by Randy Rieke
President Chad Ruppert called the Tuesday, July 14, regular meeting of the Nokomis School Board to order with all seven board members present.
The bulk of the meeting revolved around Superintendent Dr. Scott Doerr’s presentation to the board regarding the Nokomis reopening plan for school year 2020-2021. He stated that a panel of 12 members consisting of teachers, administrators, and support staff had met twice in the last two weeks to begin work on the plans. The three plans being developed are for in-person learning at school beginning Aug. 18, an option for a hybrid in-person and remote learning should the state move backwards in reopening phases, and a remote learning plan if needed.
A 32-page document developed in conjunction with the plan is to be shared with the rest of the staff this week. Once the plan is further developed, a PowerPoint presentation will be shared with the public.
Doerr pointed out that a major problem with moving forward with the plans is that they are dependent on guidelines developed and handed down by the Illinois State Board of Education, Illinois Department of Public Health, and the CDC, and those guidelines are subject to change on a daily basis.
Advising they keep all of that in mind, Doerr reaffirmed the goal was to have in-person learning, and in achieving this goal “the key is flexibility and to stay positive.”
The in-person learning plan is broken into categories, he explained, the first being health and wellness. Social and physical distancing will be required where possible and all of classrooms are big enough to allow for that under present guidelines, but added there was some talk at upper levels of revising the distance requirement down from six feet to three feet. All staff and students will be required to wear face coverings. He said he was ordering face coverings for all teachers and staff.
Doerr said temperatures with health screenings would be taken daily and that the nurse was developing a plan for that to take place. Visitor protocols were also being developed which include allowing only one entrance to each school where visitors could enter.
He said there will be an increased emphasis on personal hygiene and the sharing of objects such as pencil, papers, and Chromebooks, etc. in accordance with guidelines that have been handed down. He said supplies of hand sanitizer and Lysol on hand would probably last until November and more was being ordered.
He said instruction will focus on student learning, standards, and student growth. The one thing that is completely different from the end of last school year is that attendance will be taken whether the school is involved in in-person or the remote learning scenario. Grading will not change based on method and instruction will change only in its delivery.
Doerr said it would be important for teachers to make connections with their students starting on the first day in order to determine who may need help catching up, as many of the teachers would not be starting with the students they had at the end of last year.
Addressing a question from Chad Ruppert, he said additional after school study groups would be created as allowed to assist those students needing help. Doerr said in addition, teachers will be preparing students for remote learning should the need arise going forward.
Doerr said the challenge at the junior and senior high school was developing a plan to keep the kids out of the hallways as much as possible. A consideration at the junior high was that the kids stay in one room and the teachers rotate. He said that obviously could not be done at the high school due to the nature of the mix of class participants.
He said the 12-person panel had come up with the idea to consider block scheduling. Doerr explained that block scheduling came to Illinois in the 1980s and is successfully used by some schools in the state to this day. Block scheduling consist of four extended 84-minute periods on one day and the other four periods of your regular eight-period day on the next day. He said this allows for more lab work and deeper instruction on certain topics of interest or importance.
Doerr went on to say he had been in contact with other superintendents he knew using block scheduling and they were willing to provide advice and assistance in implementing it at Nokomis. He added that in a straw poll of the teachers at Nokomis, 90 percent were in favor of block scheduling and several had taught in that format before. He also noted that he had written his master’s thesis on block scheduling and his research had convinced him the positives outweighed the negatives.
With regard to lunch, he explained that the elementary students will be staggered in order by class, which would necessarily extend the overall lunch period. At junior high and high school, two lunch periods may be used. Doerr was in communication with the food service to plan for various possibilities. The breakfast will still be offered in a grab-and-go in the classroom format.
Recess will also be staggered by class at the elementary school and will be encouraged to be outside where masks are not required. The same applies to PE at the junior and senior high levels.
Doerr then addressed the possibility of students unable to attend in-person learning due to underlying medical conditions, remote learning will be provided to them upon presentation of an acceptable doctor’s note. They would participate in some class work via internet connection and be responsible for other homework on their own. Students choosing not to come to in-person learning must notify their building principal by Aug. 7 and a contract will be signed to that affect. These students will remote into the classroom where attendance will be taken and they are responsible for any additional homework on their own. If a student without a medical excuse opts for remote learning, they must stay in it for the entire semester. If a student opts for remote learning, they will not be eligible to participate in extracurricular activities and CTE classes.
