School district gets Financial Recognition

The Board of Education was excited to spotlight the junior high baseball team on their third place state finish and the sectional qualifiers for the high school golf team.

Congratulations to these students on their hard work and determination. In addition, Little Italy’s Pizza in Staunton received the "Building Up Bulldogs" award for their continuous support of the Staunton School District. They go above and beyond to support the students and school community.

Mr. Allen provided an update regarding the development of an updated district strategic plan. The District has received the summative data from Dr. Kuffel based on the initial strategic planning session that took place during Sept. Based on this session, four clear areas were brought forward to focus on moving forward. Additionally, sets of objectives for each focus area were developed. The next step is to share this information with the larger school and community and specific stakeholder groups to gather feedback and insight. Once this feedback has been collected, the strategic planning committee will convene to develop clear action steps for meeting the goals and objectives.

Mr. Moore, the Educational Services Administrator, discussed his work in the central office, which included professional development related to the McKinney-Vento Act and the development of processes to better assess and track activity accounts. In addition, Mr. Moore discussed current grant opportunities he is exploring including a band grant related to community involvement, a library grant to expand books in the young adult section, and the Greenlight Safety Initiative.

Mr. Kenneth Loy, a certified public accountant with Loy Miller Talley, PC provided the annual audit report. He stated that the school district has received a score of 4.00, which is the highest rating of financial strength, and is a rating known as Financial Recognition with the Illinois State Board of Education. This means the district requires little or no review or involvement by ISBE unless requested by the district. In addition, Mr. Loy highlighted that Staunton has the lowest tax rate in the area and low spending per pupil when providing educational services. Once the audit report was completed, the Board of Education took action and approved the Staunton School District audit for fiscal year 2023.

Under new business, The Board of Education approved the amended SMASE Articles

of Joint Agreement. The articles were amended to reflect the following changes: (1) the removal of Bunker Hill as a member school district; (2) updates on the procedure for the billing of tuition; (3) updates to language that allows the executive committee to

approve amendments to the joint agreement; and (4) updated language to reflect only

one reading for amendments to the joint agreement.

Next, discussion took place on the Multi-Purpose Building. The Board of Education had

an opportunity to review the design that has been proposed for updating the gym floor

and repainting of the walls. The new design will incorporate a maroon and gray color

scheme with the terrier mascot. Bids for the project will be issued before the end of the

month.

Action After Executive Session

Upon returning to Open Session, the Board of Education hired Tristan Sansone and Tim

Alvers as full time custodians. Laura Poole was approved as the drama co-sponsor. An

unpaid leave of absence was approved for Sarah Roy. A MOU and job description for

the addition of Media Content Coordinators as stipend positions within the collective

bargaining agreement was approved. Finally, the Board of Education upheld the

suspensions of Student No. 2023/2024-003 after a suspension review hearing.

Correspondence

A thank you letter was received from the Gold Star Mission that recognized the high

school band, FFA, and student council students for their assistance at their event that

was held at the VFW.

General Discussion

Board member Clayton Green requested that at the next meeting, discussion and

possible action take place on the addition of a junior high cross country team.

The next regularly scheduled meeting is Monday, November 20, 2023.