonka musical and I emailed my students. This was the week before school started and I said, "Hey, we're going to we have an award that I'm trying to apply to, but I have to have a student statement and there were three questions that the students could choose from." And not even knowing if these students would check their email over the summer. Um, the very first week of school, I think I saw them two days and I said to I had I think I sent about six or seven emails out to the lead characters and I just said, you know, please check your email. Um, I need someone to respond to these prompts um so I
005can apply for this award. And so Eli Thompson was one of the students that responded. I think out of the six or seven emails I sent, I received two student responses. and I chose Eli's um response to submit to the um Disney on Broadway. So, um I'm gonna just kind of gonna go through this. Um the program was created as a part of a celebration of Disney's 30th year on Broadway. It calls upon schools to show their creativity, leadership, and student engagement across all theatrical disciplines to be named 21 winners. So, we are one of 21 schools that were chosen and there were only two junior high schools chosen. So, first of all, when I received the email that we'd won, I was shocked because I mean, when I, you know, when I applied, actually,
006I almost did not press the send button. Um, I filled out everything. I had to find pictures and, you know, all all of these things, look up all these documents on our school improvement thing. And um there was one blank that after I pressed submit button, you know how the red box shows up that you forgot something. And one of the things that I didn't forget, but it asked for my thespian troop number. Well, I didn't have the thespian troop number. And so then I'm like, "Oh, gee, what do I have to do to get a thespian troop number?" So I looked that up and of course you've got to join the thespian society, get a membership, all these things. And it was going to cost several hundred dollar. and plus you had to be
007a member before you applied and the deadline was quickly approaching. So I almost exed out of the whole thing and just said we're not going to win anyway. But I said, "Ah, why not?" So anyway, we are also an official thespian troop at the junior high. I had to pay for fast processing and all those things. Um but then of course I submitted it and then I was astonished to find out the last week of September that we were again one of the 21 schools um accepted and I assumed that they probably picked you know like 10 high schools or 10 junior highs and it was not even at all. Um so out of the 21 schools two junior high schools and most of these schools um the other junior high for example is a
008school of 9007th graders only. Yes, 900 seventh graders. And then I looked up some of the other schools. Most of them are private schools. Um, most of them are very highly funded. They send their students in junior high in seventh grade to college visits. In eighth grade, they take their students overnight to college visits. So again, these are highincome school districts with lots of money uh to spend. And you guys support me a great deal, but as far as our demographic, we definitely do not meet the demographic of the other schools. So, um, these are the schools right here that are listed. And then, of course, I highlighted our little Marian, Illinois right there. So, here is the map. We put Marion on the map right there. So, 21 schools. Um, I don't know why
009there aren't any Western schools. I did find that odd. Um, 118 schools applied and 21 were chosen. So, to be chosen, you had to be an accredited school in the United States. Again, an active thespian troop. I read that, but I didn't really know what that meant, but I had to have a number. So, that's where I was like, "Oh, I don't have a thespian number, but we do now." Um, again, it's got to be a middle school show, grades six through nine, or a high school show. There were certain titles that I had to choose from. So, that was the other thing when I applied. um I was not willing to compromise my musical to win an award. So when I choose a show, I choose a show based on the talent that I
010have, the students that I have, and I think will that can fit those roles. Luckily, the show that I was thinking of doing was on that list. So we were still good. Um so I had to submit my license contract within a week. Only one application per school. The application had to be submitted by a staff member. The eligible titles were Alice in Wonderland, which I've already done once and we were going to do that during COVID. U Miss Ellie Moore was going to be a Chesar cat and we ended up doing that online. Um that was the second time. Uh Frozen Jr. which we've already done. The Little Mermaid, which we've already done. My daughter was Ariel in that. Moana was done by Art Starts or Creative or somebody. Newsies had just been done
011by the high school. There's one show left. It was High School Musical Junior and that was actually a show I was considering. Um, one of the criteria they said for being selected was the reason why you chose the show. And the reason why I chose that show is because I have several very very talented male actors as well as females. But I have some really strong male voices that can play those roles of Zack Efron and all those highpitched pop uh pop singing styles. Eli is one of those students. He was um Charlie in Willy Wonka. you might remember him. Um, so the other reason I said is because, uh, when I did the show 17 years ago, um, we sold out the Civic Center both nights. It was standing room only. We add actually
012had to add chairs. And 17 years ago, I made $15,000 on that show. So, I don't know what that that's probably $25,000 today. So, it was the most successful show that we had had. And that was the reason why I chose it. And they also said when we had our webinar um with all of the winners that you could not change the show. Some some people had asked can we change the show that we had originally submitted and they said no that part of the reason you were granted this award is because of the show you chosen. So like I said um we were still good because that was a show that I was thinking about doing anyway. So what did we win? That's always the big um question. Free performance rights. So, you have
