South Central CUSD 401 Board Actions for November 2021

  • The Board approved the minutes, bills, and treasurer’s report.

  • The Board reviewed the annual statement of affairs as presented.

  • The Board approved a leave of absence for Lisa Paganelli.

  • The Board heard reports from district building administrators: Sara Rose/Jake Skibinski, Greg Grinestaff and James VanScyoc. The administrators thanked members of their administrative team and once again thanked the staff for their dedication and hard work.

  • The Board approved the bid from Central States for new district bus (es) as presented. Buses will have air conditioning. These units will have bipolar ionization built in for COVID filtering capability.

  • The Board approved the bid from Culbertson’s Heating and Air for new district HVAC rooftop units. These units will have bipolar ionization built in for COVID filtering capability.

  • The Board approved the annual financial report for 2020-2021 as presented by Doug Ess from Glass and Shuffett. The district ended up with a deficit balance for the 2020-2021 school year, which primarily resulted from delayed transportation reimbursement payments to the district in the amount of approximately $78,000. So the deficit considering improvement and repairs to district equipment and new purchases was only $28,000. The goal of the district is to break even and not get into district reserves as they will be needed when the stimulus money stops coming.

The district financial profile score is 3.55 which is recognition status again. Recognition status is where the district has been in the last several years since 2015.

Doug Ess complimented unit office staff for always having everything in order using proper protocol and the superintendent as well.

  • The Board made a donation to Featherstun, Gaumer, Stocks, Flynn, and Eck, LLP to support the group that formed to seek local control for school boards in regard to decision making and using local metrics for COVID protocols. The group they are part of is #MakeItLocal, they are a member along with 60 other school districts up and down the Illinois map.

  • The Board heard a report of the annual tax levy that was put on display for 30 days. It was for the normal 4.99%, which does not require a hearing.

  • The Board approved the November updates from the Press Policy updates.

The next board meeting will be 12/15/21.