Starting next month, Nippersink District 2 residents and staff will have their own forum for providing input on school-board decisions. At its monthly meeting Tuesday night, the board announced it would schedule Communication Council meetings between regular meetings so residents can weigh in on upcoming board votes. Board member Mike Gullifor said the move was in response to questions at the April 28 Community Council meeting about “why things appear to be a done deal” before board decisions are discussed and voting takes place.

At the board’s regular monthly meetings, issues requiring a board vote are first brought up as items of information. At later meetings, after appropriate sub-committees have studied the matters and made recommendations, the issues are presented as items of consideration, discussed, and voted on by board members. Particularly complex issues remain items of information with monthly subcommittee updates until recommendations can be made. Previously, community input at board meetings was limited to brief comments at the beginning of board meetings, before items of information and items of consideration were presented.

District 2 Supt. George Zimmer said that from now on, items of information presented at each monthly meeting will become agenda topics for the Communication Council meeting roughly two weeks later. “We will suspend judgment during meetings” until community residents have had a chance to comment, Gullifor said. Communication Council meetings are designed to be informal discussions of district issues. According to Zimmer, residents who would like certain issues placed on the agenda should contact him. The next Communication Council meeting is set for 7 p.m. Tuesday, June 10, at the Nippersink Middle School library.

The board also voted Tuesday to issue a $1 million Tax Anticipation Warrant to satisfy the cash-flow needs of the district while it awaits tax revenues. The loan, which will be repaid after taxes are received, will cost the district up to $5,200 in interest. District 2 business manager Lee Eakright said interest charges will depend on the number of days the money is held before repayment, which he estimates will be 45 days.

Also on Tuesday, the board approved the 2003-2004 school calendar, which more closely aligns with that of Richmond-Burton High School. K-8 classes will start on Monday, August 25. The last day of school was tentatively set for Thursday June 3, with a maximum of five days reserved for emergency closings. Changes to the calendar include attendance on Veterans’ Day and non-attendance on April 12. The calendar includes four teacher-institute days, two parent-teacher conference days, and four school improvement days.

The board also approved school enrollment fees for next year. Parents of incoming kindergarten students will pay $55; parents of elementary students will pay $60, and parents of middle-school students will pay $65. Additional fees are as follows: technology, $15; science, $10; intramural sports, $40; conference sports, $80. The price of school lunches was increased 10 percent, to $2.

The board accepted the resignation of Mary Mikell, the district’s technology staff developer, who, according to Zimmer, quit to pursue other business interests. The district does not plan to replace Mikell’s position, opting instead to devise a transition program that provides for continued staff development, Skyward conversion, and technology repairs. Eliminating the position will trim between $40-45,000 from next year’s technology budget. In other staffing news, board members voted to hire Whitney Jokiel to fill a 6th-grade science teaching position at NMS. Jokiel, a graduate of Augustana College, previously worked as a substitute teacher in various northern Illinois districts and as a science and language-arts teacher at Kankakee Junior High School.

Board members also passed a resolution in support of continuing state funding for Illinois regional superintendents and their support staff. Governor Rod Blagojevich’s proposed budget calls for eliminating all 45 statewide offices of regional superintendent. According to Zimmer, eliminating these positions would prevent safety planning and the statewide coordination of mandates, legal action, categorical grants, alternative education programs, and staff certification renewal supervision.