013to play pay royalties to music theater international and Disney to perform these shows. Um, all of our production materials are free like scripts, um, the tracks, um, choreography, DVDs, things like that. Um, the logo pack to let us create the posters and free video license so we can sell the video to friends and family members. This is the most fun and I can't wait to see this though is we get the opportunity to have virtual webinars with theater professionals. So, we haven't had that one yet. Um, I can't wait and I I hope we have more than one. So, that's I think the most exciting part. So, these were just some of the demographics I had to submit. Our school enrollment is 721. Um, the black, indigenous, and people of color is 24%. And I
014am very proud that in our choir we have more than 20% population of um both people of color and our poverty rate in the choir is probably at about 75%. So we definitely serve all students and especially the lower income students and I'm very very very proud of that. Um and this is the part that kind of makes me laugh all the time. So number of full-time theater teachers. I guess that's me. That's one. Um number of part-time theater teachers. I laugh at that one. Can I put like a 0.002? Um, we have Christa Shamille who is our choreographer and stage manager. She gets a whopping 2% stipen. Um, number of volunteer theater teachers. Well, there would be one there as well and that is a former employee of Marion unit 2, Dota Starky, who
015was one of my best friends that has volunteered ever since she retired and returned back to Marion. She actually drives from Vienna to our rehearsal every single day. Um, so that means a lot to have people like that help me. I obviously have a lot of parent volunteers as well. But, uh, when the football team runs out with their 25 coaches running behind them, I laugh so hard. I'm like, you know, I got more people than the football team. I Wow, I didn't know I needed that much help. Gee. So, anyway, I just I have to laugh every single time. So, you know, hey, you ought to read all their names when we have to in the spring when we have to approve them all. I Yeah. Yeah. So, it won't take very long to
016read our names here. And then something unusual you may not know because in Marian, the the choir director has always been the musical director. And I assume that that's normal because that's how I was raised. Yolan Peterson was the um the musical director and she's what started musical theater here in Marin, Illinois. And I just assume that in every school district, the music director is the director of the show. And that is not the case in the majority of schools. Most of the time the music director is just the music director and the theater teacher is the director and I can't even imagine like not being the director of a show. I did that once. I was the music director once of a show and I didn't really like it. I like to be in
017charge. Um so one of the main uh things is like how did students how were students involved? And when I first um started submitting the application I'm like um well they're not involved in the production. and I just tell them what to do. They, you know, I, you know, I do it all. And then I thought, well, that's not actually true. So, um, one of the things they, they wanted, how did we use the students choreography? I have, uh, student dance captains, um, electricians and lightboard operators. We have students run the spotlight. Um, Zachariah, his brother, actually was one of our spotlight operators. So, I have students from the high school actually that come back and help me every year, which is really, really nice. um hair, makeup, wigs, students do all of that. Um
018front of house staff, selling merchandise, passing out programs, uh marketing, PR, we have students that that design ads, they sell ads. Um and then fundraising. Um it only costs $25 to be in the chorus of our show and that's all of their costumes. A costume rents for about $75 and so that's just a a nominal expense. It does not cover the cost of the costumes. The choir covers the rest of the cost. And then I always tell them, you sell a box of candy, you got your costumes covered. If you're a lead character, it costs $50. It's two boxes of candy. So again, we the the choir subsidizes the rest of that through our own fundraising. So one of the other things I think that really helped us is that I had to submit some
019pictures and the pictures are from the Marian Civic Center. And of course, we have professional lighting in a professional stage. And I mean, when you look at these pictures, I mean, wow, we really look like we're at the Fox Theater or something like that. So, um, we are so blessed here to have the civic center and to have use of that professional stage. I don't know of very many junior high schools that have the opportunity to perform on a professional stage with professional staff. So, we are so blessed in that area as well. Um, I also have student um, wardrobe managers and they go with me to SIU and to Johnny Logan and we pull the costumes, they inventory the costumes, they help fit the costumes, um, assign the costumes, sometimes sew the costumes and
020return them. And when you have a cast of about a hundred students and multiple costumes, that is overwhelming task. My room, if you come in my room during musical time, um, it's um, a closet. I mean, I hang on everything. One year the Prometheian was delivered, the weak costumes came in, it was really hard not to hang costumes on the Prometheian board. I did not do it, but when Mr. When Mr. Williamson brought that in, I was like, "Thank you." And I'm thinking, "Wow, that's a nice hanger, but I didn't do it." But gosh, it was hard. Um, so that I mean, I really do have a lot of student leadership, even though like at first when I thought about it, I didn't think I did, but I really do. Um, so this was the
