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Fieldcrest to Form Building Committee

Wednesday, October 25, 2017 - Posted 9:14:10 PM
The Fieldcrest Board of Education approved the creation of a building committee to address the building issue facing the board. Dr. Dan Oakley said a decision must be made by the Dec. 20th meeting on whether to repair or rebuild buildings to meet the State of Illinois Life Safety requirements. Dr. Oakley suggested having public inspections of the various school buildings and perhaps a public meeting to help formulate a plan. The Life Safety requirements must be met by December 2018.

Farnsworth engineer John Bishop gave the board copies of the breakdown of cost estimates for the various repairs and improvements that need to be made to satisfy the 10 Year Life Safety requirements. A copy of this report can be found at this link.

In other news the board was presented the Annual Audit Report prepared by Phillps, Salmi and Associates. There were no significant findings in the audit and the firm's auditor said she was impressed with the cooperation and preparation of data provided by school personnel.

The board agreed to purchase a new van from Uftring Automall in East Peoria. Board member Scott Hillenburg said the board should consider buying another van in the near future as dealers are becoming hesitant to selling vans to schools because of the liability issue which means the school may not be able to buy another van next year. That scenario would mean that the purchase of a small bus would be the only option and would be more expensive.

The board approved the purchase of a VeriTime Time Clock System with plans to have it installed by January 1, 2018.

The board decided not to pursue potential reorganizations or consolidations with other school districts. Board member Tim McNamara said pursing reorganization at this time would muddy the waters with all the other things that are going on. Board member Elizabeth Palm agreed saying the timing is not right.

The board approved a motion to send a letter to the Regional Board of Superintendents expressing the school's request to put on the March 20th of 2018 election ballot a vote for a Retailer's Occupation Tax and a Service Occupation Tax. The tax, if approved, would provide an additional $500,000 a year for the school district which would lessen the burden on the property tax. Board member Scott Hillenburg said the larger school districts in Peoria and Bloomington have this type of tax and local consumers pay that tax when they shop in those communities. Board member Tim McNamara said every county in Iowa has a similar tax and added that the tax would be collected not only from local residents but from anyone who buys anything in Woodford County.