Community Unit School District 7 will seek a school code waiver allowing it to conduct three full-day school improvement days in lieu of six half-day sessions required by the state’s school code after the Board of Education voted Monday night to formally seek the exemption. The action followed a brief public hearing at the start of the board’s regular monthly meeting during which Supt. Shane Owsley outlined the request. Owsley said the administration had already written to local legislators and to the teachers union to advise them of the district’s intention. The public hearing was a final formality before seeking the waiver.

Owsley told the board he wanted to “modify” the school code requirement for six half-day school improvement days to have three full-day sessions instead.

“With our staggered start times, we’re seeing that a half day doesn’t leave a lot of time for instruction,” Owsley said. “In addition, those are days with a lot of student absence and a lot of staff absence because people make appointments on those days.”

Full-day school improvement days, he argued, would provide additional time for professional development, and facilitate engaging speakers and presenters for professional development. Per state statute, the district would still be able to count those days as student attendance days, while eliminating the cost of bussing students to and from school. It also would reduce the need to hire substitute teachers on the days half-day training is scheduled. Owsley also said the change would benefit parents by allowing them to plan for three full days of alternative supervision for their children instead of six half days.

“I see a lot of benefits for our kids, our parents and our staff,” Owsley said.

Tentatively, the three full-day sessions would be scheduled immediately before the first day of student attendance, with one in October and one during the second semester.

Owsley said the Jerseyville School District already has secured permission to modify the code requirement. If Gillespie succeeds in winning approval, he said he expects other districts in the area will follow suit.

Board members voted unanimously to seek the waiver on a motion by Kelli Vesper, seconded by Amanda Ross. The application now goes to the Illinois State Board of Education and Regional Office of Education for review before being submitted to the state legislature for final approval. If the legislature approves the application, the waiver will be valid for five years.

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ANNUAL AUDIT

Board members unanimously voted to accept the annual audit, a summary of which was presented by Ken Loy of Loy Miller Talley CPAs, Alton. Loy described the audit as a “clean audit” with no major findings. The audit includes three “clean opinion” letters from the auditors—one regarding the audit in general, one referring to internal controls and compliance regarding bonds, and one referring to the district’s handling of federal funds.

Based on the audit, Loy said the school district will received a financial rating of 3.7 points out of 4, resulting in “Recognition” status. Recognition status is the highest level in the State Board of Education’s rating system.

Loy said the most recent fiscal year was “the second good year in a row for the district,’ compared with previous years.

“Things are a little better now with the one percent sales tax revenue, evidence-based state funding (which benefits rural districts) and increases in the districts equalized assessed valuation,” he said.

Loy said only two funds saw expenditures exceed revenue for fiscal year 2023. Transportation posted a deficit of $23,670, due primarily to fact buses ordered by the district during the previous fiscal year were not delivered until after the start of the 2023 fiscal year. Capital Projects also posted a very slight deficit of $4,574. All other funds ended the year with surplus funds, and most funds were within a few percentage points of what was budgeted for them.

In total, Loy said the district ended the fiscal year $1.38 million in the black.

Property tax revenue was up somewhat, even though the tax rate went down due to a significant increase in the district’s total equalized assessed valuation.

The total equalized assessed valuation for the district was $95.3 million, Loy said, an increase of about 9.3 percent.

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“That’s a big increase in the EAV for a school district,” he said. “But tax levies can only go up so much due to tax caps, which means the tax rate goes down when the EAV goes up.” The rate actually fell from $3.80 per $100 in EAV two years ago to $3.48 last fiscal year. The county collected and distributed 99.6 percent of what was sent out in tax bills, Loy said, resulting in revenue of $3,129,179 in local property tax revenue.

Emergency federal funding resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic boosted federal funding for the district to a total of $2.5 million. Federal funds accounted for about 14 percent of the district’s revenue, compared with seven or eight percent a few years ago. Those emergency funds, however, are expected to dry up this fiscal year, and federal funding is expected to drop back to $1 or $1.2 million..

Auditors calculated the per capita cost of education at $10,772—up from $9,452 the previous year. The increase was attributed to inflation, but also stagnant student enrollment.

“A lot of districts are hitting record lows for enrollment,” Loy said. “There are not as many children in rural areas as a few years ago.”