021statement that Eli submitted. Um, the question was, "What are you most excited to learn about making theater through this process?" So, I'll let him read that and then when we're done with the presentation, if anyone has any questions you want to ask me or him, then you may. Um, I'm really excited to learn how all the different parts of making theater come together. It's it's fascinating to see how many how a script transforms during rehearsal and how actors bring characters to life. I can't wait to dive into set design and how it sets the mood for a show. I'm also interested in how the whole team collaborates from directors to lighting designers to create a unified vision. Plus, I love the idea of connecting with the audience and seeing how a performance can spark conversations
022and emotions. Overall, it feels like a magical process. Thank you. [Applause] And that makes me cry. I mean, how can you say it better than that, you know? And from an eighth grade student, I just think thank you. So then I had to submit three photos from our last three shows. Um so this was right after COVID. So the first um show was Mary Poppins and I was looking through the pictures of Mary Poppins and I'm like I don't know what to say about this show. It was like the first show back. We lost half of our cast. We went from 115 in choir to 40. And then the next year when we did the musical I think we maybe had 65 students in choir. and we had about 40 students on stage and I
023mean it was good for what it was but it when I look back you know it wasn't the best show I've ever done but we did it and we were there and so I submitted this because again this was Disney on Broadway and I wanted to submit a Disney show so I thought you know this was classically dis classic Disney this was when Mary Poppins and Bert they did their quick change from their regular clothes to this the jolly holiday in their white it it was a 30 second change. I don't even know how we did it. And we had them up on people's shoulders. So, um I just I just wrote that. I mean, I just wrote what it was. And that was the first show. And then, um this one was from Frozen.
024And the first photo I chose from Frozen was of Elsa when she did her quick change up on the marching band stand um and the chandelier of foil coming down from the stage because it looks so awesome. And then I read the directions and I think you know one of the reasons maybe why we got the award is I've learned from all the applications the college applications my daughter was in pageantss interviews things like that is answer the question and when I went back first of all I chose the really pretty picture and then I'm like wait in little parenthesis it said and if you if your picture shows how the students were involved that would be relevant. So, I'm like, "Okay, wait a minute. Change the photo." And then I put this photo in
025because it shows Zachariah, Eli's brother. He made the crowns for his head and for Anna's head. Um, the students put the um shards of ice on the stage. Um, the students also accessorized all of their costumes. They did the makeup and then um a lot of the choreography like um the students up here doing the acrobatics that was all student le. So, um I changed that photo to represent the students. And then the last photo, and this isn't actually the photo that I submitted, but I couldn't find the exact one, but this is from Willy Wonka Jr. Um the students over here, you could see that they came up with their own contortions. They also came up with their own props. This is there's no knowing where you're going. This is a scary scene kind
026of. And so, they had all kinds of scary props that they were doing. um student helped make the boat here and um we had students bring out the props and everything. So that's what I chose from Willy Wonka. So we are proud to present High School Musical Junior April 11th and 12th at the Marian Civic Center. Um this is our official High School Musical Junior logo. Maybe that won't remind you of the previous logo, Mr. BL. Different colors. Different colors. All right. And then unfortunately this is very pixelated but this is a picture of the choir the day that I announced it. We called them down and I I wore my Mickey Mouse ears and we had blue cookies u from Larry's Disney cookies and they were quite excited at the announcement. The decel level
027in the choir room was very loud and Mrs. Moss came and I would like to thank the school board and my administration from Mrs. Moss who was my principal for several years to Mr. Williamson, who I worked together at the high school as a band director for many years and um now at the junior high. Um I know that I am blessed to have a school district that supports our program. And when I think of the money that you guys spent and the things you let me do, we're going to see Wicked on Friday before everybody else in the entire town. So my students will see Wicked before everybody else. Sorry. Um we just went to see Peter Pan at the Fox Theater. Uh, we have already seen Hamilton at the Fox this year and
028I realized people asked me how to how are you here? Who you know what are you? They asked me if I was the principality of the school the other day. You must be pretty important. And I said, I'm I'm just the choir director. Like, well, gee, you must be really respected that school for them to let you take these students. And I'm like, I am. Thank you. And I do thank you and I do appreciate it. And I realize that we are so blessed here in Marion and we always have been to have support of our music program. So, I just want to thank you. turnout for the musical. Hopefully, we'll have another sellout like we did 17 years ago. And if you have any questions, we'd be glad to ask answer them. Does only
029the students in the choir get to participate in musical or Yes, that is a requirement that you're in choir and that always has been a requirement and that's how you get people in choir is you make it um an exclusive thing. And that's one thing when you are the choir director, you can have that. If you're the theater teacher, you can't have that role. But as the choir director, yes, you have to be in choir to be in the program. And we have 140 students in choir this year. Um, which is the second highest number. The last the other highest number was when I had 150 students back when my son was a sixth grader. Um, so and that was uh 12 12 years ago. So we have completely recovered from COVID plus plus some.
