June 15, 2023 at 6:00 PM - Budget Amendment Hearing at 6:00 PM. Regular Board Meeting to follow immediately. - Regular Board Meeting

Description:  Call to Order. Secretary to the Board will take attendance.

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Public comments the Budget Amendment Hearing should be limited to the topic of the Budget Amendment. Members of the public may speak during this portion of the meeting. Comments are limited to five minutes. Board members will not respond to public comments during "public comments".

Description:  Call to Order. Secretary to the Board will take attendance.

Description: 

Individuals wishing to speak during public comment must complete the Public Comment Form and submit it to the Board Secretary prior to the start of the meeting.

Board Policy 2:230. At each regular and special open meeting, members of the public and District employees may comment to or ask questions of the School Board, subject to reasonable constraints. The individuals appearing before the Board are expected to follow these guidelines:

1. Address the Board only at the appropriate time as indicated on the agenda and when recognized by the Board President.
2. Identify oneself and be brief. Ordinarily, comments shall be limited to 5 minutes. In unusual circumstances, and when an individual has made a request in advance to speak for a longer period of time, the individual may be allowed to speak for more than 5 minutes.
3. Observe the Board President's decision to shorten public comment to conserve time and give the maximum number of individuals an opportunity to speak.
4. Observe the Board President's decision to determine procedural matters regarding public participation not otherwise covered in Board policy.
5. Conduct oneself with respect and civility toward others and otherwise abide by Board Policy, 8:30, Visitors to and Conduct on School Property.

Members of the public may speak during this portion of the meeting. Comments are limited to five minutes. Board members will not respond to public comments or questions during "Public Comments". Should total Public Comments approach or exceed a cumulative time of 30 minutes, the Board may suspend additional Public Comments until immediately prior to the Board and Superintendent Comments portion of the agenda.

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Board Policy 2:220 The President shall designate a portion of the agenda as a consent agenda for those items that usually do not require extensive discussion before Board action. Upon the request of any Board member, an item will be withdrawn from the consent agenda and placed on the regular agenda for independent consideration. 

There will be no separate discussion of these items unless a Board Member so requests, in which event the item will be removed from the Consent Agenda and considered as the first item after approval of the Consent Agenda.

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Regular personnel items. 

Welcome to RCS, Mr. Charles Hogue, our new Assistant Principal at JW Eater. Charles has been the principal/administrator at CIRCLE Academy, which is part of the Cunningham Children’s Home, for the past 10 years.  During that time, he served students with moderate to severe social-emotional specialized needs. During his tenure, the school made a huge shift from delivering instruction in housing cottages to a new building in 2019.  Before Charles became principal of CIRCLE Academy, he served as a K-12 special education teacher, a regular education elementary teacher, and as a building and district level administrator.  He earned his BA in Elementary Education from Louis University in 1992, an MA in school administration from Governor’s State University in 1999, and an MA in Special Education in 2004. He lives in Champaign, IL with his wife. They have three children. Mr. Hogue says, "I am excited to be joining the Rantoul City School district’s team of administrators as Assistant Principal at JW Eater Jr. Hogue, and I am looking  forward to working with a great team of professionals who are motivated to make a positive difference in the lives of students, teachers and families."

Description:  This is a revised job description. The current family educator is relocating. 

Description:  Teacher Vacancy Grant Pilot Program: $337,315.

Description:  Each year, the Board is asked to approve updates to the employee handbook. This handbook is updated annually by administration in order to comply with changes in state and federal law as well as to address issues that may have arisen in the previous school year.

Description:  Each year, the Board is asked to approve updates to the family-student handbook. This handbook is updated annually by administration in order to comply with changes in state and federal law as well as to address issues that may have arisen in the previous school year.

Description:  Annually, the RCSEA and Administration meet to review evaluation procedures, tools, and practices. There were no changes made from the 22-23 to 23-24 Professional Evaluation Plan. Attached is the 23-24 Professional evaluation plan.