Owsley reported auditors from Loy Miller Talley CPAs spent three days in the district last summer to review financial documents. He thanked Loy for continuing to do perform the audit while other firms are backing away from school district work because of stringent requirements and peculiarities of school district accounting. He said school districts statewide are scambling to find qualified auditing firms and some are still waiting for audits to be completed for fiscal 20223.

INSURANCE

Following the recommendation of Rick Sedlak of Schmale Insurance, Belleville, the board voted to switch the district’s property coverage from EMC Insurance to Wright Specialty, a firm specializing in insuring school districts. EMC, the company that insured the district’s property for the past three years, planned to raise premiums by $30,000, from $188,000 to $222,000. Wright will provide virtually the same coverage for an annual premium of $166,028.

In a separate action, the board renewed its policy with Zenith Insurance for workers compensation coverage at a cost of $53,860, down from $56,262 last year. Board members also voted to renew excess mine subsidence/earthquake insurance with Axis Insurance to cover the first $10 million in damage, Sompo to cover the next $5 million in damage and Markel Insurance to cover up to $5 million in damage exceeding $15 million. The total premiums for excess mine subsidence coverage if $202,084—about $30,000 more than the $170,6334 th district paid last year.

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In aggregate, the district will pay $368,112 for property insurance and excess mine subsidence coverage, compared with $359,334 last year.

“If you stay with EMC and renew your excess mine subsidence insurance, you’re going to be up about $65,000,” Sedlak reported.

Sedlak said his firm received only two bids after reaching out to five national insurers. The second bidder, Illinois Counties Risk Management Trust, a consortium of more than 400 public bodies in Illinois, offered a bid of $146,982 but with significantly less coverage.

“We’re in a hard market for property insurance,” Sedlak said. “We’re in a high tornado/high hail area., and you have lots of property value. For those reasons, a lot of companies don’t want to quote.”

Sedlak said part of the challenge was to find a carrier that would offer adequate coverage for mine subsidence and earthquake damage. EMC, the district’s current insurer, offered full coverage for earthquake damage, while Wright Specialty’s policy limits coverage to $15 million. Illinois Counties Risk Management Trust capped coverage for earthquake damage at $5 million, less than 10 percent of the district’s total property value.

While Wright’s earthquake coverage is lower than the district’s current provider, Sedlak said that difference is somewhat mitigated with the district’s excess mine subsidence insurance, which also covers earthquake damage. Coupled with the excess mine subsidence policies, the district will have coverage to a limit of $35 million.

“That’s more than half of your property value,” Sedlak said. “You’re in a moderate zone for earthquake risks,” he said. “You could have damage to buildings but you shouldn’t have buildings collapse.”

Sedlak said an $8,000 increase in premiums for property insurance “is unheard of in today’s market.” Moreover, he said Wright Specialty’s rate could end up being lower than what was quoted after the company does its own independent appraisal of the value of the district’s assets. Sedlak said he estimated “on the high side” for bidding purposes, setting the value of the district’s buildings at $67 million.

PERSONNEL

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Following a 70-minute executive session, the board voted unanimously to accept the resignation of district custodian Tommy Richards, effective immediately and posted the position as vacant. The board also accepted “with regret” the resignation of Mike Bertagnolli as high school men’s track and field coach.

The board also approved a maternity leave for first-grade teacher Sydney Owsley, who is unrelated to the Superintendent, from approximately Feb 24, 2024, through April 20, 2024.

OTHER ACTION

In other action, the board:

• Heard brief reports regarding BenGil Elementary’s Fall Family Fun Days program, the first Athletic Wall of Fame banquet and induction ceremony, and a report on how elementary teachers are using data points to refine teaching strategies to ensure students meet state standards in specific subject areas.
• Voted to ratify changes to the South Macoupin Association for Special Education’s Joint Agreement to remove Bunker Hill School District from the agreement, and revise fees from a per-student-based structure to a single fee per participating school. Owsley said the fee change will benefit CUSD 7 by reducing the amount it pays into the consortium.
• Voted to accept a change to the district handbook to include specific consequences for violating the district’s cell phone policy. Owsley said some students cited for using cell phones questioned their punishment because it isn’t specifically outlined in the current handbook.
• Accepted a Health Life Safety survey for BenGil Elementary School. The survey is required every 10 years, and 2023 is the tenth year since the school was built.

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