Tazewell County voters may once again be asked to support another sales tax referendum for the school districts when they head to the polls in February.
At Monday’s East Peoria Community High School District 309 school board meeting, superintendent Cliff Cobert revealed the county school district superintendents will meet Sept. 4 to discuss whether to pursue another referendum.
Much like the referendum from last April’s ballot, it would seek approval of a countywide sales tax up to 1 percent for the purpose of school facility construction and maintenance.
Proceeds from the tax — estimated at more than $11 million — would be divided among school districts in proportion to the number of students residing within Tazewell County.
It is estimated District 309 would receive more than $636,000 annually if such a referendum was passed.
The district had previously expressed a desire to use the money to help with expenses for phase two of its current construction project.
Last April, a sales tax referendum for the schools was voted down by 68 percent of Tazewell County voters.
Cobert said action by the county board to place the question on the ballot must occur by Nov. 30, so school boards must vote by October at the latest whether or not to support it.
Five school districts opposed the first go-round of the referendum, including Morton, Rankin, Pekin, Spring Lake and Delavan.
The superintendent said he plans to bring the issue back to the board for discussion at its September meeting.
In other action and discussion, the board:
• heard a report from Principal Paul Whittington about the first day of classes Monday.
Whittington said the day was somewhat chaotic because the upperclassmen were not used to hearing the tones that have replaced bells for signaling class changes.
Also, Whittington said they will adjust the lunch periods because the cafeteria was especially noisy due to the large number of students eating at one time.
The principal said he hoped Tuesday would be better than Monday, and Wednesday even better than the first two days.
“I think the students liked the longer day a little better and I say that with tongue in cheek. I could tell they weren’t as rushed in year’s past, though,” Whittington said.
The school’s new five-year strategic plan includes early bird PE at 6:45 a.m. (6:30 a.m. Wednesday) as well as course changes accommodating Wednesday’s late start (1st period is at 9:18 a.m. that day) for teacher training. Algebra 1 is also offered for junior high students from 6:45 to 7:45 a.m. throughout the week (except Wednesday) at EPCHS.
The strategic plan was put into place as a result of students not meeting AYP test requirements.
“All in all, it’s a positive start to the school year, and we will keep dealing with small issues as they come up,” Whittington added.
He said the administration will also review the pros and cons of choosing to have registration in just one day this year, as opposed to spreading it out over two days like before.
• heard a report from Cobert that the Illinois Association of School Boards once again has recommended not adopting a proposed resolution concerning the Prairie State Achievement Exam.
Board member Garth Knobeloch drew up the resolution that urged the IASB to support legislation allowing school districts the option of including the PSAE as a prerequisite for high school graduation, along with a retake option.
It is the fourth time District 309 has presented the resolution for consideration. Five other school districts formally endorsed it in support.
• heard a report from board president Michael Joseph about offering incentives to students who perform well on the PSAE.
Currently, EPCHS offers junior students an opt-out of their first semester final exams as a senior if they meet or exceed standards on the PSAE.
Joseph said when the incentives were put in place in 2003, it was intended as a pilot program. The data he collected shows the process is not working and percentages are dropping each year.
“For a pilot program to not be successful for seven years, I don’t know why we still have it. We’re not doing anyone any favors, and they’re not doing themselves a favor with the opt-out. It detracts from the students and us,” Joseph said.
Whittington disagreed and said the incentive is valuable because otherwise, there is no accountability for the exam.
“We have to make it important to the kids. The bar continues to go up every year, and now they are saying by 2014, we have to have 100 percent of students meeting or exceeding standards. I think we should try to come up with more incentives,” Whittington said.
The district learned last month it has not made Adequate Yearly Progress for the third year in a row.
AYP is determined by PSAE scores.
• adopted tentative budgets for fiscal year 2010 for both the district and the Tazewell-Mason Counties Special Education Association.
The TMCSEA budget is $4.7 million.
The EPCHS budget for 2009-10 has an ending balance of more than $8.2 million.
Tentative revenues are $18.5 million, and tentative expenditures are $23.4 million.
The district starts the year with $13.1 million.
Cobert said the money in the site and construction fund and life safety fund will both be expended this year due to construction on the new addition and asbestos abatement.
Cobert added numbers may also change slightly due to ongoing salary negotiations with the teachers and whatever may happen at the state level with education funding.
• approved ticket prices for the 2009 fall athletic season.
Adult entry will be $4 and non-EPCHS students will be $2.
Season passes for football and volleyball will also be offered and available for purchase starting Friday at the Maroon & Gold scrimmage game.
Football is $15, volleyball is $35, or a combo pass for both sports can be purchased for $50.
• approved personnel contracts for: Malinda Gerhardt, cafeteria substitute; Ron Kelch and Ben Zoss, part-time ticket managers for athletic events; John Haeffele, Steve Albritton and Brandon Laesch, volunteer football coaches; and Ashley Higginson, coach for the new girls’ golf team.
• approved resignations for bus monitor Anna Norton and cafeteria worker Cheryl White.
• approved a five-year agreement with Pepsi to continue to provide exclusive beverage service for EPCHS.
