Members of the Community Unit School District 7 Board of Education on Monday night voted unanimously to accept the district’s annual financial report, chose an insurance carrier for property and liability, and authorized the Superintendent to apply for an administrative expenditures waiver.

Following a lengthy executive session, the board also voted 4-1 to expel an elementary student for the remainder of the school year, one of the youngest students the board has ever cited for expulsion. Board member Peyton Bernot cast the sole negative vote. Board members Amanda Ross, Dennis Tiburzi, Kelli Vesper and Weye Schmidt all voted to approve the disciplinary action. Board member Bill Carter was absent. There are no alternative school programs for students below the sixth grade. The expelled student reportedly will have an opportunity to continue classwork via an online program and will be provided with access to school counseling services.

Ken Loy, an accountant with Loy-Miller-Talley Public Accountants, Alton, told board members that the annual audit resulted in a “clean, unmodified” opinion from the auditors, meaning there were no descrepancies in the district’s accounting procedures for the fiscal year that ended June 30. The audit, which is required by state law, contains three opinion letters, all of which were positive in regard to the district’s accounting and fiscal management.

One letter is a general report of the auditors’ findings, indicating the district’s financial records “present fairly, in all material aspects, the assets and liabilities arising from cash transactions of balances of each fund.” Further, the report affirms, “the revenues (the district) received and expenditures it paid for the year . . . (are) in accordance with provisions of the State Board of Education.”

A second letter describes the scope of the auditing process, while a third letter addresses the district’s handling of federal funds. Loy said the federal letter is required when a district receives more than $750,000 in federal funds. For the most recent fiscal year, the district received about $2.5 million from federal sources. While that revenue triggered the need for a separate opinion letter, Loy said the amount was down somewhat from the past few years when the district was receiving COVID recovery funds. As with the general letter, the federal report reflects “a good, clean audit report,” according to Loy.

“All of these opinion letters are good as they have been in the past,” Loy said.

Zeroing in on some details of the 75-page audit, Loy noted that all funds ended the fiscal year in the black, except for the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund which spent about $33,000 more than it received in revenue. However, Loy said, that deficit was a planned deficit that drew down on surplus balances. 

“All of your other funds were positive,” he noted.

The district’s total equalized assessment value, the basis for property tax extensions, increased to $112,324,042 from $103,564,334 a year earlier, which was up from $95,324,343. The property tax extension for 2024, payable in 2025, was $3,599,569. The board typically sets the levy for the upcoming tax year in December.

The per capita tuition charge, determined by dividing enrollment into the total cost of education, increased from $8,892 for fiscal 2024 to $13,248 for fiscal 2025—due, in part, to a dramatic decrease in enrollment. The report notes that enrollment dropped from 1,005 in 2024 to 871 in 2025. That decline in enrollment, according to Loy, resulted in about $2,000 of the increased tuition charge. 

Loy said the enrollment erosion is not unusual in downstate school districts.

“Our rural communities are aging,” he said. “We don’t have the size of families we used to have.”

Loy noted that the district’s state financial profile score increased from 3.7 out of 4.0 for fiscal 2024 to 3.8 for the most recently concluded fiscal year. The score identifies the district as a “Recognition Status” district, the highest ranking for financial health and stability.

“Your score went up a little bit because your debt went down,” Loy said. “At the same time, your capacity to borrow went up.”

Of the four criteria the State Board of Education uses to determine the score, CUSD 7 fell short of a 4.0 score in only the area of debt to income ratio. 

“If not for the substantial debt, you would have had a perfect score,” Loy noted.

Supt. Shane Owsley told the board that some of the debt that’s bringing down the district’s financial score is lingering debt associated with the loss of Benld Elementary School and the construction of the BenGil Elementary School. The district secured special state legislation allowing it to exceed its normal debt ceiling to deal with the mine subsidence crisis. While that debt does not count toward the district’s debt ceiling, it is included in the financial report.

“Overall, you had a good year financially,” Loy said. With a $1.8 million increase in cash and investment balances “you are on solid footing and keeping up with inflation.”

INSURANCE POLICY

After several minutes of discussion, the board opted to switch from Wright Specialty to the Illinois Counties Risk Management Trust to provide property and liability insurance coverage at a cost of $235,061—about 26 percent less than what the district paid in premiums last year to Wright Specialty.

Richard Sedlak, an insurance broker with Schmale Insurance Agency, Belleville presented two options for the board to consider and discussed some of the advantages of one over the other. Wright Specialty proposed a policy similar to what the district currently has, except that the deductible for wind and hail damage was increased from one percent to two percent. 

“A two percent deductible for wind and hail on three buildings could be a lot of money,” Owsley advised the board.