030And then just out of curiosity, how many hours do you spend getting Have you ever calculated how many hours you spend once you start? I don't really No, I never have. Um, we rehearse for two months after school. We rehearse for an hour, Monday through Thursday after school um for the first month. And then for the second month, we rehearse for two hours after school. This is Monday through Friday. But then we also start in January and the rehearsals are a after school. Um, and then that doesn't count finding costumes, doing all the other stuff that I do. This is just um the actual physical hours put in. And then for a benefit to the students because like they don't see the the the money aspect of it, you know, it was a monetary award
031and that we got the free rights and royalties. Um, but to kind of make it something tangible for the students, I told the students that all of their costumes were going to be free this year. So, they don't have to pay anything to be in the musical. Um, the choir will subsidize that. So, when you say we get the rights and royalties, just kind of tell us if we didn't get that, what would I mean, for a junior show, it's about $1,000. If you were if it was a high school show, it would be5 to $6,000. It's just the the junior shows, it's they're supposed to be like low budget. Um, so like anybody can do them, but then we just have this opportunity to be at the civic center, so we can like do
032so much more. Anybody else have any questions? I don't have a question, but I do want to just I'm gonna cry because I had a stu I had a theater student during co and the opportunities you make for these kids are second to none. Um my daughter went and sang at Carnegie Hall um on a recommendation from Mrs. Shore and it wasn't Mrs. Shore made made a recommendation and she just got in. She had to learn an Italian Arya and submit vocal only and you know she had that experience and met people from around the world and met her people and I just think that what you do is so special. I I would second that. I mean being at the junior high for so many years, Mrs. uh shore has you showed your heart
033tonight which I didn't expect you to do but but um you truly have a heart for the kids and what you do and um I have seen firsthand just what you do on a daily basis in your classroom and I was always a joy to go in and watch you teach uh because you you bring 150% every single day and so I just want to say thank you see I just can't talk about it I just have to do it but don't make me talk about Well, tell us show us your award the award or the plaque or Oh, yes. So, this is just a nice plaque um that has the article in it from the Southern Illinoisan and it just says Mar Junior High School, Elizabeth Basy Shore, October 8th, 2024 Disney on Broadway
034School of Excellence. Cool. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Keep up the good work and uh we're not going to let you retire unless you find someone else, you know, like Miss Peterson here. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. [Laughter] Thank you. Seriously, thanks. It's a huge honor. It's a huge I I saw your Facebook live that day and I don't want to cry now, but I cried that day. I appreciate it. Thank you. Only thing is kids want to go to Disney World. If you can come up with [Laughter] $50,000, we can afford the the Broadway experience there. We just can't afford to get there. Is that buses? That's a lot of kids. It's bus or airplane. I mean, that's the only thing that would really hold us back because we
035can afford to do the workshop. Thanks. Thank you so much. That's very nice. Very good. Moving right along, next item on the agenda is audience of visitors. An opportunity for anyone to speak before the board that might have concerns or questions or no questions but thoughts. Going once, going twice. No one's going to Good. I guess they took the mic so no one could talk anyway. So, and the mic's been moved. So, moving right along. Anthony, do you have anything? No, we're good. That's good. Uh, moving right along. Who wants to make the consent motion for the consent agenda, please? Mr. President, I make the recommendation to approve the consent agenda as presented. Minutes from the October 15, 2024 regular meeting minutes as presented. the October supplementary bills and the November bills for payment as
036presented. Donations back or we'll let Mrs. Moss go ahead and read those whichever you prefer. Yes, I can go ahead and read them. Uh Valerie Cloudy to Longfellow um venture for media center staff uh used valued at $1,8.31. Sorry, I struggled with that one. Tommy Kobe, Edward Jones to Adams, White Flags to Field Day valued at $75, and Everett and Lisa Wilson to Adams, a ping pong table. Uh, Don Soul to Washington, kids meal certificates valued at $250. Mark Bruce to Washington, dental supplies valued at $200, Legion's Bank to Marian High School, sponsorship for annual basketball shootout, $2,000. and Marian Chevrolet to Marian High School. One engine and one transmission to the Marian High School auto class. Very good. We have a second. Second. Before we vote, does anybody want to remove any of the
