Sangamon Sun

Quincy Public School District 172 Board of Education met Sept. 22.

Here are the minutes provided by the board:

Meeting Convened

The Board of Education of School District No. 172, Adams County, Illinois, met in regular session at 6:00 p.m. in the Quincy Senior High School, Cafeteria, 3322 Maine Street, Quincy, Illinois, in said school district.

Roll Call

The meeting was called to order by President Ali, who directed the secretary to call the roll. On the call of the roll, the following members were present and answered to their names: Members Ali, Arns, Brock, McNay, Nichols, Petty, and Whitfield; and the following member was absent: None. Whereupon the President declared a quorum was present.

Moment of Silence

President Ali declared a moment of silence and reflection.

Pledge of Allegiance

The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Superintendent Webb.

Open Public Hearing

President Ali opened the public hearing on the 2021-2022 Quincy School District Budget. There were no comments on the budget at this time, but the hearing remained open for comments until closed later in the meeting.

Questions and Comments

President Ali opened the meeting to questions and comments to members of the Board, by members of the public.

Dennis Williams, director of Teen Reach, spoke in support of Mr. Webb. He stated, “that if you aren’t part of the solution, you are part of the problem”.

Roni Quinn suggested that there might be holes in policies as she was able to pick up a child at Quincy Junior High by calling in and representing herself as the mother. She also voiced her opinion that the money received from COVID grants is the reason that QPS is continuing to follow executive orders. She spoke about the health care right of conscience act allowing staff to have a choice on whether to be vaccinated or tested.

Renee Mitchell indicated there would be nursing and teacher shortage due to masking, vaccination and testing mandates. She requested that the board have discussions in public.

Mark Clark, parent of a child at QHS, voiced his concerns about constitutional liberties and the right to make choices. He also requested that there be discussions with the board and public commenters.

Jody Cook, parent of a QJHS student, was upset with what she believes is the unethical immorality of trading children’s freedom, mental and physical health for money. She feels masks are inhumane and abusive and children have the right to breathe clean air unrestricted. She also stated she believes that a legal order is required to quarantine or mask.

Dr. Todd Porter, parent of two children in QPS and a community pediatrician, vocalized his concerns by quoting George Bernard Shaw, “Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance”. Dr. Porter is advocating for the immediate suspension of the use of rapid antigen testing and quarantines. He believes that allowing asymptomatic mask-wearing students to self

monitor would cut down on hundreds of hours of loss of in-person learning. He wondered why students that are exposed during non-mask wearing activities such as eating lunch or PE are treated differently and why are these times viewed as higher risk. He also questioned why the school is putting our children in situations that they deem higher risk and thereby penalizing them. Dr. Porter stated that we are burdening our children with these policies to protect adults who have access to a vaccine and can protect themselves.

Steve McQueen requested that the board have open discussions and expressed his views regarding freedom of choice.

Tanya Belknap, parent of a 6th grade student at QJHS, spoke about an incident that was staged where she had another person pretend to be her and call in to QJHS to release her daughter for an appointment. Her child was released out of the building. She also stated that her child should have a critical alert notification in the database, and it didn’t carry over from the previous school.

Alexis Frese, graduate of QHS, spoke of her concerns for the sex education bill that passed in 2021 (SB818).

Melissa Clark, QHS graduate 1960, believes parents know what is best for their children and should have freedom of choice. She believes we are heading toward a socialist run nation.

Jen Wiemelt is upset that is working so hard to defend her rights to make choices and has pulled her four children from QPS to home school. She believes the governor is overstepping his powers.

Gary Wallace, pastor, and parent of one child in QPS, distributed a pamphlet regarding critical race theory. He is concerned that critical race theory pits races against one another and creates classes.

J.B.-student at QJHS, expressed that she doesn’t feel safe at school and stated bullying is bad. Consent Agenda

It was moved by Member Whitfield and seconded by Member Arns to approve the following items on the Consent Agenda:

a. Treasurer’s Report August 2021

b. Minutes – August 18, 2021

c. Check Register and JH/SH Activity Fund Reports

d. Acknowledge receipt of the Freedom of Information Log: August 15, 2021 – September 18, 2021 (Information Only)

On the call of the roll, the following members voted Aye: Members Ali, Arns, Brock, McNay, Nichols, Petty, and Whitfield; and the following members voted Nay: None. Whereupon the President declared the motion carried.

Reports of the Superintendent

Homecoming week is a welcome sign of all events taking place this school year. There has been a bit of culture shock at QHS due to students attending in-person every day, as opposed to last year’s A Day/B Day schedule and remote learning, with the largest enrollment in years and changes at QJHS where students are moving from class to class compared to last year when teachers moved from class to class. Administration is doing a good job of improving things. Staff have a lot weighing on them and the hope is that getting into an academic routine will help ease some of the challenges we are facing at the start of the year.