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Wright’s proposed premium was $318,852—an increase of about 12 percent over what the district paid to Wright last year.

Wright also fell short on mine subsidence coverage, setting a claim limit of $750,000, compared with ICRMT’s limit of $10 million. The Trust also offered replacement costs on roofs up to 20 years in age. Wright’s coverage for earthquake damage topped out at $15 million, compared with ICRMT’s $10 million limit.

“If your concern is with earthquakes, Wright has the better program,” Seldom said. “If you’re more concerned about mine subsidence, the Trust has a better program.”

Sedlak said ICRMT is a stable company that has been in business more than 30 years. “It’s a non-accessible trust,” he said, meaning that if the company experiences a large loss, it cannot come back and reassess policy holders.

Going with ICRMT, Sedlak said, would give the district up to $30 million in coverage on the high school/middle school.

“This will be the first time you’ll have coverage that equals the value of that building,” he said. By going with the Trust, he said, “You’ll be giving up a little earthquake coverage for a lot more subsidence coverage.”

Later in the meeting, the board voted unanimously to approve ICRMT’s proposal for the coming year. The proposal includes Workers Compensation coverage through Zenith Insurance Co., the district’s current Workers Compensation carrier.

BUS PURCHASE

On a motion by Peyton Bernot, seconded by Amanda Ross, the board unanimously accepted Supt. Owsley’s recommendation to spend upward of $153,000 for a new bus from Central States Bus Sales to replace an older bus from the district’s fleet of buses. Owsley said he will pay for the vehicle from the Transportation Fund which was projected to end the year with a surplus of about $564,000. Financing the purchase, he said, would unnecessarily cost the district about six percent in interest.

“My goal is to make sure that none of our buses are more than five years old,” he said, “because that’s when depreciation ends.”

The fleet currently consists of 13 buses, seven of which are older than five years. 

“We don’t need 13 buses,” Owsley said, reporting that Transportation Director Tim Besserman said he’d be comfortable with 10 buses. The district currently runs seven full bus routes.

Owsley said two buses already have been surplused, and he expects to surplus two more inoperable buses soon. The surplused vehicles are being scrapped, he said, “because scrap prices right now are more than what we can get for trade-in.”

ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS WAIVER

Following a mandated public hearing, the board approved a resolution directing the Superintendent to apply to the State Board of Education for a waiver freeing the district from keeping increases in administrative costs at five percent or less. ISBE requires a waiver whenever administrative cost increases exceed five percent. Owsley said those costs for this fiscal year are likely to increase by eight percent.

The resolution applies solely to administrative costs that fall under the Superintendent’s office. Owsley said the increased costs are attributable to mandated increases in staff salaries and increasing costs for supplies.

As part of the process, the district was required to notify the Macoupin County Federation of Teachers Local 528, along with state legislators representing the district.

PERSONNEL

The board accepted the resignation of Jennifer Brown as the high school Student Council sponsor, effective at the end of the current school year, after several years of serving in that position. 

“She’s been the Student Council sponsor for a lot of years,” Bernot noted. “She was the sponsor when I was in school.”

The measure to accept her resignation also directs the district to post the position as vacant.

Board members also voted unanimously to accept the resignation of Jake Kellebrew as the district’s Bass Fishing coach and to post the position as vacant.

The resignation of Jeremy Smith as high school head baseball coach was also accepted after 16 successful seasons with the team.

DISTRICT FOCUS

During a District Focus segment, Elementary Principal Angela Sandretto introduced new teachers Nick Davio, who teaches music and fifth-grade band, and speech instructor Karen Robertson.

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“Students are very excited to be in his classes,” Sandretto said of Davio. “We’re very happy to have him.”

She said the district is “very lucky” have Robertson, whom she described as a “great addition to the elementary staff.”

High School Principal Jill Rosentreter noted newly hired paraprofessionals, Shari Scott and Foli Seferi, along with newly hired custodian Tom Turiglatto. Rosentreter described the paraprofessionals as “self starters.”

GRANTS

Owsley reported the district recently received a $20,000 grant from the Illinois Arts Council to buy equipment for the high school art classroom. He also reported a $15,000 donation from Dr. Ross Billiter, and the receipt of a $50,000 matching grant for facility improvements.

Owsley singled out the administrative staff for praise following the conclusion of  Principals Appreciation Week.

“I’d take my team over any other team in the state,” he said. “I can’t thank them enough. They’re here everyday and they care about every student in the district.”

“We have not had a Superintendent who has brought the amount of grant money into our district as you have,” Board President Mark Hayes told Owsley.

OTHER ACTION

In other action, the board approved moving the regular monthly board meeting for December from Monday, Dec. 22, to Monday, Dec. 15, to preclude conflicting with the holidays and winter break. 

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