Michelle Chavers Joins IESA Board of Directors

The Illinois Elementary School Association (IESA) Board of Directors held its regularly scheduled quarterly meeting on Thursday, September 8 at the IESA Office in Bloomington where a new member was seated on the IESA Board of Directors; the FY 17 budget was approved and the policy regarding hiring of umpires for the softball and baseball play-in games was clarified.

Ms. Michelle Chavers, Principal of Limestone Middle School in Herscher, was seated as the Division G representative replacing Dr. Kenny Lee who left his position as superintendent at Watseka to take the superintendent's position at Minooka which is outside Division G. Ms. Chavers will be up for re-election when Board elections are held in November.

The Board approved the budget for the 2016-17 school year. Anticipated receipts are budgeted at $1,527,400. Anticipated expenses are budgeted at $1,596,199. Executive Director Steve Endsley noted that income is expected to be lower this year due to the loss of the Sports Authority sponsorship agreement which ended when they filed for bankruptcy. Income is traditionally budgeted below what is normally received and expenses are budgeted a bit higher than actual expenses. The principal of a member school may request that a copy of the budget be mailed to the school.

The Board approved a change to hiring of the softball and baseball umpires at the regional level. Previously, the schools hosting the play-in games of the softball regionals were responsible for hiring the umpires for the contests while in baseball, the assigned regional host had the responsibility to secure the umpires for the play-in games. Under the new procedure, it will be standardized for both sports so the school hosting the play-in game is responsible for securing the umpires for their contest.

In addition to approving the appointments of Ms. Chavers to the Board, the approval of the FY 17 budget, and the clarification on the hiring of regional umpires, the Board tied up other loose ends at the meeting. The following is a summary of the meeting:

Board of Directors Meeting Dates: The Board set the dates for the remaining quarterly meetings for the 2016-17 school year. They will be January 20, 2017; April 7, 2017; and June 16, 2017.

Scholar Attitude Luncheon: The Board heard a report that the date for the 19th annual IESA Scholar Attitude Award will be Tuesday, May 2, 2017. The luncheon will be held at the Doubletree Hotel and Conference Center in Bloomington.

Treasurer's Report: The Board accepted the July, 2016 treasurer's report and received a five year comparison of income and expenditures through FY 16.

Audit: The Board approved the annual audit of the Association by Striegel Knobloch & Company, LLC of Bloomington. The principal of a member school may request that a copy of the audit be mailed to the school. The Board approved an agreement with Striegel Knobloch & Company, LLC to prepare the annual audit for the next three years.

Sponsorships: The Board received an update regarding the status of different sponsorships with Sports Authority and Rawlings.

IASB Session: Members of the IESA staff will attend the Illinois Association of School Boards (IASB) Annual Conference November 18-19 in Chicago.

IPA Meeting: IESA staff will present a division meeting on Monday, October 17 at the IPA conference in Springfield. They will also staff the exhibition booth the same day.

Speech Workshop: The Board received a report that the 42ndt annual speech workshop will be held on Friday, September 16.

A.D. Workshop: A workshop for athletic directors will be held on Friday, September 9.

Board Elections: Information was shared with the Board concerning the upcoming elections. The Board members who are up for election are: Bryan Zwemke (Division C); Michelle Chavers (Division G); Brice Stewart (Division I); Chris Graham (Division K); and Steve Stuart (Division O)

NFHS Summer Meeting: A summary of the 2016 NFHS summer meeting was given to the Board and a list of the Board members scheduled to attend the 2017 summer meeting was distributed.

Legislative Tuition Waivers: The Board once again reaffirmed its policy that only students of certified staff members who attend school tuition free as the result of the district applying for a legislative non-resident tuition waiver are eligible to participate in IESA activities. The definition used to determine if a staff member is certified will be their participation in TRS.

IESA Calendar: The board heard a request from Sterling Challand to allow the school to participate in the IESA state volleyball season even though they play their schedule outside of the IESA season. The Board did not approve their request.

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 D: Dr. Early was contacted by a member school expressing gratitude for the concussion course available on the IESA website to help schools meet the requirements of Senate Bill 7. Another school mentioned the desire for 3 classes of track. No action was taken. He also was contacted by a school in his division asking the softball and baseball committees to discuss the possibility of batters using the opponents on-deck circle when their team's on deck circle presents a safety hazard. The matter was referred to those committees for discussion.

Division F: Mr. Frost was also contacted by a school expressing thanks for the concussion video.

Division K: Mr. Graham was contacted by a school asking what the IESA plans to do with baseball pitch count limitations given the IHSA has recently recommended limitations to go into effect in the spring of 2017. Mr. Endsley plans to discuss this issue with baseball coaches and the baseball advisory committee after the current baseball season and will bring forth a recommendation to the Board to address this issue. He also received a question asking the Board to change the eligibility standards for at-risk students. No action was taken.

Division L: Mrs. Young was contacted by the schools involved in the Arthur Lovington, Atwood Hammond district asking that they only pay one fee. Given that all the schools house students in grades k-8, the district is required for all 3 schools to belong to the Association. No action was taken.

Division N: Mr. Dress brought up the aforementioned difference in which school is responsible for hiring regional umpires for the play in games at the regional softball and baseball level. The policy was changed as mentioned above.