Doerr explained that bus transportation would run as normal, but that only 50 people–including the driver–could be allowed on the bus. Wherever possible, parents are encouraged to bring their children to school themselves. Face coverings would be required on the bus and the students must be temperature checked prior to getting on the bus every day. He said they were working on a plan with the nurse that might allow for a home screening by the parents who would log in and report the results. He said details were being worked out.
With regard to facilities management, Doerr said staff was being trained in a constant disinfectant mode. He said drinking fountains at the junior high and high school had been replaced with water bottle refill stations. As per guidelines, a quarantine area had been created should a student or staff member become sick at school. If a temperature of 100.4 is detected, parents would be called immediately.
Doerr concluded his discussion by reiterating that these plans were being developed based upon the guidelines handed down to the district and that the guidelines were subject to change “by the minute.” He also warned that failure to follow the guidelines could result in the district losing its certification, so they were going to do everything possible to meet the requirements.
Earlier in the meeting, Dr. Doerr gave his regular report to the board which included the news that the unit’s state aid will be the same as it was last year, but that PreK grants had been reduced by five percent. He said their records showed that the state owed the district less than $100,000 from FY20 funding.
In a report on summer projects, Doerr said that the high school parking lot had been completed and the North School parking lot was 95 percent completed and should be finished within a week. He said the new fire pull stations had been installed, but the fire shutter installation was delayed by delivery of the shutters. Likewise, delivery of the new doors was delaying the replacement of the high school doors. Doerr reported the lines were run for the new phone system and complete installation of the system should be finished by July 24.
Athletic director McDonald reported that the IHSA had decided to leave everything up to the governor’s office and Illinois Department of Public Health with respect to guidance on extracurricular activities. Due to this move and the guidelines from those departments football players at practice “can’t even go under center.” As a result, coaches have decided to halt all conditioning practices due to the restrictions. He said there was some early talk of flip-flopping seasons, but the scheduling would be a nightmare.
Member Carl Ray Fesser made a motion to alter the junior high promotion ceremony to awards day starting with the 2020-2021 school year. The motion was seconded by Eisenbarth. In discussion, Doerr reported that a survey taken on the question was completed by 207 district parents; 29 percent wanted to keep the ceremony as it was, 13 percent favored some type of alteration, five percent said drop it completely, and 53 percent had no opinion. The motion passed 4-3 with Bauman, Tarter, and Janssen voting against. Denny Bauman explained his vote by saying, “if you throw out the 53 percent with no opinion, the majority want it to stay the same, so I’m voting to “nay” to represent those people.
Gasparich moved to approve the agreement with St. Louis Catholic School for the lunch program for the 2020-2021 school year. The motion was seconded by Ben Tarter and approved unanimously.
Tarter made a motion to approve the lease agreement with Special Education Services for the South Middle School building from July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2023. Janssen seconded the motion and it passed unanimously on a roll call vote.
Due to the governor making Election Day a holiday in the state, the school calendar for FY21 had to be amended to reflect the change. An in-service day was changed to make this possible. Gasparich moved to approve the amended FY21 calendar as presented and Fesser seconded the motion. It was approved on a voice vote.
In the public hearing of the meeting, Tim Miller spoke to the board regarding his recommendation to bring back Brian Pesko as high school junior varsity baseball coach. Dan DeWerff followed Miller with his recommendations to bring back Pesko for the junior varsity basketball coach as well.
On a motion by Janssen, seconded by Tarter, the board entered closed session at 8:47 p.m. and returned from executive session at 9:12 p.m.
On a motion by Gasparich, seconded by Fesser, the board passed on a voice vote the acceptance of resignations of Anna Sakach and Stephanie Stevens effective immediately.
Eisenbarth made a motion to employ Lee Harrison as junior high science and freshman class sponsor, Donovan Riley as junior and senior high PE teacher, high school varsity baseball coach, and junior high boys basketball coach, and Tamara Mashaw in special education for the 2020-2021 school year. The motion passed on a roll call vote with Gasparich abstaining.
Tarter made a motion to employ Brian Pesko as high school boys JV basketball coach for the 2020-2021 season, pending the season occurs at the contractual coaching schedule. Fesser seconded the motion. The motion passed on a roll call vote with Janssen voting against and Gasparich abstaining.
Gasparich made a motion to employ Dylan Perkins as the junior high boys assistant basketball coach for the 2020-2021 school year. The motion was seconded by Tarter and passed unanimously on a roll call vote.
The meeting adjourned on a motion by Gasparich, seconded by Eisenbarth.
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