037items? Hearing none. Madam Secretary, we have a motion and a second. No discussion. No further discussion. Would you call roll, please? Henshaw, yes. Wesley, yes. Moore, yes. Bundren, yes. Garrison, yes. Lawler, yes. Yes. Moving right along to uh new business. Kim, you now everybody for out in fake book land. We just made the last second installment last week. Now we're talking about the new levy, right? That's correct. You're going to get us all shot. But you're doing the presentations. They'll shoot you, not us. I hope I don't get shot. I guess I shouldn't say that. Should I run schools? No. No. Um, so correct. In your board packet, uh, you had the 2024 levy packet. Um, in that is included included in that. Okay. is a certificate of levy uh which this is a copy
038of it. Um and it's listed by funds how much we are levying for each fund. Um and this will be filed at the courthouse both Williamson and Johnson after it's adopted in December. So we have to present uh the resolution that it's being presented. You'll have to approve the resolution. It's got to lay for 20 days and then you'll adopt it in at the December board meeting. So, um, in the tax levy process, we have to estimate the dollar amounts for each fund that are high enough to allow us to secure any new growth revenue for each year. And we have to file our tax levy with the county clerk five to six months before we know what our actual property tax extensions will be. We normally don't get the extensions till May, June, July,
039something like that. So, everything's a guess. Um, the most important thing to remember about the tax levy is we must adhere to the property tax extension limitation law, which is also known as PEL for existing property. PEL allows growth in extended taxes of the lesser of CPI from the previous December which in this case was 3.4%. So we either get 5% or CPI whichever is the least amount and we're guaranteed 3.4% growth in extended taxes on the existing EAV. So if your EAV gets changed then it it's a little more than 3.4%. That is based on your existing EAV. So if we levy less than 3.4% we're going to leave growth on the table uh with new property is exempt from ptail. So we have to include estimates to capture that growth. Um, so I
040estimated a 20% increase in EAV from the prior year. Um, property values are increasing. We're still having lots of sales. Um, so we got to capture that growth. on page 10 of your packet. Um the publication is there and this is kind of a copy of it what it'll look like in the paper and it compares the extensions from last year which is what we're receiving this fiscal year to what we're going to ask for in our levy. And that shows a 25.92% increase. Now, property tax levy is not going to be that much. All we can get is 3.4%. We can ask for a billion dollars. We're not going to get it. But you got to cover your growth. So, this publication will be in the Maring Star on December the 5th. It can't
041be published more than 14 days ahead of time or less than seven days from the date of the public hearing which will be at the next board meeting on December the 17th at 5:45. So even though the tax levy is estimating a 20% increase in EAV, uh we would not be able to get more than 3.4% in property tax extensions from all existing properties as long as there's no change in the EAV. Does that make sense? Okay. So, tonight I'm asking you to approve the resolution that the tax levy has been presented to the board at least 20 days prior to being approved. So, we always present it in November. It's approved at the December board meeting. It has to be filed by the last Tuesday in December with the county clerks. So, after you
042approve it, I will take it the next day and file it with both Johnson and Williamson County clerks so that we'll get our extensions next year. Um, again, the public hearing will be at 5:45 December the 17th before the regular board meeting. Do you have any questions? I don't want to put you on spot. Do you know what we show the extensions? What did we collect this year? So, The extensions for this fiscal year are 33,599,72764. We won't collect all of that, but um we did get our first payment. Uh it was 17,389,751.72 and that represents 51.76% of the extensions. I did talk to the treasurer. He said the second payment should be he's only collected 85% of the property taxes. So, I'm guessing the next payment will probably be around 10 million because I
043think they didn't they give everybody to the 12th without Yes. Pay up to the 12th or third the day before it's due without interest. Yes. So, but I guess my question our extension to collect this year was 33 million. Yes, that that's what our extensions are. And then you know what last year we would have had in our is that what we would published every well last year um it would have showed the extensions from the year before and then the levy would have been less which I mean I don't we haven't left anything on the table no [Laughter] I figured um 20 million in new property and a 20% growth in EAV um in the calculations. Okay. So, yeah, we're limited regardless of what we say we're limited, right? All right. I can ask