District Improvement Committee

The District Improvement Team reviewed reports on teacher retention, school culture and MAP assessment for a year which saw students attending both in-person and remote due to COVID-19. Overall, the reports showed QPS maintaining levels, and in some cases improving, compared to the previous year according to Director of Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment Kim Dinkheller. Student achievement and growth remained average in the NWEA MAP Assessment Insights report. Over the two-year period, math growth was above average but with a mixed picture across years, reading was consistently average and language usage and science were average with variations across years. Assistant Director of Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment Erica Maynard had the opportunity to meet with a NWEA assessment specialist to review the report. The 2020-21 5Essentials Report measures school culture based on survey responses in five categories from staff, students, and parents. QPS performance stayed the same in the area of collaborative teachers, but increased in four other areas — ambitious instruction, effective leaders, involved families and supportive environment. A third report measuring 2020-21 teacher retention found last year is not much different than this year, The biggest difference we have this year is we had more teachers from the elementary buildings move to different schools than we did in 2019- 20. The report lists retention rate percentage and the number of staff members who left, which includes the number of retirees. Retention rate percentage generally ranged from the upper 80s to 100, with the Academic Behavior and Community, or ABC, Academy at 75% and Adams County Regional Safe Schools at 50%. Staff sizes vary from building to building, with ABC Academy and ACRSS having such small staffs that even a change of one or two teachers greatly skews the retention percentage. The District Improvement Team members reviewed Summer Academy 2021 and its goal of increasing K-12 student achievement and growth. The sole disappointment with this year’s program was that some students wanted to take a breather after a tumultuous school year.

Finance Committee

The Board approved the 2021-2022 District Budget. Federal funding tied to COVID-19 is what is driving the budget to be positive per Chief of Business Operations, Ryan Whicker. The budget includes a 3% increase in salary, a 1% increase in Teacher Retirement System, or TRS, benefits and 0.5% increase in Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund, or IMRF, benefits and a 10% increase in health insurance costs. The education fund, the largest in the budget, saw a $501,000 increase in local property tax revenue, a $379,000 increase in evidence-based funding from the state and an additional $2.8 million in federal funds. In its four key operating funds, QPS expects to finish the year with a $20.2 million balance. Without those federal funds attached to ESSR (Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund) we’d be looking at deficits and cuts of some sort.

Close Public Hearing

President Ali asked if there were any questions regarding the 2021-2022 Quincy District Budget prior to closing the hearing. President Ali closed the public hearing at 7:20 p.m.

Approve 2021-2022 Quincy School District Budget

It was moved by Member McNay and seconded by Member Nichols to approve the 2021-2022 Quincy School District Budget (Doc. Reg. No. 3715). On the call of the roll, the following members voted Aye: Members Ali, Arns, Brock, McNay, Nichols, Petty, and Whitfield; and the following members voted Nay: None. Whereupon the President declared the motion carried.

Executive Session

At 7:21 p.m., it was moved by Member Whitfield and seconded by Member Petty that the Board suspend the rules and go into executive session to discuss: a) the appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance, or dismissal of specific employees of the School District; b) collective negotiating matters between the School District and its employees or their representatives, or deliberations concerning salary schedules for one or more classes of employees; d) the sale or lease of property owned by the District; g) student disciplinary cases; i) pending, probable, or imminent litigation; and j) attorney/client privilege. On the call of the roll, the following members voted Aye: Members Ali, Arns, Brock, McNay, Nichols, Petty, and Whitfield; and the following members voted Nay: None. Whereupon the President declared the motion carried.

Resumption of Rules

It was moved by Member McNay and seconded by Member Arns to resume the conduct of the regular meeting under rules. On the call of the roll, the following members voted Aye: Members Ali, Arns, Brock, McNay, Nichols, Petty, and Whitfield; and the following members voted Nay: None. Whereupon the President declared the motion carried.

Student Discipline

It was moved by Member Whitfield and seconded by Member McNay to adopt the recommendation made in executive session for pre-expulsion agreements for three QHS students, and to shorten the expulsion of one QHS student. On the call of the roll, the following members voted Aye: Members Ali, Arns, Brock, McNay, Nichols, Petty, and Whitfield; and the following member voted Nay: None. Whereupon the President declared the motion carried.

Personnel Addendum

It was moved by Member McNay and seconded by Member Arns to approve the Revised Personnel Addendum as amended. On the call of the roll, the following members voted Aye: Members Ali, Arns, Brock, McNay, Nichols, Petty, and Whitfield; and the following members voted Nay: None. Whereupon the President declared the motion carried.

Adjournment

At 8:48 p.m., it was moved by Member McNay and seconded by Member Arns that the regular meeting adjourn. On the call of the roll, the following members voted Aye: Members Ali, Arns, Brock, McNay, Nichols, Petty, and Whitfield; and the following members voted Nay: None. Whereupon the President declared the motion carried and the regular meeting was duly adjourned.

https://www.qps.org/wp-content/uploads/92221regmnt.pdf