Board of Directors Meeting Minutes

September 2010 Board Meeting Summary

Sports Authority Named as the Official Sporting Goods Retailer of the IESA; IESA Board Approves Site and Date of 2011 Golf Tournament

The Illinois Elementary School Association (IESA) Board of Directors approved a sponsorship agreement with the sporting goods retailer Sports Authority, gave formal approval to the site, date, and basic format of the new golf activity which will take place in the 2011-12 school year, approved the formation of a second Strategic Planning Session, and tied up other loose ends at its regular quarterly meeting Friday (Sept. 10) held at the IESA headquarters building.

Sports Authority

The IESA and the sporting goods retailer, Sports Authority, have entered into an agreement that names Sports Authority the Official Sporting Goods Retailer of IESA. As part of the agreement, schools in the areas served by Sports Authority stores will receive discount cards to distribute to their students that are good for 10% off of the purchase of most items in their stores. The cards can be re-used and expire in August, 2011.

Golf

The Board had previously approved the addition of the golf activity for the 2010-11 school year. At their meeting, the board approved the golf advisory and staff recommendations which will set the basic format for the activity. The golf event will be held at St. Andrews Golf & Country Club, a 36 hole golf facility, in West Chicago on September 10, 2011. The rain date will be Saturday, September 17. There will not be any type of regional or sectional play. Instead, the inaugural event will simply be a stroke play tournament. There will be a boys tournament and a girls tournament. The field will be limited to the first 96 golfers in each division who are registered for the event by their school. A minimum of 18 golfers in each division must enter in order for the tournament to be held. Schools will be able to register when the IESA membership and activity dues are paid in the spring. Each school can register a maximum of 5 boys and 5 girls. The entry fee for each golfer will be $40. It is important to note that this fee includes the greens fee charged by the course.

Strategic Planning

As the result of a very successful strategic planning meeting that was held in January, 2005, the Board of Directors endorsed a second strategic planning session that will be held in July, 2011. Tentative plans call for the session to be held over the course of two days the week of July 18, 2011. Personnel interested in serving on the committee should contact the IESA Office.

Other Business:

Advisory Committee Assignments: The Board was informed of the advisory committee dates and workshop days for the various IESA activities.

Board of Directors Meeting Dates: The Board set the dates for the other quarterly meetings for the 2010-11 school year. They will be January 21, 2011, April 8, 2011, and June 17, 2011.

Scholar Attitude Luncheon: The Board heard a report that the date for the 13th annual IESA Scholar Attitude Award presented by State Farm will be Tuesday, April 26, 2011. The luncheon will be held at the Doubletree Hotel and Conference Center in Bloomington.

Treasurer's Report: The Board accepted the August treasurer's report and received a five year comparison of income and expenditures through FY 10. 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 2010-11 school year. Anticipated receipts are budgeted at $1,385,380. Anticipated expenses are budgeted at $1,414,811. Executive Director Steve Endsley noted that traditionally income is budgeted below what is normally received and expenses are budgeted a bit higher than actual expenses. He cited figures from the FY 09 budget which reflected an anticipated $109,325 deficit but final figures showed that income exceeded expenses by $10,640. 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 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.

Sponsorships: The Board received an update regarding the status of different sponsorships with State Farm, Rawlings, and Commerce Bank.

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, October 19. Bonnie Blair, former Olympic speed skating champion, 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 November 19-20 in Chicago.

Pass Cards: The Board approved a staff recommendation that all member schools receive 4 pass cards and that they will be sent in the annual all-school mailing.

Publicity Policy: Information was presented to the Board on a policy in the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) handbook with regard to member school publicity. The Board approved the same policy, effective immediately, which reads as follows:

"Each member school acknowledges that athletic contests and interscholastic competition take place in the public. As such, there is no expectation of privacy in the images of student athletes, coaches or other participants at such events. The IESA an/or its agents or designees may take, distribute and use photographs of student athletes, coaches, officials and other participants at such events and use the same for publicity, marketing and other appropriate purposes, including event programs. The member school will take appropriate actions to notify its student athletes, coaches and participants of this provision."

Wood Bats: The Board received a letter from the principal of Cissna Park requesting that wood bats be mandated for use in baseball games. No action was taken.

Assistant Executive Director's Report: The Board approved a recommendation to change the name of the Sportsmanship Advisory Committee to Citizenship and Sportsmanship Advisory Committee in that the name will more accurately reflect the role of the committee. The Board received a report on the contract with the CubbyHole on event merchandise sales for the 2010-11 school year. They also approved the elimination that teams could only have one volleyball special awareness night and that such matches have to be registered with the IESA.

Headquarters Building Expansion/Building Loan: The Board heard a status report regarding the remodeling of the IESA headquarters building. For the most part, construction on the building is complete. There were some humidity problems in the building during the summer that the contractor is working to correct. The construction loan will be with Commerce Bank at a rate of 4.96%. Approval was given to apply $35,000 of a CD the Association has invested with Commerce Bank toward the principal of the loan.

Bowling: The Board approved the following recommendations from the Bowling Advisory Committee: To limit the total number of bowlers in the inaugural competition to 90 boys and 90 girls; that 36 boys and 36 girls will advance to the final round; set the rotation schedule for the bowlers; adjusted the start times (see the bowling page on www.iesa.org for schedule); and established a Games Committee for disputes that might arise at the tournament. The Board did not approve a recommendation that participants in the event will not need to have a current physical on file with their school. Students participating in the bowling tournament must be in compliance with IESA by-Law 3.061.

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 10 meeting:

Division E: Mrs. Pozzi reported to the Board she was contacted by a member school with concerns about the different sizes of regional championship and sectional championship plaques. The school was building rails for the plaques. Mr. Endsley explained to the Board that the Association just signed a new three year contract with the trophy supplier and that changing the size would become a contractual issue. The Board did not take any action.