Board of Directors Meeting Minutes

September 2009 Board Meeting Summary

Four New Members Join IESA Board of Directors

BLOOMINGTON - The Illinois Elementary School Association (IESA) Board of Directors seated four new Board members at its regular quarterly meeting Friday (Sept. 11) held at the IHSA headquarters building.

Named to the Board are Jeff Libowitz, principal of Shorewood Troy Junior High School, from Division D; Cindy Pozzi, principal of Oglesby Washington School, from Division E; Melanie Ogle, principal of Paris Mayo Middle School, from Division L; and Fred Lamkey, principal of Riverton Middle School, from Division M.

Libowitz was appointed to the Board to complete the term in Division D. He replaces Joe Spiezio of Braidwood Reed-Custer, who retired. The term expires in 2010.

Pozzi was appointed to the Board to complete the term in Division E. She replaces Dan Vaughan of Forrest Prairie Central, who retired. The term expires in 2012.

Ogle was appointed to the Board to complete the term of Scott Cameron of Assumption Central A&M, who became superintendent at Beecher City. The term expires in 2012.

Lamkey was appointed to the Board to complete the term of Ron Ervin of Auburn JHS, who retired. The term expires in 2012.

Required Division Meetings:

The Association will conduct the fourth series of Division Meetings this school term. Article 1.041 of the IESA Constitution requires each member of the Board of Directors to call a meeting of the member schools in the member's respective division at least once annually. Some divisions conduct two meetings. Board members will chair the meeting and each member school in attendance shall have one vote upon any matter brought before such meeting. Each member school principal or his/her designee is required to attend the meeting. Failure of a member school to attend an annual division meeting shall result in a penalty to the school. If a member school does not attend the required meeting for two consecutive years the school will be suspended from participation in the state series for one year. Feeder schools which do not enter any IESA sponsored activities are exempt from attending the required division meeting. Feeder schools that enter any IESA sponsored activity (i.e. art workshops, speech, music) are required to attend the division meeting.

There are 15 geographic divisions statewide, each represented by a member of the IESA Board of Directors. There will be a total of 20 meetings within the 15 geographic areas between Oct. 9 and Nov. 17. In addition, there will be a Division Meeting held in conjunction with the annual Illinois Principals Association (IPA) Fall Conference. It will begin at 8:00 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 20 in the Peoria Civic Center.

The schedule of the meetings is posted on the IESA Web Site at www.iesa.org. On the home page, under the Information heading, click on Division Meetings. The agenda for the meetings is still to be finalized.

Other Business:

The Board also finalized its committee assignments, approved the budget for fiscal year 2010, and tied up other loose ends.

Board Committee Assignments, Meeting Dates: The Board reviewed its Board Committee assignments. The Committees are: By-laws - Fred Lamkey of Riverton, Jeff Libowitz of Shorewood Troy, Melanie Ogle of Paris Mayo and Cindy Pozzi of Oglesby Washington; Finance - Jerry Birkey of Mt. Zion, James Bunting of Watseka Glenn Raymond, Joe Buresh of Annawan and Chris Collins of Glendale Heights Glenside: Staff Relations - Chris Graham of St. Joseph, Dana Isackson of Macomb, Taunya Jenkins of Peoria Manual Preparatory, Scott Herrmann of Niles Gemini.

Advisory Committee Assignments: The Board also finalized its advisory committee liaison assignments, and approved dates for the annual advisory committee meetings. Assignments for 2009-10 (and the date of the meeting) will be: Baseball - James Bunting, Oct. 30; Basketball - Chris Graham, March 4; Cheerleading - Dana Isackson, Feb. 23; Cross Country - Joe Buresh, Nov. 12; Music - Taunya Jenkins, June 1; Officials -- April 14; Scholastic Bowl - Jeff Libowitz, workshop Oct. 23 and meeting June 4; Softball - Chris Collins, Oct. 28; Speech - Melanie Ogle, workshop Sept. 18 and meeting Jan. 13; Sportsmanship - Fred Lamkey, TBA; Track and Field - Tony Ingold, June 9; Volleyball - Cindy Pozzi, April 12 and Wrestling - Scott Herrmann, April 1.

Board of Directors Meeting Dates: The Board set the dates for the other quarterly meetings for the 2009-10 school year. They will be Jan. 22, April 9 and June 18.

Scholar Attitude Luncheon: The Board heard a report that the date for the 12th annual IESA Scholar Attitude Award presented by State Farm luncheon is Tuesday, April 27, 2010. It will be held at the Doubletree Hotel and Conference Center in Bloomington. Thirty (30) eighth graders - one boy and one girl from each of the 15 Board of Directors divisions - will be selected in the class of 2010. Principals of member schools should begin the internal process to narrow down the list of candidates within their school. Deadline for nominations is Feb. 22, 2010.

