Fieldcrest West players honored at school board meeting
The Fieldcrest Board of Education approved a motion to consolidate the Fifth grades at Fieldcrest East and West starting next fall. The plan would consolidate the Fifth grade at Toluca with 3 sections of classes. The plan would eliminate one full time teacher as there are presently 2 sections each at both Fieldcrest East and Fieldcrest West. The motion also stipulated that the consolidation of the other middle school grades would take place in 2006-2007. The action came after a heated debate over the approval of the more comprehensive consolidation of all middle classes at Fieldcrest East and West.
Board member Pat Schmillen opened the discussion by stating that she can not accept class sizes of 36 or more which would result from the consolidation of the present 4 sections into 3 sections for each grade. Schmillen said the Fifth grade is the only class size that is small enough to make into 3 sections. She indicated that would result in the savings of only one teacher and, therefore, consolidation on that basis would not result in significant savings.
Board member Joe Kirkpatrick said that he is not comfortable with large class sizes either but said that the district must make the hard decisions in order to keep from going deeper into debt. He said teachers will want a raise this year and the board must find a way to cut expenses.
Board member Melinda Tiraboschi wanted to know if they could buy some time by waiting until the large Eighth grade class moves on. She said it is tough on the teachers to have such large class sizes.
Board member Tom Barth said that even though he is the one pushing for a total consolidation, he would be willing to take baby steps to get something started in the right direction.
Board member Tim McNamara said that the board has had to make a lot of hard decisions adding that "our backs are against the wall." He said the board must take a big step if it expects the people to pass a referendum. McNamara told the crowd that we cannot have it both ways. He said turning down a referendum caused the school to increase its borrowing which is really just a back door referendum as the taxpayers still have to pay interest on borrowed money. He added that it is not fair to dump this decision on the new superintendent and said that if Fieldcrest is to survive, we must start here with the original consolidation plan.
Board president Jeff Pickard differed with McNamara and said that a referendum will not pass if the board pushes for a consolidation. He added that Fieldcrest will become the laughing stock of schools if we try to push this consolidation school too fast. He stated that the public doesn't understand what problems will be encountered with 30 plus kids in each class.
Kirkpatrick's motion to approve the consolidation of the middle schools was voted down with only Kirkpatrick and McNamara voting yes. Then Barth made a motion to consolidate the Fifth grades in 2005 and the remaining middle school grades in 2006-2007. The motion was approved by the Board with McNamara voting no.
Superintendent's Report
Fieldcrest Superintendent Dr. Michael Stagliano said the school's cash flow had stabilized and that it will be possible to finish the school year without any additional borrowing. He added, however, that the building fund may require some borrowing.
Stagliano said the governor has reneged on his pledge to aid education in many areas including his pledge to allocate 51% of new revenue to education. He said the governor's budget does call for an increase in school construction.
There will be an orientation for all school board candidates on March 5 from 9 - 11 a.m. at the Fieldcrest High School.
The board approved a motion to make the attendance at MAP training workshop mandatory for Fieldcrest teachers in grades 2-12. The cost of the workshop is $12,000 and is funded by a stipend from NCLB.
Dr. Stagliano said that the board should consider an option to refund some bonds as a precautionary measure against future borrowing needs. He said that by refunding bonds into a longer maturity, more money can be borrowed without raising the district's tax rate. Currently, if more borrowing is needed, the district's tax rate will go up. The board agreed to have a financial advisor attend a board meeting in April to consider all options.
CAC Report
Garilyn Wells of the Citizens Action Committee gave a financial report to the board on its collection of fees and other revenues. Wells said that $229,501 has been collected in fees and revenues with $40,944 in activity and participation fees that have been billed but not paid. She said that the Route 66 Raceway has invited the Fieldcrest group back to help with the races. This year's race date will be the second week in June. Wells said that the Peoria Chiefs also have invited the Fieldcrest group back to help with the concessions. The Fieldcrest group was the top money raiser last year for the Chiefs. She added that individual donations are still coming in after an editorial in MinonkTalk suggesting that everyone donate.
The breakdown of the report is as follows:
Participation & Activity Fees Collected - $166,988
Funds raised
2 Drawdowns - $24,276
Route 66 Raceway - 3,203
Peoria Chiefs Concessions - 2,790
Donations - 2,017
Total Fundraising - $32,286
Total gate fees - $24,737
Sale of Individual Passes for Sports - $5,490
Total Money Collected - $229,501
Expenses paid - $72,061 (including $68,670 for fall sports)
Net Receipts - $157,440
Activity & Participation fees not collected - $40,944
Fieldcrest West team honored
Members of the Fieldcrest West team that took second place in the State Seventh Grade finals were honored by the Board of Education and Superintendent Stagliano. The coaches thanked the fans for their tremendous support for the team.