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CUSD 7 teachers reject contract offer

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About 50 district school teachers, many wearing union t-shirts, attended Monday night’s regular monthly meeting of the board in a show of solidarity in support of the union’s demand for a more lucrative contract offer. (photo/thebengilpost.com)

Members of the Community Unit School District 7 teachers union have rejected the school board’s initial contract offer as the current contract ticks down to its final days.

About 50 district school teachers, many wearing union t-shirts, attended Monday night’s regular monthly meeting of the board in a show of solidarity in support of the union’s demand for a more lucrative contract offer.

Reading from a prepared statement, Michelle Smith, president of Illinois Federation of Teachers Local 528 told the board that union members “overwhelmingly” voted to reject the board’s initial financial offer.

“As you can see, teachers are here tonight in support of a fair contract–one that shows appreciation for the work done during a pandemic,” Smith announced. “We ask that the board reconsider their financial offer and offer an increase to the salary schedule that provides for a cost of living increase to the Gillespie teachers that show up every day for their students.”

Citing ongoing negotiations, Board President Mark Hayes declined to disclose details of the contract offer to the BenGil Post. The previous four-year contract will expire at the end of August. The last contract was negotiated over a period of about two months.

The current contract was ratified by the union and approved by the board in October 2017. It raised base salaries and called for raises of one percent for each of the first three years and 1.25 percent in the final year. Coupled with the increase in base salaries, the raises amounted to about three percent per year—substantially less than the five percent annual raises teachers enjoyed under terms of the previous four-year contract.

Supt, Shane Owsley said he felt union representatives and representatives of the board “left off on good terms” and that he looked forward to resuming negotiations in July. The board’s negotiating committee includes Hayes, Jenni Alepra and Bill Carter, with Owsley and the board’s attorney serving in advisory capacities.

In other action Monday night, the board approved an amended budget for the current fiscal year, heard details about a proposed new TIF district in the city of Gillespie, and approved the purchase of a $50,000 intercom system.

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AMENDED BUDGET APPROVED

With board members Becky Hatlee and Don Dobrino absent, the board unanimously approved an amended budget for the current fiscal year. The action was preceded by a brief public hearing during which Supt. Owsley outlined changes to the budget.

The most significant change reflects an increase in revenue and expenditures in the Education Fund resulting from the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) federal funds the district received as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. State law requires all revenues and expenditures to be accounted for in the budget, which necessitated amending the budget prior to the end of the current fiscal year on June 30.

The amended budget reflects and increase in Education Fund revenue from $12,201,529 to $12,397,448, and an increase in expenditures from $12,391,146 to $12,557,065.

Additionally, due to an oversight, budgeted expenditures from the Debt Service Fund was increased from $1,181,858 to $1,188,608 to cover the cost of a lease payment that was inadvertently committed from the original budget.

Budgeted amounts for all other funds are unaffected.

In related measures, the board adopted a resolution authorizing Owsley to begin work on a new budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1 and end June 30, 2022. The tentative new budget will be delivered to the board and is expected to be approved in September following a 30-day public review period and public hearing.

Additionally, the board approved a resolution authorizing “necessary expenditures” between July 1 and the budget adoption. Those expenditures will include payroll, operations, maintenance, debit service and other expenditures essential to the district’s operation.

TIF DISTRICT DISCUSSION

Gillespie City Treasurer Dan Fisher and Peace Corps Fellow Ethan Fogg briefly addressed the board regarding a proposed new Tax Increment Finance district that would encompass an area on the city’s southwest side in the area of the water treatment plant and SuperBowl bowling alley. Included in the area are a number of vacant residential lots owned by the school district and vacant nuisance properties owned by the city.

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School districts typically oppose TIF districts because they capture increases in property tax assessments that otherwise would go to the school district. TIF districts essentially freeze property tax revenues at the level they are at when the district is formed. As improvements are made to TIF district properties or property assessments increase, the TIF district “captures” those increases. The resulting funds can then be reinvested in infrastructure improvements or incentives within the district. The funds cannot be used for salaries.

Gillespie City Treasurer Dan Fisher and Peace Corps Fellow Ethan Fogg briefly addressed the board regarding a proposed new Tax Increment Finance district that would encompass an area on the city’s southwest side in the area of the water treatment plant and SuperBowl bowling alley.

