Board of Directors Meeting Minutes

September 2005 Board Meeting Summary

Two New Members Join IESA Board of Directors

BLOOMINGTON - The Illinois Elementary School Association (IESA) Board of Directors seated two new members and finalized Board committee assignments at its regular quarterly meeting Sept. 9 in the IESA Office. Eric Skoog, principal at Antioch Upper Grade School, is the new member from Division A. Tony Ingold, associate superintendent of East Peoria Central District # 86, is the new member from Division J. There are a total of 14 Board members elected from different geographic regions throughout the state.

Board Committee assignments were finalized as follows:

By-Laws Committee -- Dan Vaughan, Forest Prairie Central (Division D); Dana Isackson, Macomb (Division F); Eric Skoog, Antioch (Division A); Tony Ingold, East Peoria Central (Division J).

Finance Committee -- Ron Graham, Virden (Division D); Jim Hochstatter, Galva (Division B); Ron Ervin, Divernon (Division L); Dr. Sue Silvey, Bloomington Junior High (Division G).

Staff Relations -- Jerry Birkey, Mt. Zion (Division I); Craig Carr, Montrose Grove, (Division M); Taunya Jenkins, Peoria Roosevelt Magnet; Tom Cox, Stewardson-Strasburg (Division K).

The Board also finalized its advisory committee liaison assignments, and approved dates for the annual advisory committee meetings. Assignments for 2005-06 (and the date of the meeting) will be: Baseball - Gary Lewis, Oct. 2; Basketball - Ron Ervin, March 2; Cheerleading - Dana Isackson, Date TBA; Cross Country - Jerry Birkey, Nov. 3; Music - Taunya Jenkins, May 30; Scholastic Bowl - Jim Hochstatter, June 2; Softball - Eric Skoog, Jan. 11; Speech - Tony Ingold, Jan. 9; Sportsmanship - Gary Lewis, Oct. 12 (tentative); Track and Field - Craig Carr, June 7; Volleyball - Tom Cox, April 6 and Wrestling - Dan Vaughan, March 23.

Track and Field: The Board adopted the new NFHS sector size of 34.92 degrees in shot put and discus effective with the 2005-06 school term. The Board voted not to include the blunt-tipped javelin event in IESA track and field. [See story on track and field pages of www.iesa.org.]

Strategic Planning: The Board heard a report of the progress being made in the Association's Strategic Planning process. The State Series action team met for the first time Aug. 31 and has scheduled a second meeting Nov. 7. Executive Director Steve Endsley is the staff liaison to this action team, and the Financial Resources action team that is scheduled to meet Nov. 1. The Constitution action team is scheduled to meet Sept. 21 with Associate Executive Director Nicole Schaefbauer the staff liaison. Asst. Executive Director Julie Cochran is staff liaison for the Compensation action team. The date for its meeting is to be determined.

Budget: The Board approved the budget for the 2005-06 school term. Anticipated receipts are budgeted $1,036,340.00. Anticipated expenses are budgeted at $1,118,885.00. According to Executive Director Steve Endsley, the receipts reflect the anticipated impact of gasoline pricing on spectators at the state final events during the 2005-06 school term. The principal of a member school may request that a copy of the budget be mailed to the school.

Audit: The Board approved the annual audit of the Association by Strigel Knobloch and Company, LLC of Bloomington. The principal of a member school may request that a copy of the audit be mailed to the school.

Standardized Calendar: The Board approved the Standardized Calendar dates for the school terms of 2006-07, 2007-08 and 2008-09. The Board approves the Standardized Calendar dates annually.

State Final Wrestling Site: The Board authorized the Executive Director to accept a proposal from the Convocation Center at Northern Illinois University to continue to host the Wrestling State Final Tournament. The proposal addressed Board of Directors concerns regarding the facility rental fee and the expenses to conduct the event in DeKalb.

Scholastic Bowl State Final Site: The Board authorized the Executive Director to enter into a three-year agreement with Heartland Community College, Normal, to host a combined Class A and Class AA Scholastic Bowl State Final Tournament, beginning with the 2005-06 (current) school term. Class 8AA Girls Basketball Site: The Board approved Clinton Junior High as the host school and site of the 2005-06 Class AA Girls State Final Tournament.

Office Remodeling: The Board a minor remodeling of the IESA Office in Bloomington which will expand the number of work stations in the central part of the building. Plans are for two new work stations to be added. The work will be done by Henricksen & Company, Inc., Peoria.

Art Workshop Fee: The Board discussed increasing the Art Workshop fee by $1.00 per student and authorized an increase. The Art Workshop fee is now $6.00. The annual Art Workshops are held at two sites. Eastern Illinois University will host one April 6. Illinois State University will host the other April 22.

Web Site Reports: The Board approved a plan to allow state final host schools in the team sports to pay a small stipend for a bench official to prepare data to be used in reports of the game/match on the IESA web site.

Special Projects: The Board heard a progress report regarding proposed and potential corporate partnerships.

Girls Basketball Survey: A proposal recommending that IESA survey its schools participating in girls basketball regarding the time frame in which schools compete in the sport was not considered because of a lack of a motion.

IPA Event: The Board heard a report that IESA and IHSA will be conducting a joint luncheon at the annual Illinois Principals Association (IPA) Fall Conference on Tuesday, Oct. 18. In years past, the two associations co-sponsored a breakfast.

Scholar Attitude Luncheon: The annual Scholar Attitude Luncheon will be held Friday, April 21, 2006, at the Chateau in Bloomington.

Grade School Field Trip Day: Lloyd Bachrach will be the featured speaker at the annual Grade School Field Trip Day co-sponsored by IESA and IHSA at the Peoria Civic Center as part of the March Madness Experience. This year's event will be Wednesday, March 15, 2006.

NFHS Citizenship Committee Chair: IESA Executive Director Steve Endsley has been named chairman of the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Citizenship Committee. (See story at www.iesa.org).

Division Reports

At each meeting of the Board of Directors time is devoted for each board member to report on communication with and requests from the member schools in the member's division. In addition, Board members also may make observations regarding the operation of the Association. Following is a report of those from the September 9 meeting:

Division C: Mr. Spezio reported a situation involving an umpiring crew not allowing a late arriving baseball team the opportunity to warm up prior to the start of the game the crew was working. He reported the situation had been resolved, and that a report would be sent to the IESA Office.

Division D: Mr. Vaughn reported that parents of girls softball players complained about the earlier start to the softball season, and asked that the Softball Advisory Committee review the early starting date.

Division H: Mr. Lewis reported that personnel at member schools in his division requested that the IESA office email reminders to schools entered in the respective state series regarding the deadlines for submitting entries, rosters, photos of state final qualifying teams, and other required information. It was noted that sometimes emails from the IESA office are treated as spam at a given member school and that principals of member schools should communicate with technology personnel at the school to clear the path for IESA emails.

Division K: Mr. Cox reported he has received a request from some member school personnel to have the Baseball Advisory Committee review By-law 3.043 which addresses the cutoff date regarding non-school participation by players at member schools. Mr. Cox also reported the concern of staff at Paris Crestwood regarding the new minimum playing size standards for basketball floors being used by host schools in the IESA state basketball series. The Board reviewed the existing policy regarding the assignment of state series hosts based on the minimum requirements, and what happens when there is no school having a qualified facility willing to host the event. If there is no school willing to host among those assigned to a given tournament with a facility that meets the minimum requirement then a school willing to host, even though its facility does not meet the minimum, will be considered by the IESA staff to host.