I. Call To Order - 6:02 p.m.

II. Roll Call - Burris, Jones, Posey, Mallory, Gooden, and Griggs were present.

III. Recognition of Guests/Comments From Public And Employees - None

IV. Approval of Previous Minutes

1. Regular Minutes of January 20, 2005 - A motion was made, seconded, and approved to amend the minutes - to delete the approval of a new maintenance position and the hiring of Lorenzo Nelson to fill same. (There was no objection to the "action taken", it just wasn't clear that a vote had been taken on the measure.) A motion was made and seconded to approve the minutes as approved.

2. Closed Minutes of January 20, 200 - A motion was made and seconded to approve the minutes. The motion passed.

V. A motion was made and seconded to amend the "Agenda - Regular Meeting" to change the "July 1, 2005" in "IX. - 1" to "June 30, 2005" and to add a #8: Recommendation - Approve the job description for a new maintenance position and to hire Lorenzo Nelson to fill same. The motion passed.

A motion was made and seconded to approve the "Agenda - Regular Meeting" as amended and to approve the "Agenda - Closed Meeting". The motion passed.

(Later, an "oops" was added - a new #9 under IX - Recommendation - Approve the hiring of coaches for Boys Baseball, Girls Softball, and Girls Track.)

VI. Approval of Treasurer's Report - A motion was made, seconded, and approved.

VII. Approval of Payment of Bills/Payroll - A motion was made and seconded to approve payment of bills/payroll. The motion passed.

VIII. Informational - Superintendent Samuel Harbin commented on the following items:

1. ...System Update - Mention was made of the VERY successful dedication ceremony held earlier in the afternoon...featuring as keynote speaker, Reg Weaver, President of the National Education Association. There was an excellent turnout of employees and the event was something of which the District could be very proud.

The District is beginning to get a handle on maintenance; Mr. Nelson is doing an excellent job. One item needing to be addressed - repair the curtain in the gym of CJSHS so that the gym can be divided for classes.

2. ...Academic Watch List - District Improvement Plan. Regretably, the District is on the Academic Watch List and has two years to "fix it"...or suffer dire consequences...cannot let that happen. The good news is that since the District is catching up on its other concerns - finances and maintenance - it has the time to devote to academics.

3. ...Dr. Harbin also commented that he had received a good report from IHSA officials who had attended the Cairo-Meridian basketball game last week...that the conduct of our team and fans was exemplary...that this is the kind of report that we needed to receive.

4. Checks Deposited - District Account - No comments.

$181,633.19 - State Aid - December - 2nd Payment
17,715.33 - Federal Lunch
9,483.23 - Federal Breakfast
4,740.00 - Cairo Jr. High Building - Rent- ROE
1,580.00 - Cairo Jr. High Major Repair Fund - ROE
50.00 - Laidlaw - Rent

IX. Requiring Action/Decisions By Board of Education - A brief discussion was held as to the possibility of voting on some of the following items PRIOR to entering closed session. It was decided that Items #3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 would be done immediately, while postponing Items #1, 2, and 9.

1. Recommendation
Approve opening the retirement window for support personnel, effective July 1, 2005 through June 30, 2006. Select the 10 year installment plan to remit district fiscal obligations. (As mentioned above, the July 1, 2005 was amended to June 30, 2005.) Following closed session, motion made, seconded, and approved.

2. Recommendation
Pursuant to directive from Financial Oversight Panel...December 7, 2004... reduce/eliminate five(5) positions - Educational Support Professionals as presented. Following closed session, motion made, seconded, and approved.

3. Recommendation
Approve decisions to replace cooler at Emerson Elementary School at a cost of $2000. Approve replacement of another inoperable cooler at Emerson Elementary School at a cost of $2000.00. Authorize the Superintendent to replace essential equipment that becomes inoperable or requires constant repairs. This authorization would only apply to replacements/ purchases as described in Cairo Board of Education Policies. Motion made, seconded, and approved.

4. Recommendation
Approve plans and content of School Improvement Plan presented by Mrs. Pickett, Principal, Bennett Elementary School and Ms. Williams, Principal, Cairo Junior/Senior High School. (Both Mrs. Pickett and Ms. Williams presented the plans and made comments to the BOE and Superintendent.) Motion made, seconded, and approved.

5. Recommendation
Approve plans and structure of District Improvement Plan, to be completed and presented for final approval of Illinois State Board of Education by June 15, 2005. (Dr. Harbin indicated that he was NOT going to go into details about the plan...that it was the work of Joyce Champion and that she had done an excellent job. Dr. Harbin also indicated that it was important to submit a "different plan"...because the previous plans had not worked...had not raised test scores. Two possibilities being discussed were (1) an alternative school for the 6 to 12 students that were continuous disruptions at CJSHS...either needed to be expelled or placed in some type of alternative setting...so that teachers would be able to teach the remainder of the students and (2) teacher assistants for math and reading...assistants whose job would be to provide direct intervention...NOT for the purpose of running off materials.) Motion made, seconded, and approved.

6. Recommendation
Approve the following dates:
Prom - April 30, 2005
Graduation - Cairo Junior/Senior High School- May 22, 2005.
Motion made, seconded, and approved.

7. Recommendation
Accept resignation of Angela Brown - Teacher Aide - Bennett School. Motion made, seconded, and approved.

8. Recommendation
Approve job description for a new maintenance position and employ Lorenzo Nelson to fill same - effective February 1st. Motion made, seconded, and approved.

9. Recommendation
Employ coaches for Boys Baseball, Girls Softball, and Girls Track. Following closed session, motion made, seconded, and approved.

Prior to going into closed session, there was inquiry and discussion about the fate of the Garrison building. There was a consensus that the Superintendent should pursue the sale, lease, or rent of the facility.

X. Closed Session

The BOE voted to enter closed session at 7:05 p.m. The BOE voted to exit closed session at 8:37 p.m.

Action taken after closed session was listed above. The only other item mentioned was that the condensation system at the Community Education Center has collapsed and needed to be replaced at a cost of $6,000.

XI. Old Business - None

XII. The BOE voted to adjourn at 8:40 p.m.

CLOSED SESSION IS FOR THE PURPOSE OF CONSIDERING INFORMATION RELATIVE TO THE APPOINTMENT, EMPLOYMENT, PERFORMANCE OR DISMISSAL OF INDIVIDUAL EMPLOYEES WHICH MAY BE OF A TEMPORARY CONFIDENTIAL NATURE, STUDENT DISCIPLINE, PLACEMENT OF SPECIAL EDUCATION STUDENTS, DISCUSSION OF LITIGATION PROBABLE, IMMINENT, FILED OR PENDING AND COLLECTIVE BARGAINING OR RELATED ISSUES.