According to Fisher, the city plans to promote the construction of energy-efficient residential homes for sale to young families, retirees and other purchases interested in high efficiency, “green” homes. New homes will be equipped with solar panels, high-efficiency windows, high-efficiency insulation and other features to reduce energy consumption.

“We think we can make these homes very attractive to buyers,” Fisher said.

 He said his own home has been updated with solar panels, insulation and other amenities to increase energy efficiency. “My energy bills are almost nothing,” Fisher said. “Ameren basically charges me for having a meter.”

To mitigate against property tax losses to the school district, Fisher said the city is committed to using 50 percent of tax increment funds within the TIF district with the remaining 50 percent to divided between the city and the school district.

“With a TIF district, we’re not able to build just one house but 10 houses, 15 houses or 25 houses,” Fisher said, Those new houses will result in property tax revenue increases.  “You will get 25 percent of that right off the bat.”

Additionally, the development will enable the school district to sell off vacant residential lots it currently owns within the TIF district. Fisher noted that the school district’s building trades program built a handful of new houses in past years that will be located within the TIF district when it is formed. “I’m not saying you’d have to do that on your other lots, but it’s a possibility,” he said.

According to Fisher, a Gillespie developer owns 16 lots in the proposed TIF district and is expected to develop those lots with energy-efficient homes. For lots owned by the city, the city will issue a request for proposals to choose a developer.

While the TIF district ostensibly is a city project, Fisher said the city wants to partner with the school district. “Otherwise, it won’t work,” he said.

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Fisher said the city’s goal is to establish the new TIF district by the end of this year with new home construction to begin in 2022.

As part of the project, Fogg said the city is seeking a $70,000 grant from the Illinois Housing Development Authority to demolish derelict houses in the proposed district area. To that end, he and Fisher asked those attending the meeting to complete an anonymous survey assessing housing needs in the community and other factors that will play a role in successfully applying for the grant.

Others can complete the survey by visiting growgillespie.org.

Later in the meeting, the board approved a resolution finalizing the sale of two vacant lots in the 800 block of Frances Street to Shannon Johnson and Lance Hammann. The lots, located within the proposed TIF district area, were sold to the high bidders for a total of $6,500.

INTERCOM SYSTEM PURCHASE

The board unanimously approved the purchase of a new intercom system from Hart Technologies, based in East Peoria, for $50,700.56. The new system will replace the 30-year-old intercom system that was installed at the High School/Middle School complex 30 years ago when the building was constructed. The older system failed last year and could not be repaired. Owsley said Hart Technologies submitted the lowest of three bids for the system. The new system also will have the capability to extend internal communication to BenGil Elementary School.

PERSONNEL

In the area of personnel, the board voted to hire Elizabeth Logsdon as a birth-to-three-year-old parent educator. Board members also voted unanimously to hire Jane Weber and Alexandria Plovich as first-year, non-tenured elementary school teachers.

Darian Gill was hired unanimously as a paraprofessional (classroom aide) tentatively assigned to the high school, and Kristin Bertolis was hired as a one-on-one student aide at BenGil Elementary School.

The board voted unanimously to post vacancies for two full-time substitute teachers for the coming school year, but Dennis Tiburzi cast the sole vote against a measure to hire two additional elementary teachers for the 2021-22 school year.

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The board voted unanimously to appoint Joe Kelly and Mackenzie Kasarda as volunteer assistant middle school softball coaches.

Board members voted to accept the resignation of Victoria Spencer as Gillespie Middle School cheer coach and posted the position as vacant. The board also accepted the resignation of seventh-grade basketball coach Tim Wargo and posted the position as vacant.

OTHER ACTION

In other action, the board:

  • Voted unanimously to accept the bid of Blue Cross/Blue Shield to continue providing health care insurance for district employees. Owsley said Blue Cross/Blue Shield was one of only two bidders and the second bid had significantly higher premiums. Under the new contract, the premium will increase by 2.52 percent. Under union contracts, the district pays the first $605 of monthly premiums and evenly splits the remaining costs between the district and the employee.
  • Accepted bids from Prairie Farms Dairy to provide milk for the 2021-22 school year, Aunt Millie’s Bakeries to supply bread and Kohl’s Wholesale to provide food products. All three vendors have supplied their respective commodities for the district’s food program for the past several years.
  • Accepted a Consolidated District Plan newly required by law to maintain eligibility for state and federal funds. The plan basically is a survey to ensure school districts are non-discriminatory in the expenditure of state and federal funds.
  • Approved an annually mandated prevailing wage statement committing the district to use only contractors and vendors who pay their employees prevailing wages as determined by the Department of Labor.