044a million dollars. I'm not going to get it. I'm only going to get 3.4% of existing property. But in order to capture, you know, new growth, I got to get because if you don't capture it, you never get it. It's gone. So, and always love you more. Even over PEL, we got to capture power forever. That's right. If we don't capture it now and the EAV goes up more than what we estimated, no longer get it. That's what everybody thinks about just caps. But it's actually move to the extension. If you don't do it now, it's And then just for everybody, everyone on Facebook land and present, uh, we're only approving the resolution tonight to publish that and we'll have a special meeting next month on December the 17th at 5:45. Correct. Where they will
045then be able to public comment on the budget. And then on the levy I mean on the levy and then during the regular meeting we'll actually vote on the levy. So anybody wants to and I will have copies of all this here if anybody wants to come out and look at it be available and the publication that's all by statute what we put in and how put in what font exactly. We can't add anything to it or take anything away. It has to have a certain border around it. This doesn't have the border, but the one in the paper does. Um, yeah, there's only four bullet points. Yeah, four bullet points and that's all you can have. So, if anybody has a further question, then it will be in the Mar show up next to
0465:45. Does anybody else have any questions? I have a motion to approve the proposed 2024 tax le I move that we approve the proposed 2024 tax levy resolution as presented second please any further discussion hearing none thank you Kim for the as always wonderful presentation secretary we call roll Please. Wesley, yes. Moore, yes. Yes. Garrison, yes. Waller, yes. Tenshaw, yes. Yes. Moving right along. We have a motion on the e-learning plan. Everybody jump at once. Mr. President, I make a motion that we approve the e-learning plan as presented. Second. I'll second. really no change to anything. It's just our plan for uh when we have e-learning days. Um and that is all online and our teachers have copies of that and make sure everybody's all our new people will make sure we'll have their copies
047of it. So I appreciate you. I'm sorry. I appreciate how you It's the schedule of the work day for the teachers and school day for the student. Correct. broken down by times of class. Yes, that's right. In case we have case global warming is a hoax and we have a bunch of snow days, right? We don't miss school, we don't have to worry about AC storm walking out and whether or not it falls on the sidewalk like we did years and years ago. Have any further discussion hearing? None. Madam Secretary, will you call roll, please? Moore, yes. Bundren, yes. Garrison, yes. Lawler, yes. Yes. Wesley. Yes. Well, oh yes. Jared, can you give us a motion on our junior high high school athletic association? Mr. President, I make the recommendation that we approve the boys
048and girls bowling and golf as a Southern Illinois junior high school association activity for the Marian Junior High School for the spring of 2012. Second. Second. Any discussion? I appreciate both of those teachers volunteering the first year. Very nice. Any other discussion? What you going to tell them? You might as well let everybody know on Facebook who the teachers were that volunteered. You want a compliment? Um it was um Austin Hammond [Music] and Carrie Jackson. Thank you. Yeah, I did. I can see him. Any any other further discussion hearing? Not hearing none. Madam Secretary, will you call roll, please? Bend, yes. Garrison, yes. Lawler, yes. Hung, yes. Wesley, yes. More, yes. Flyer. Bryce, are you ready? I'm ready at it, buddy. All right, Mr. President, I'd like to make the recommendation to approve the following
049personnel recommendations as presented. Employment. I really don't want to get this one wrong. Certified. Is it Halley or Haley? Hie. Harley. Hi. Myers. Mayors assigned the first grade in Washington. effective for the 2025 2026 school year. Aiden AJ Seagars assigned the third grade at Washington effective for the 2025 2026 school year. Christa all assigned the Marian High School science effective for the 2025 2026 school year. May I have a second, please? I'll second. Any discussion before we I guess you're all on your seat. You know, we got to approve you before you get introduced. M madam secretary like drum roll please. Harrison. Yes. Lawler. Yes. Pinshaw. Yes. Wesley. Yes. Moore. Yes. Yes. Yes. Miss Vincent, you up first, my dear. Okay, it is uh my pleasure, Mrs. Guyer's pleasure to introduce to you two um
050wonderful people tonight. I'm going to start with Hie Mayers. Um she has taught second and third grade in Mount Vernon, Illinois. Um just to kind of give you a little bit of insight into her, when we spoke to her references, um I wrote her down so I wouldn't get it wrong, but they had nothing but wonderful things to say about her. She's a hard worker. She's compassionate. She's empathetic. Um she cares for each and every student. Um one of the things that we absolutely loved about her was they said that she she sets the bar the bar very high for herself but also for others. So, we are so excited to welcome her to Washington and we think that she's going to be a great fit. [Applause] Welcome. And next I'm going to introduce Mr.
