Spring Valley Elementary 10-21
SPRING VALLEY — The Spring Valley Elementary School Board meeting on Oct. 21 began with a moment of silence in honor of Sandy Zeglis. Zeglis worked as a teacher aide in the Spring Valley District for the past 31 years.
The board also took action on the following items:
• Held a public hearing in order for the district to hold a school improvement day on Feb. 12, 2010.
• Met new teachers Mike Wallace, fourth grade; Jodi Pattermann, kindergarten; and student teacher Caitlyn Corwin, seventh/eighth-grade science.
• Heard the FY09 audit report from Duane Lockas. Lockas praised the overall effort of the office staff’s bookkeeping and said the late state aid and grant payments from the state of Illinois have created a challenge for the district. The audit also recognized the $5.1 million borrowed to build the Kennedy addition. The district received the second highest financial rating of ‘Review” due to the borrowing of the $5.1 million.
• Heard the building design committee will hold its first meeting Nov. 12. The committee consists of Barb Stank, Cindy Hopps, Mike Wallace, Penny Redshaw, Jodi Pattermann, Luke Tomsha, Susan Lucas, Bernadette Savitch, Jack Kusek and Melanie Thompson. Bill VanDusen will also attend as district architect. The farmland rental agreement for the building site will not be renewed.
• Reviewed the district school report card. Overall the students performed well above the state average. Rising low-income and student mobility rates have created challenges for the district. When it comes to test scores, those two areas of concern perform well above the state average. Also, the district compared to other elementary districts ranks very low at 373 out of 378 elementary districts in the state, when it comes to instructional expenditures per pupil.
• Heard school attorney Jim Bartley will present an update on the Freedom of Information Act at either the November or December board meeting.
• Extended Walt Baltikauski’s contract for snow removal for one year. Baltikauski has performed this duty for more than 30 years.