Treasurer's Report: The Board accepted the treasurer's report recapping income and expenditures for fiscal year 2009. The principal of a member school may request that a copy of the report be mailed to the school.

Budget: The Board approved the budget for the 2009-10 school year. Anticipated receipts are budgeted at $1,298,975. Anticipated expenses are budgeted at $1,408,300. According to Executive Director Steve Endsley, income was budgeted reflecting the $5.00 increase in athletic entry fees that the Board approved, and increased corporate support. Expenditures reflect costs associated with expansion of the IESA headquarters office building, office equipment and computer needs associated with the new construction, and other costs associated with the expansion. 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 & Company, LLC of Bloomington. The principal of a member school may request that a copy of the audit be mailed to the school.

Emerging Sports: The Board heard progress reports regarding the bowling and chess competition that will be introduced next (2010-11) school year and approved conducting the chess competition under the traditional seventh grand and eighth grade criteria. Bowling competition will be in two divisions, one for boys and one for girls.

Online Seeding: The Board heard a progress report from the administrative staff concerning the online seeding process, and then discussed the implications of current seeding criteria in the By-laws and alternatives to it, including seeding by winning percentage only. Following lengthy discussion the Board directed the staff to continue to monitor the progress of online seeding, which began with girls volleyball last school year, expanded to girls softball and boys baseball this school year, and is scheduled to be used in boys and girls basketball next school year.

Special Projects Report: The Board received an update regarding the status of different sponsorships and the status of the state final program production.

IPA Luncheon: The Board heard a report of plans for the annual luncheon hosted by IESA and IHSA at the Illinois Principals Association Fall Conference. The luncheon will be Tuesday, Oct. 20. Bruce Weber, men's basketball coach at the University of Illinois, will be the guest speaker.

IASB Session: Members of the IESA staff will present a session at the Illinois Association of School Boards (IASB) Annual Conference Nov. 20-21 in Chicago.

Assistant Executive Director's Report: The Board heard details of two certificates issued by the State Board of Education that will be accepted for compliance with the Coaching Qualification By-law (2.110). They are the Type 23 (Provisional Alternative Elementary Certificate) and Type 73 (School Service Personnel).

The Board extended the Association's contract with Cubby Hole for five years through the 2015-16 school year and approved prices for the official apparel produced by Cubby Hole for the state series this year. The 2009-10 prices will be t-shirts $16, long-sleeve t-shirts $18, crew neck sweatshirts $22, hooded sweatshirts $29, shorts $18, visors $12 and caps $12.

The Board also approved the range of dates for the 2010 Division Meetings and hosts in 2009 will be notified of the corresponding 2010 date in the event they are asked to host in 2010.

Headquarters Building Expansion: The Board heard a status report regarding the expansion and remodeling of the IESA headquarters building. The plans have been approved and construction will be in two stages beginning this month. The first phase involves construction of the new section. After the first phase is completed, the remodeling of the existing building will begin. The project is expected to be completed in 2010.

Run WITH The Law: The Board endorsed and approved participation by member schools in the "Run WITH The Law" torch run for Special Olympics Illinois.

Mixed-Sex Team Policies: The Board authorized the Executive Director to obtain a legal opinion regarding IESA's Mixed Team Sponsorship By-law 3.110, which applies to regular season and state series competition, and to compare it to the IHSA Affirmative Action Policy for Girls on Boys State Series Teams, which applies only to the state series in the respective sport(s).

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 11 meeting:

Division H: Mr. Ingold reported to the Board of concerns he has received from personnel at member schools regarding the change in policy regarding the IESA Activity Passes. Now IESA provides each member school with four passes that allow coaches/staff from the school to attend IESA regular season activities and state series contests.

Division I: Mr. Birkey surveyed the other Board members regarding the relationship of the Junior Football League (JFL) and junior high baseball in their communities. He asked the question: How do students participate in both activities? The other members reported that JFL games have been and are being moved to Sundays, leaving the Saturday open for junior high baseball. They also reported that in their community the baseball team practices immediately after school and the JFL practices later in the evening. During the discussion, it was a consensus that member schools with baseball teams and JFL teams attempt to work out the conflicts that may occur on dates for practice and contests. It also was reported that there are situations where JFL coaches require the students to pick and play football only.

Division N: Mr. Carr informed the Board of the improving status of the baseball pitcher from Toledo Cumberland who was hit in the eye with a batted ball. The Baseball Advisory Committee will have discussion of the bat rule and the use of masks at its meeting this fall. During discussion by the Board, it was noted that masks are being used more regularly by pitchers, third basemen and first basemen in girls softball.