051AJ Seager. So he is actually no stranger to Washington. AJ spent some time um whenever he was getting his undergrad degree at SIU with us and he actually student taught uh in fifth grade. So, um, he was gone for a short time and in that short time he got married. He's teaching third grade. Um, but just a few things about him. His his references were absolutely glowing. I mean, I think that we we were just full of so much life whenever we we heard all about him and we we knew that going into it because of his time that he spent with us. But, um, some of his references said, and he's probably going to blush on me, but he is a true presence in the classroom. He aids in the success of the entire
052school community. He's a helper and truly has a servant's heart. Even though he's relatively new in his career, a colleague mentioned that everyone would be so lucky to go and watch him teach. So, we are excited to have AJ Seekers join our team. Congratulations. Welcome. Mr. Williams, you're up next. Good evening, guys. Uh, Miss Crystal Odd comes to us uh from uh she's got her master's degree in biology from Southern Illinois University and she uh has been recently working as a student teacher at Carbondale Community High School under Miss Tracy Shackles. Um she's also been doing uh grant research work under Dr. Grant Miller uh as part of Southern Illinois University's uh project uh a research project. He's the co-director of uh this research project. And so one of those references Dr. Miller expounded that
053uh Miss Odd as a research assistant is uh been in the process of developing uh science curriculum uh using evidence to support learning over the course of his time with her and expanded expounded I should say um over and over again about how reliable she is, how forward of a thinker she is and what a great critical thinker she is also. Um and I believe a lot of the work was with the Asian Karp. Is that right? Yes. Okay. So, the invasive species, the Asian carp, has been a lot of the uh the the discussion and the research. So, take that to Miss Tracy Sha Shackles who teaches at Carbondale High with AP biology as well as biology classes for general education students. And she says that Miss Odd is very, very good at being
054able to take those real world applications of things like researching the Asian carp and getting kids to understand that those are the real world applications of things like biology. So, as a principal and I know as a science department, they get really excited about those kinds of things. So, uh with that, Miss Crystal Odd will be a science teacher at Marian this coming this coming fall. [Applause] Welcome to Mar. that I have some buddies that are commercial fisherman up on the Mississippi River. I'm sure they don't like them at all. No, they actually there's a market for them now. There is. Yes. And they take them, they ship them to Wisconsin, they go to Canada and back to China. That's excellent. And uh if you really want to have fun, you go out in the
055summer and they have uh it's like Asian carp bingo. You know, you drive the boats and you take 20 gauge shotgun and you target practice and they jump out of the boat. Now, as long as they have you ever been hit one? I haven't. I've seen the videos. They they get spooked easily. Jump right out of the water. I've been hit. It bruised for I got hit when we were duck hunting one year. It hit me right here and it about to knock the breath out of I'm sure it did. Those those fish are huge. super dangerous if you're water skiing or just using a a motorized boat. I mean, it's it just it's pretty cool. The first time you see it, it's pretty Cash River. No, this is Calvin County up on that jump.