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Since  the  budget  will  not  be  adopted  on  July  1,  2023,  the  Board  of  Education needs to authorize the District to expend funds in order to cover  the costs of salaries, materials and supplies. The Board of Education is asked to approve  the  School  District’s  expenditure  of  funds to defray necessary and proper expenses and liabilities of the School  District  incurred  for  educational  or  operations  or  maintenance  or  transportation  or  site  and  construction  purposes  of  the  District for  Fiscal  Year 2024, until which time the Annual Budget of the District is adopted in  conformity with applicable sections of the Illinois School Code.

Description:  RCS is a Project Partner District with Illinois State University's "Illinois Tutoring Initiative". The Board is approving an extension of the existing Memorandum of Understanding for one year. Attached is a copy of last year's MOU. Administration is waiting on the revised MOU from ISU. The only changes to the new MOU will be relevant date changes.

Description:  Change addresses referencing 400 E Wabash Avenue to new address.

Change Complaint Manager from Allison Didier to Thomas Magers.

Change Title IX Coordinator from DeAndre Henderson to Thomas Magers.

Description:  Change addresses referencing 400 E Wabash Avenue to new address.

Change Title IX Coordinator from DeAndre Henderson to Thomas Magers.

Description:  The Consolidated District Plan is a requirement of ISBE, and the CDP is intended to show how the District coordinates services across multiple federal grants administered by ISBE. The attached document is a summary of the CDP.

Description:  WCSIT will continue to be our worker's compensation provider. Previously, the Board authorized a competitive bid process for all of our commercial insurance but chose not to include worker's compensation at that time. There is no change to our worker's compensation policy, but there is a 22% increase in premiums as discussed in the attached letter.

Description:  Annually, the District is required to review its practices around student restraints and time outs. The Board has access to the review documents. Relevant documents will be made public and posted on the district website following the meeting.

Description:  The Board is asked to amend the annual budget as needed. This is the second and final budget amendment for Fiscal Year 2023. Relevant documents are included in the "Budget Amendment Hearing-Public Comments/Hearing" portion of this meeting. Document "FY 2023 Amended Budget Line Items" shows the specific budget lines that are affected by this amendment. Overall, since the last budget amendment, the District has received $362,895 in new (unbudgeted) revenues, is allocating $184,186, and will carry over $188,709.

Description:  The Board is asked to enter into the same MOU with both the RCSEA and RCESPA. MOUs with our associations essentially represent temporary amendments to the collective bargaining agreement. These MOUs clarify that an employee on "unpaid leave" is also responsible for paying their full contribution, including the Board's contribution, for ancillary benefits (medical, dental, and/or life insurance).

Description:  The Board is asked to approve the second lowest proposal from our commercial insurance bid. See the attached letter from Bushue HR detailing the bid and selection process. The recommendation is to approve the second lowest bid, ICRMT. ICRMT was also the lowest bidder, and the district requested some additional coverage.

Description:  SmartProcure-Recurring

Description:  The Board is provided a monthly report detailing student in-school suspension, out-of-school suspensions, and placements in CARE. Due to the student record data contained in this report, this report remains confidential. 

Description:  RCS is required to hold an annual Crisis Meeting to review safety and security concerns. This meeting includes first responders. The minutes of the meeting are shared with the ROE and Board.

Description:  Pursuant to Board action at the April 20, 2023 board meeting, the superintendent entered into the attached agreements.

Board approved:
Memorandum of Understanding with Promise Health Care regarding the establishment of a health clinic in RCS.
Lease Agreement with Promise Health Care regarding the  space for a health clinic in RCS.

Also enclosed is an MOU with PHC related to the Community Partnership Grant. This MOU does not require Board approval.

Description:  District administration, Board Members, and teachers met as a group to review and make recommendations related to the District's kindergarten program. Attached is a summary of their findings and recommendations. At this time, the administration plans to act upon the recommendation and hire one classroom teaching assistant for every two kindergarten classrooms. If the budget allows and we are able to staff, administration will consider one teaching assistant for every kindergarten classroom.