Special Presentations
-Representatives from Waukegan to College and Lake County United gave a presentation about the need for a school-based health clinic.
-Representatives from the United Way of Lake County detailed some of the successes the organization has had with Waukegan Public Schools during the last decade.
Action Items
-The Board of Education voted to approve the purchase of a new paper cutter for the district's Print Shop. The cost to purchase a new machine is $34,545 and includes installation, training and freight.
-The Board of Education voted to approve the purchase of a six year license with Quaver Music for use in 15 elementary schools and five middle schools at a total cost of $154,350.
-The Board of Education voted to accept the low responsible and responsive bids from Alsip-based Amber Mechanical Contractors, Inc. with a bid totaling $482,800 for Waukegan High School HVAC and Window Upgrades; and Chicago Ridge-based Celtic Environmental for abatement. Added to Amber Mechanical’s bid and Celtic Environmental ‘s bid is an architect fee of 8% payable to STR Partners LLC, a project contingency fee of 10% of construction costs and abatement costs, and the advertisement cost of $261.60, for a total project budget approval of $613,690.60.
-The Board of Education voted to accept the low responsible and responsive bid from Oak Lawn-based Krull Window Company Inc., with a bid totaling $1,921,507.00 for window replacements at Oakdale and Little Fort Elementary. Added to Krull Window Company Inc.’s bid is an 7.75% architect fee payable to ARCON Associates, INC., a project contingency fee of 10% of construction costs, for a total project cost of $2,262,574.49.
-The Board of Education voted to accept the change order from Alsip-based Amber Mechanical Contractors, Inc. The change order totals $31,299.16 related to the installation of pre-purchased condenser units at 3 schools. Added to Amber Mechanical’s bid is an architect fee of $12,000 payable to Wold Ruck Pate, a project contingency fee of 10% of construction costs, and the advertisement cost of $299.34, an equipment cost of $46,000.00 and the change order for a total revised project budget approval of $232,428.42. A change order was required on the Condenser Replacement Project because the existing piping serving the unit vents leaked badly. It was tested with inert gasses and dyes and all leaky fittings and valves were replaced. This work was required by Midwest to get warranty and startup.
-The Board of Education voted to approve the amendments to Board Policy 2204, Board Member Expenses.
-The Board of Education voted to approve a three year (36 month) lease agreement with Classic Toyota for 2 Driver Education vehicles. The cost per month $559.70 for both vehicles paid in monthly installments. The lease term will end 4/1/2023.
Financial Items
-The Board of Education voted to adopt the resolution abating a portion of the taxes levied for levy year 2019 to pay Debt Service to the District's General Obligation Refunding School Bonds, Series 2010B in an amount equal to $1,000,000. It was discussed at the October 15, 2019 OSC meeting and later approved at the November 12, 2019 Board meeting that the Board of Education would submit an application to the Illinois State Board of Education for the Property Relief Grant. WPS60 applied for the maximum allowable grant which was $6,578,748. ISBE prioritized applicants based on district types (Unit, HS, Elementary) and it was determined that our tax rate was not amongst the highest unit district applicants and as a result, we were not awarded the grant for the current fiscal year. It was further discussed that it was the desire of the Board to keep property tax extensions level for Tax Year 2019 as compared to Tax Year 2018. Property taxes are allowed to increase by the CPI or 5%, whichever is less. The CPI for the current tax year is 1.9% resulting in an estimated increase of $995,952 between the actual Tax Year 2018 extension ($52,418,689)and the estimated Tax Year 2019 extension ($53,414,641), excluding bonds and interest. The purpose of this resolution is to abate a portion of the tax heretofore levied for the year 2019 to pay debt service on General Obligation Refunding School Bonds, Series 2010B, of Community Unit School District Number 60, Lake County, Illinois in the amount of $1,000,000.
-The Board of Education held a public hearing on a request to approve the resolution directing the School District Treasurer to Reserve Funds from the Education and/or Operations and Maintenance Fund for future transfer to the Capital Projects Fund in an amount not to exceed $13,000,000. Following the hearing, the board approved the resolution. Waukegan Community Unit School District 60 has a ten (10) year Capital Improvement Plan valued in excess of $116M with projects to start in Fiscal Year 2020/2021. The first year projects are estimated to cost approximately $13M which is the value of the resolution. The projects outlined in the Capital Improvement Plan include projects that are currently in the District's life safety inspection survey or have been identified as projects that will become life safety concerns in the near future. Since improvement of facilities that house students is a District priority, it is the recommendation of Administration that $13M of the June 30, 2020 ending fund balance be reserved to address infrastructure needs. Approval is also granted to revoke this resolution should the funds be needed for other educational purposes. Should the need arise that other priorities occur which require use of the $13M, authority is hereby given to the Superintendent or her designee to revoke the resolution to reserve funds. The Board of Education must be informed of said revocation.
Personnel Items
-The Board of Education voted to approve the attendance of a social worker to attend the Anxious Brains conference from April 16-19, 2020 at a cost not to exceed $2,338.
-The Board of Education voted to approve the attendance of approximately 30 staff members to attend the AMLE conference in San Diego, California and Orlando,Florida. The conference dates are June 21-24,2020 and July 12-15,2020. The estimated cost is $72,000 which includes flight, baggage, hotel, per diem, transportation, and registration fees.
-The Board of Education voted to approve the retirements, resignations and appointments of 11 employees.
-The Board of Education voted to authorize the participation of up to two District representatives in the 2020 Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) and the Spanish Ministry of Education Visiting Bilingual Teachers Recruitment Week in Madrid, Spain from April 26, 2020 to May 2, 2020 at a cost not to exceed the amount of $5,900 as allowed by grant funding for the purpose of Bilingual Teacher Recruitment.