056That's what you There are Asian carp there's Asian carp in the cash that got in there. But we'll have to talk about that. Yeah, absolutely. What they do, they pick them out, they catch them with their nets, and they just gut them and ship ship them back to China. Okay, moving right along. All right, Mr. President, I'd like to approve the following personnel recommendations as presented. Uh, Randy Stanley, nurse, Brandy Stanley, nurse float position effective November 12, 2024. Good. Is the amend correct? Yes. Amen. Jennifer Russell, administrative assistant, assigned to the district office, effective December 2nd, 2024. Diana Shadowins, hall monitor, assigned to Mar High School, effective November 20th, 2024. Sarah Dana, hall monitor, assigned to Mary Junior High School, effective November 20th, 2024. coaching. Eli Baker, Maran High School head boys track and field
057coach effective for the 2024 2025 season. Zach Lindsay, Maran High School volunteer assistant wrestling coach effective for the 2024 2025 season. Jordan Bundams, volleyball assistant coach, effective for the 2024 2025 season. Nate Dampier, Mar High School volunteer assistant wrestling coach effective for the 2024 2025 season. and reassignments. Micah Copitz reassigned from Adam fifth grade teacher to Mary Junior High sixth grade English language arts teacher effective for the 2024 2026 2025 2026 school year. Stacy Parks reassigned from fifth grade teacher to third grade teacher at Longfellow effective for the 2024 2025 2026 school year. resignations. Julia Len, new supervisor song assigned to Longfellow Elementary, effective November 1st, 2024. Scott Gim, Marion High School faculty advisor for the model team. Effective August 1st, 2024. Hannah Anderson, Marion High School assistant choir director, effective November 19, 2024. I
058have a second. I'll second. Any discussion? Hearing none. Madam Secretary, will you call roll, please? Waller, yes. Henshaw, yes. Wesley, yes. Moore, yes. Garrison, yes. Yes. Paddie, you want to help Jordan? No. She's She's got this. Way better than I could ever think about. That brings us Jerome. Nothing additional. Hey, Aon. Nothing. I just want to say it is board member appreciation month and that's why we have some sweet treats over on the table for you all and it's a very thankless job and you put in a lot of time and effort and we appreciate it very much. Thank you. Thank you. But before we eat them, who we going to pick as our taster? Make sure to taste them before they're not poison before we purchase. Thank you. The junior looks good. The gym,
059everything is very good. And is the crowd all the is that the Cardinal Mar game tonight? Yes. Big crowd. We played varsity there. Couldn't find a place. Yes. We've started accepting debit and credit cards for ticket entries into the games over there. Really? I saw the high schools using tablets. We are in the process of getting um tablets fixed for them to take debits and credit cards for tickets. We're sitting in my office. I haven't finalized that for the high school. Junior high is up and going. We haven't finished the high school. And I do want to say I'm always impressed with how how well Kim explains the ley process. She does a very good job of making it clear. Still betting I want to show next month. Probably not. I had in 14 years.
060I wish someone would come. Uh Miss Watts, nothing further. And Miss Watson, you're up four again. Treasures report for October 31st, 2024. Uh we ended the month with [Music] 32,560,31.72. Our revenue is at 43.28% of budget. We got that first payment of 17,38975172 cents on our extensions in October. Uh expenses are at 27.80% of the budget. So we're doing good. We're within budget right now. Again, anticipate the second extension payment coming in December. I'm guessing it's going to be around 10 million. So, people are getting a little longer to make their payment. I also want to shout out the district. Um, standard and pores did a credit rating on us last week. Me and Becky sat down with Standard and Pores, answered a bunch of questions and they have upgraded us from an A minus
061to an A, which is huge. Um, we go to do bonds that means we get a better interest rate. So, it's really good. Last time they did this was in September of 2020. That's when we got the A minus. So, I think that's something to be very proud about. Yes. Considering where we were one time. Yes. Yes. Any questions on the treasures? I don't have any. Okay. Ser three. We're past September. I know we're heading down. I missed October. So, I didn't say that. I know. I know. So, in October, we claimed $342,93. So, we only have $58,27 left to claim, and that will be spent this month in November. So, we were awarded $4,851,8. We got to get it all spent by December 31st. We'll finish it by November 30th. So, next month will
062be our last presentation. Then we can just officially be done in rid of Yes. We're going to have credit recovery next in the spring. Yes or no? Um it is not in the plans as of right now because that was my understanding as well. Yes. Any questions? Thank you. Uh we have a going to close session. We're going to close session. We will not be taking any action afterwards. So you can feel free to sit here and watch us come back out and say we're journed or you won't hurt anybody's feelings if you leave after we go to close session. had your daughter walk in cuz I was want to say are you addressing back to Mary Junior High School for me just for her. May I have a me motion to go into close
063session please? Mr. President, I'd like to make a recommendation that we enter into close session for the purpose of personnel, the purpose of the appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance, or dismissal of specific employees of the public body or legal counsel for the public body, including hearing hearing testimony on a complaint lodged against an employee or the public body or against legal counsel for the public body to determine validity and litigation. When an action against affecting or on behalf of a particular public body has been filed and is pending before a court or administrative tribunal or when the public finds that an action is probable or imminent in which case the basis for the findings must be recorded and entered into the minutes of the closed meeting. Is that one sentence? Uh have a motion and
064a second and I'm sorry. Oh, sorry. And so also we're also going to take our goodies in the close session. So madam secretary, will you call roll please? Haw. Yes. Wesley. Yes. Yes. Yes. Garrison. Yes. Yes. Yes. Thank you everybody. We'll see you next month. December 17th. Everybody have a nice Thanksgiving.