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Community News

First class of athletes inducted into CUSD 7 Athletic Wall of Fame

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Gillespie Community School District recently held its firstt inaugural class of its “Athletic Wall of Fame” on October 1, 2023. The inductees were invited to participate in the Homecoming Parade and then a “meet and greet” at the high school football game.

Here is a list of the inductees and a brief biography of their accomplishments.

Sam Anderson graduated from Benld in 1952. He participated in football, baseball, basketball, and track for 4 years earning all-conference in three sports and All-State in football and basketball. He was a St. Louis Browns professional baseball tryout and played basketball at St Louis University for one year and Eastern Illinois University football for two years. He scored over 1300 career points in high school basketball.

Keith Parker graduated from Gillespie in 1940. He participated in football, basketball, and track and earned nine varsity letters. He played football at University of Missouri and National Champion Purdue University for one year each. He was drafted by the Baltimore Colts. He was a football and basketball official for 41 years and inducted into Granite City Hall of Fame, Missouri Football Hall of Fame, NFHS Hall of Fame, and Greater St Louis Hall of Fame.

Lisa (Ribes) Roberts was a graduate of Gillespie HS in 1996. She participated in multiple sports including four yrs in track. She holds the school record in 1600 and 3200 meters. She ran track at SIUE for 4 years and is a professional Tri-Athlete and 6x Iron Man Champion. She has participated in over 100 triathlons around the world and holds multiple Iron Man course records.

Jim Hlafka graduated from Gillespie in 1952. He earned all-conference in basketball. He played basketball at St Louis University and Eastern Illinois University for one year each. He coached Bunker Hill High School basketball for 43 years and ranks 13th in IHSA career wins with a record of 754-347. Hlafka was also inducted into the IBCA Hall of Fame.

Gordon Hartweger graduated from Gillespie in 1957. He participated in basketball, baseball, and track for four years earning all-conference honors in basketball. He played basketball at St Louis University for 4 years earning MVP and Captain. He was the assistant basketball coach at St Louis University for 5 years and played in the NIT National Finals.

Jerry Grandone graduated from Gillespie in 1960. He participated in basketball, track, and football earning all-conference in basketball and track. After Gillespie, he played basketball and track at Eastern Illinois University for 4 years. He held hurdle records, MVP, and track captain at Eastern Illinois, basketball captain at Eastern Illinois, and earned seven varsity letters at Eastern Illinois. Grandone coached basketball in Coal City and Gillespie, was the track coach at Coal City five years, and in Gillespie for 38 years.

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Rick Bertagnolli graduated from Gillespie in 1978. He participated in football, basketball, baseball, and track earning all-conference in football and baseball. He played baseball at Lewis and Clark and SIUE for two years each and was the MVP and Captain at Lewis and Clark. Bertagnolli was a men’s Olympic Festival softball and Major fastpitch softball for five years and earned the IHSA Softball Coach of the Year. Bertagnolli coached softball at Wabash Valley Jr College, University of South Carolina-Spartanburg and California University of Pennsylvania for 20 years winning the Div. II National Champion twice and also receiving the Conference, Regional and National Softball Coach of the Year.

Bob Boston graduated from Gillespie in 1966. He participated in football and basketball for four years each. He is the all-time school basketball scoring leader with approximately 2000 points and also threw for over 2000 career passing yards. He earned all-conference football and basketball, and honorable mention little All-State football and basketball. He played basketball and football at University of Missouri for 2 years each and received over seven university scholarship offers from St Louis University, Air Force, Memphis State, LSU, Northwestern, Holy Cross, Princeton and Dartmouth.

The 1964 Gillespie football team was the last inductee with an 8-0-2 record. They were the last unbeaten football team with wins over Feitshans (Springfield SE), Hillsboro, Mt Olive, Pittsfield, Jerseyville, Carlinville, Nokomis and Dupo, and ties to Southwestern and Staunton. The team was coached by Bill Parmentier and Andy Easton.

