CLAY CITY SCHOOL BOARD MEETS

(4/25/25) pg

The Clay City Unit #10 School District Board of Education met Thursday evening in the library and said goodbye two members as old board met briefly to dissolve and then reconvene with newly elected members.  Members Stacy Kessler an Brenda Cailteux were give a round of applause for their years of service on the board.  Next, Dusty Thompson, Mary Jo Workman, Misty Lindeman and Erin Boyd were all sworn in for their term of service.  Superintendent John Neubaum acted as President Pro Tem during this period and Beth Hance as Secretary Pro Tem.  The new board then elected officers.  Misty Lindeman was re-elected as President.  Mary Jo Patridge will serve as Vice President and Amanda Noll was elected as Secretary.  The board will continue to conduct their monthly meetings on the third Thursday of each month at 6:00pm.  Members then approved to continue all existing appointments, policies, rules, regulations and contractual obligations of the previous Board of Education.

The regular monthly meeting was convened a short time later and adopted the meeting agenda as presented and approved past meeting minutes.

Superintendent John Neubaum went over the financial report and noted that he had brought Dusty Thompson and Mary Jo Workman up to date on financial matters and how it all works as part of the orientation process for new board members.  Neubaum also guided the board through various expenditures and investments the district makes as well as the budgeting process.  Members then voted unanimously approved the financial report.

In informational items, Supt. Neubaum went over the enrollment figures noting that it had gone up by two since last month.  There are 101 Elementary Students, 58 at the Junior High and 60 at the High School.  A brief discussion ensued over the allocation of dollars per student meal for ordering purposes.  The amounts were $1.80 for breakfast and $3.00 for lunch.  Misty Lindeman said that amount was high, because it does not take into account ancillary costs such as wages and electric and natural gas costs.  The Supt. noted that the federal government chips in some $4 so it isn’t hurting the district too badly.  Neubaum also noted the training that new board members need to take to comply with PDLT (Professional Development Leadership Training) requirements from the Illinois Association of School Boards.  The district may offer the training through the law firm Robbins Schwartz or through IASB.  The cost for the training is paid for by the district but the cost is much higher through the law firm than through the IASB.  Next, Supt. Neubaum updated the board on the bus traffic accident last month.  He said there are no lingering issues for the students involved and the bus was returned to the district.  He did note that the insurance discussions continue.  Neubaum stated that the Illinois State Board of Education is changing assessments and school report cards starting in October and will create issues for small school districts like Clay City.  Concerning the open district secretary position, he said that 91 people had applied for the position, which was quickly whittled down to 20 candidates and now is down to nine.  He pledged to have a final candidate at the next meeting as well as the dates for the registration process for next year, since the secretary is heavily involved in that process.  Supt. Neubaum said the Regional Office Education Compliance Audit is complete and offered congratulations for those who have completed it including Beth Hance, Sami Tolliver, Megan Hildebrand, Stacy Withrow and Bethany Goodrum.  He also noted that dealing with FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) requests has been time consuming with the addition of AI (Artificial Intelligence) generated inquiries.  He said they have gotten requests from as far away as Africa that all have to be dealt with.  He noted one request demanded the details of every purchase order going back to the year 2020.  Requests such as that are considered an overwhelming burden and it is not required to comply with requests of that nature.

Shelly Phegley and Brian Wattles went over student news at the high school, junior high and elementary school.  The big news is that prom is coming up Saturday at the White Oak Events near Noble.  Students also participated in Earth Day activities last week.  Eighth grade students have completed their constitution tests and DARE graduation is complete as well.  Wattles said students picked up trash on the school grounds and were taught about things we discard and what happens to them at landfills. 

In new business, Supt. Neubaum took a moment to go over the work progress that was completed during the Easter break and some of projects that will be taken care of during the summer.  He then went on to ask the board to approve summer custodial positions for Kamden Bruner, Jaxon Prochazka, Ninetta Wilson, Deanna Brake, Shelby Mills and Ryan Peach, which members quickly did.  They also approved Bre Welty as an afternoon bus aide until the end of the school year.  The board also approved an Intergovernmental Agreement for Library Services with the Flora Public Library.

The most discussed item of the meeting was consideration of the establishment of boys’ basketball, girls’ volleyball and cheerleading programs beginning with the next school year.  It would also include  the need for coaches, a budget for equipment uniforms and travel, as well as the need to pursue Midland Trail Conference scheduling and IHSA requirements.  Brian Wattles went over the interest in fielding basketball and volleyball teams.  The addition of cross country is also being considered.  When the pros and cons were considered, the board voted to pursue volleyball and cross county.

Superintendent Neubaum asked the board for permission to release all personnel in extracurricular rolls once their seasons end.  He said it was not geared at any person, and they will most likely end up in the same positions at the appropriate time.  The board approved his request.  Members also approved several personnel actions.  Santiago Miranda was approved as K-12 Music/Band Teacher beginning next school year.  Rachel Thomas was approved as Speech/Language Pathologist in the new school year.  Jada Philips was approved as a full-time Substitute Teacher for the 2025-26 school year.  They also approved the resignation of Whitney Fielden as a Paraprofessional.

The board then moved into closed session. When they returned to open session, student discipline was upheld as presented and the meeting then adjourned.