Board of Directors Meeting Minutes

IESA Chess Finals Moving to Peoria Beginning in 2016

The Illinois Elementary School Association (IESA) Board of Directors held its regularly scheduled quarterly meeting on Friday, September 12 at the IESA Office in Bloomington where they approved a recommendation to move the IESA chess finals to the Peoria Civic Center beginning in 2016.

IESA started a chess competition in 2011. Nearly 400 students participate in the two-day event. There were two divisions--a 7th grade division and an 8th grade division. Beginning this school year, a 6th grade division has been added. The competition this year will take place on February 27-28, 2015 and will be held at the Bone Student Center on the campus of Illinois State University which also served as the home for the finals in 2013 and 2014. The first two years of competition were held at the U.S. Cellular Coliseum in Bloomington. "The city of Peoria, the Peoria Civic Center, and the Peoria Area Convention and Visitors Bureau simply continue to be great partners with IESA," said Steve Endsley, IESA Executive Director. "The Civic Center already serves as the host site for our cheerleading competition and scholastic bowl finals each year. We were in need of a site for our chess finals in 2017 due to renovations that are scheduled to be done on the Bone Student Center. A conversation with Don Welch, Executive Director of the Peoria CVB, led to us being able to bring the finals to Peoria for three years beginning in 2016. We see this as a natural fit since the IHSA chess finals are already held at the Civic Center. We are looking forward to the new venue in 2016."

In addition to approving the Peoria Civic Center as the site for the chess finals, the Board approved the FY 15 budget and tied up other loose ends at the meeting. The following is a summary of the meeting:

Board Member Resignation: Paula Sereleas, who was the principal at Joliet Laraway, submitted her resignation as she has accepted a position in the Plainfield school district which does not allow her to continue to serve on the Board. A new member to replace Mrs. Sereleas will be seated at the January meeting.

Board of Directors Meeting Dates: The Board set the dates for the remaining quarterly meetings for the 2014-15 school year. They will be January 23, 2015; April 10, 2015; and June 19, 2015.

Scholar Attitude Luncheon: The Board heard a report that the date for the 17th annual IESA Scholar Attitude Award will be Tuesday, May 5, 2015. The luncheon will be held at the Doubletree Hotel and Conference Center in Bloomington.

Treasurer's Report: The Board accepted the July, 2014 treasurer's report and received a five year comparison of income and expenditures through FY 14.

Budget: The Board approved the budget for the 2014-15 school year. Anticipated receipts are budgeted at $1,448,700. Anticipated expenses are budgeted at $1,576,320. 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. The deficit is attributed to an expected lower amount of revenue from the state track meets due to there being fewer qualifiers than this past year and a one-time additional payment on the building loan. 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 Sports Authority, Rawlings, and the Peoria Area Convention and Visitors Bureau.

IASB Session: Members of the IESA staff will attend the Illinois Association of School Boards (IASB) Annual Conference November 21-22 in Chicago.

IPA Meeting: IESA staff will present a division meeting on Monday, October 20 at the IPA conference. They will also staff the exhibition booth the same day.

Speech/A.D. Workshop: The Board received a report that the annual speech workshop will be held on Friday, September 19. This is the 40th consecutive year that a workshop for speech coaches will be held. In addition, a workshop for athletic directors will be held on the same date. Both workshops will be held at the Doubletree Hotel and Conference Center in Bloomington.

Board Elections: Information was shared with the Board concerning the upcoming elections. The Board members who are up for election are: Scott Herrmann (Division A); Deb Derby (Division E); Danette Young (Division L); Fred Lamkey (Division M); and Pat Drees (Division N)

One Team Award: The Board heard a report about the scholastic bowl team from Danville North Ridge who were the inaugural winners of the One Team Award. A ceremony to recognize the team was held at the school on September 5. For more information about the award, which comes with a $500 prize to the school, please go to the IESA website and click on "One Team Award" under the Sportsmanship Section heading.

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 12 meeting:

Division M: Mr. Lamkey informed the Board that a school contacted him about students playing non-school activities and school activities at the same time. He also received a call concerning the number of games schools could play and the number of tournaments. No action was taken on either issue.