Another class will be inducted in the fall of 2024. Wall of Fame nomination forms can be found on the Gillespie Community School District website.

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Community News

School board moves to buy more new buses

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Jerry Balzraine and Neil Balzraine present a check to Superintendent Shane Owsley from the Italian American Club of Benld. The check provided each Ben-Gil Elementary classroom with $25 dollars ($1,271 total).

In a relatively brief meeting Monday night, members of the Community Unit School District 7 Board of Education voted unanimously to enter into a lease-purchase arrangement to acquire three new school buses for the district’s Transportation Department. Two of the 77-passenger Bluebird buses are equipped with underbelly luggage compartments, Supt. Shane Owsley told the board, which will be useful for transporting equipment with athletic teams and other groups to “away” events.

The action is congruent with the district’s plan to update the bus fleet, with a goal of having no buses in service that are more than eight to 10 years old. The cost of the new lease-purchase arrangement amounts to $101,630 per year for five years. The district acquired three new buses last year under a similar arrangement.

In other action Monday, the board accepted bids to sell two surplus real estate parcels and voted to sell about 5,100 shares of Principal stock owned by the district.

Board members voted unanimously to accept a bid of $2,100 from Peter Vallerius for Lot 171, Block 10 of Martin’s Subdivision, Gillespie, and to accept a bid of $1,814 from Richard Roth for Lot 1, Block 10, Henderson Place, Gillespie. The lots were two of 21 parcels declared as surplus and offered for sale during the board’s July meeting.

With one dissenting vote, the board approved the sale of Principal stock owned by the district. The district’s auditors reportedly recommended disposing of the stock because state law precludes school districts from playing the stock market with public funds. The auditors, however, acknowledged CUSD 7 could legitimately retain the Principal stock because the shares were a gift to the district some years ago.

“They said having these stocks was appropriate?” asked board member Dennis Tiburzi, who cast the sole vote against selling the shares.

“That’s correct,” Board President Mark Hayes replied.

FISCAL 2024 BUDGET

The board voted unanimously to place on file for public inspection a tentative Fiscal 2024 district budget, with an eye toward formally adopting the budget at the board’s regular September meeting on Monday, Sept. 25. Monday night’s meeting was held a week earlier than normally scheduled to ensure the budget would be available for public review for the legally required minimum of 30 days before adoption.

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A budget hearing, during which Supt. Owsley will review details of the new budget, will be conducted at 6 p.m., Monday, Sept. 25, prior to the board formally voting on whether or not to adopt the budget later during the regular meeting.

Last year’s budget called for expenditures of $16.3 million during the fiscal year. Owsley reminded the board that the new budget is subject to modifications up until the time it is adopted in September.

PERSONNEL

Following an hour-long executive session, the board voted to accept the resignation of Donnie Allen as assistant high school track and field coach, post the assistant’s position as vacant, and hire Allen as the high school track and field head coach. Allen will step into a vacancy created by the recent resignation of Jay Weber, who accepted a position as track and field coach at Blackburn College, Carlinville.

In other personnel action, the board accepted the resignation of Kyle Lamore as middle school Scholar Bowl sponsor and to post the position as vacant.

INTERGOVERNMENTAL AGREEMENT

On a motion by Weye Schmidt, seconded by Tiburzi, the board voted to approve Supt. Owsley’s recommendation to enter into an intergovernmental agreement with the Mount Olive and Staunton school districts to pool transportation resources to increase efficiency and reduce the cost of transportation special education students to and from participating facilities. The schools are members of the South Macoupin Association for Special Education (SMASE).

“It didn’t make sense for all of us to send buses to the same schools every day,” Owsley said. The agreement allows the CUSD7 to use its buses to transport students from other districts to special education classes and to allow other districts to transport students from CUSD7 for the same purpose.

Owsley said CUSD7 buses will be used to transport students to and from Carlinville and Mount Olive.

In other action, the board approved an Employee Information Service Administrator and Teacher Salary/Benefits Report and voted to approve a District Consolidated District Plan. Both were routine actions taken by the board on an annual basis.

