Fieldcrest School District's annual financial report was delivered to the Board of Education at the monthly meeting Wednesday night in Toluca. An auditor from Phillips, Salmi, and Associates of Washington, Il said the school's financial profile was 3.9 out of maximum of 4.0 which is considered very good. The score was up from 3.45 in 2015. A score above 3.7 is considered desirable.
The school's operating expenses per student (OEPP) was $12.017.98 which was a little below the state average of $13,763.50. However, the school's ranking on OEPP is 285 out of 386 schools which puts the school in the upper 70% for operating expenses. The auditor mentioned that the school's high transportation cost was a factor in the relatively high ranking for OEPP.
The OEPP for other area schools with a lower OEPP was $10,068.61 for El Paso, $9,276.27 for Eureka and $11,536.24 for Roanoke-Benson while the higher OEPP schools were Lowpoint-Washburn with an OEPP of $12,438.50 and Flanagan-Cornell with $12,519.88.
The auditor pointed out that some cash disbursements were not controlled properly because some expenses were not reported as reimbursable items which resulted in less money from the State.
In action items the board approved the hiring of Katherine Rients as Primary School Teachers Aid and for extra duty as 7th grade volleyball coach and recognized the resignation of Derek Schneedman as Assistant Baseball Coach.
High School Principal William Lapp said there were no heart issues detected from the 180 students who had an EKG screening on Oct. 30 conducted by Advent BroMenn. He said the school is planning to hold a Veterans Day program on November 11.
Mr. Lapp submitted a proposal to IHSA that would eliminate the by-law directing the IHSA to implement a football scheduling system for regular-season varsity games which impacts the current ability for schools to schedule games AND qualify for the playoffs as it is currently administered.
Fieldcrest Assistant Superintendent Dr. Kari Rockwell said she has received a grant for a $2100 scholarship to attend the "Raising Student Achievement Conference" on December 9-10,2019 in Schaumburg, Illinois. The scholarship will reimburse the district up to $700 per person(total of three individuals named in the application) for registration fees, lodging, and travel.
Dr. Rockwell said the results of the school's survey on hiring a resource officer indicate the overwhelming majority chose a professional social worker. She said the 2019 Illinois Report Card placed the Fieldcrest Middle School in the Underperforming category while the other schools in the district received a Commendable score.
Fieldcrest Superintendent Dr. Dan Oakley said the county sales tax approved last year will be distributed soon to area schools. The amount each school receives from the sales tax is calculated by determining the school's percentage of the total number of students in the county and then multiplied by the total sales tax receipts.
Dr. Oakley said there has been a discussion among various school organizations on the subject of allowing school employees to carry guns to protect students from intruders. He said some schools in remote areas do not have access to a local police force and want to be able to provide their own protection. He said the subject is not being discussed in the state legislature but if anything does materialize, he felt that it would be a local decision by each school district on whether they want to allow guns in their school. He said the board should be thinking about this subject in case it becomes a state-wide issue.
Comments
Nicole Embery: Yeah really don't like the idea of guns in the schools
Bailey Skinner: If fieldcrest teachers had guns, the students there would be DUMB enough to try and get it to shoot up the school. Sorry not sorry. #nohope TRUST NOBODY