District 200 Observer Report 5-22-14

Oak Park River Forest High School Board of Education Meeting

May 22, 2014 at 7:30 pm

Board Room

Observer: Nancy Leavy

Present: President John Phelan, Vice president Jeff Weissglass, Secretary Dr. Jackie Moore, Thomas Cofsky, Dr. Steven Gevinson, Dr. Ralph Lee and Sharon Patchak-Layman

Action Items:

The contract with SEIU Classified Personal Association was approved by a 6-1 vote.  Dr. Lee dissented because the contract did not address the retirement fund sufficiently.

The amended budget was approved by a 6-1 vote. Sharon Patchak-Layman dissented because she believed the fund balance was too high.

The board approved the Board of Education attendance at a state meeting by a 7-0 vote.  For many years District 200 did not attend state meetings. Traditionally District 97 did attend.

The board approved the abatement of Emergency days by a 7-0 vote.

The board approved the appointment of IMRF authorized agent by a 7-0 vote. 

The board approved the Professional Development Plan.  Jeff Weissglass commented that the plan is not tied very directly to the strategic plan.

The board approved the Hay Group Compensation Philosophy Work. It has worked with other school districts as well as corporations.  The Hay Group representative, Mr. McMullin, will be providing some pro-bono work. The group will provide research on comparative salaries, as well as study how merit pay is perceived and used. It will develop a philosophy of compensation and analysis of where the district gets talent and where do teachers go when it loses talent.

The board approved field house repair.  Recently some pieces of the balcony ceiling of the field house fell.  There is need for immediate work in this area so it is not closed.  The administration said it could still host graduation indoors if needed even without using this section of seats. 

The board approved a contract to repair the field house.

The board approved student discipline actions.