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ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTS

During an administrative reports segment, Owsley and building principals reported on an Administrative Academy Legal Updates Professional Development session they attended on Aug. 10. Owsley said the presentation included more than 200 slides on new Illinois laws affecting education, including new legislation aimed at combating bullying in schools.

The new law nails down definitions of what constitutes bullying, and gives teachers and administrators 24 hours to contact the parents of students involved when they are notified of bullying.

“That means that if you get a report over the weekend, you have to contact parents before Monday,” Owsley said. “Teaching is not just reading, writing, and arithmetic anymore.”

Administrators also reported on a workshop led by Damon West, a motivational speaker and best-selling author. Now a college professor and sought-after speaker, West was a 20-year-old starting quarterback at the University of North Texas. After a career-ending injury, West became involved with drugs, including methamphetamine. In 2009, he was sentenced to 65 years in prison for his role as the Uptown Burglar, responsible for a series of burglaries that netted more than $1 million in stolen goods. In prison, he met an inmate who told him being in prison was like being submersed in boiling water. It can make you soft and weak like a carrot or it could turn you hard and distant like a boiled egg. The alternative, the inmate told him, was to become a “coffee bean.” The boiling water doesn’t change the coffee bean but the coffee bean transforms the water to coffee.

Paroled after seven years, West became an advocate for “becoming a coffee bean”—using the challenges life hands to an individual to change the environment around them in a positive way.

Owsley said he received a copy of West’s book, The Coffee Bean, for Christmas last year. He read it and determined to get West as a presenter for CUSD7 teaching staff.

“He is very well known and he comes with a price,” Owsley said. “I reached out to the Regional Office of Education and they were able to help us make it happen.”

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CUSD 7 News

School Board hires elementary teachers for current school year

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Gillespie CUSD 7 school board hired Sydney Owsley (left) and Jessica Yeager (right) as first-year, non-tenured elementary teachers.

With the start of the school year looming next week, members of the Community Unit School District 7 Board of Education took action Thursday night to fill last-minute staff vacancies. Meeting in special session, the board met for 40 minutes in executive session before taking action in open action to complete staffing needs for the 2023-24 school year.

On a motion by Bill Carter, seconded by Weye Schmidt, board members voted unanimously to hire Jessica Yeager of Carlinville as a first-year, non-tenured elementary teacher for the 2023-24 academic year.  Board members also voted unanimously to hire Sydney Owsley (no relation to Supt. Shane Owsley) of East Alton as a first-year, non-tenured elementary teacher. Both hires are pending verification of certification requirements and background checks.

Last week, also during a special meeting, the board accepted the resignations of BenGil Elementary teachers Jay Weber and Allison McElroy, and posted one elementary teacher position that had not been previously posted. Blackburn College, Carlinville, announced this week that Weber has been hired as the college’s cross-country and track and field coach.

Supt. Owsley said the newly hired teachers are not direct replacements for the two teachers who resigned due to internal reassignment of some staff members. Yeager, previously employed as a teacher at the North Mac School District in the Virden/Girard area, will teach Kindergarten at BenGil Elementary School. Owsley will begin as a first-grade teacher.

The CUSD 7 assignment is Owsley’s first teaching position, after receiving her bachelor’s degree in spring 2022 from Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville. She is a graduate of Roxana High School, where she was an athletic standout in tennis.

Yeager earned her bachelor’s degree from SIU-Edwardsville and a master’s degree from Western Illinois University in Macomb.

The board also voted unanimously Thursday night to hire Alexis Lupkey, a Gillespie High School graduate, as a paraprofessional, and to hire Lexie Bussmann as paraprofessional one-on-one aide. Both hires are pending verification of certification and routine background checks. In a separate action, on a motion by Amanda Ross, seconded by Schmidt, the board also hired Bussmann as an assistant volleyball coach.

In other action, the board hired Mike Smith as a full-time, full-route bus driver, and accepted “with regret” the resignation of Kevin Gray as a volunteer assistant golf coach. Smith, a half-route driver for the district, has already undergone the required employee background check.

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The 2023-24 school year officially starts Monday with two days of teacher training sessions. Wednesday, Aug. 16, is the first day for students to attend classes.

The next regular meeting for the board is Monday, Aug. 21 – one week earlier than most monthly board meetings.

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