The Nashville High School Board of Education met last night and they held a public hearing on the issuing of School Fire Prevention and Safety Bonds in the amount of $850,000. The school will have the removal of asbestos flooring in all the hallways, the cafeteria, the math classrooms, a section of the special education room and the classrooms between the main office and the north gym. The project will not exceed $850,000 and they will need a Health Life Safety Amendment. Superintendent Wendy Davis says this Amendment was approved by the State Superintendent. Later in the regular meeting, the Board agreed to have Davis try to get the bonds sold at a rate of approximately 14 cents to be paid back in 4.5 years. The Board thought that rates are lower now and they can lock into it for a longer time. This will allow them to ask for a higher tax levy in the future, if needed, and it won’t raise the tax rates. The Board of Education approved a field trip for 4 music students to go to the Illinois Music Education Association conference to perform and – or attend clinics in late January. Also, approximately 30 students will be approved to go to the Future Business Leaders of America state conference in March. The Parent – Teacher conferences will be on February 12th in the afternoon and evening. Superintendent Wendy Davis provided the 6 month financial report. She said it appeared to be in good shape in most areas. In the Education Fund, they have received 63 percent of their overall funding and have paid out half of their budget in expenses. It was heavy on a few items to this point, so that will be helpful later. The area of Board Services was at a loss, but money will be transferred in the next month or so to balance it out, but the cost of finding Davis’ replacement also was paid out of that, which is not a usual expense. They have received 84.5 percent of their overall funding for the Operations, Maintenance and Building Fund. They have only paid out approximately 44 percent in expenses. Davis says gas prices are down, usage is down and the electric bill is lower, as it hasn’t been in high use to heat the school so far. The Transportation Fund is going to be a problem this year. They have received 58 percent of their overall funding, but will not be getting much more says Davis. The State has made one payment and will make another this year, but not a third payment as previously stated and what was budgeted for, even though they should really be getting 4 payments per year. So far, the school has used 31 percent of their budget for expenses. The Board went over the fees for others to use the Auditorium or Cafeteria for non-school events. It was a flat fee for no matter how long they were in use, but it will be structured for hours used and there will be fee increases. The Board approved of these moves. Davis brought the issue of curriculum changes up to the Board to vote on, as they discussed it last month. This will be for next school year in the Social Studies Department. Guidance Counselor Tesha Maschhoff explained the plan, as the instructors are having difficulties getting through the “modern” history information, including Vietnam and things that have happened since then. The Board approved of the changes, including the required senior year Government class from a full year to 1 semester, which is how it had been some years ago, before they added current events to the class. The new class would still have current events. The Federal Constitution would be taught in U.S. History, while the State Constitution would be kept in the Government class. Also, the U.S History class curriculum would end with the early Cold Wars. The Modern U.S. History course, a new semester course offered to seniors, would begin with the Cold War, including the Vietnam War, and cover U.S. History from 1975 to the present. The idea of student classifications was brought up for discussion, but was tabled until next month for action. Testing has been done by grades through the Prairie State Assessment Exam, but now the PARCC test is done in certain classes, so not every sophomore or junior is taking the same exam as their fellow students, but they will if they are in the same classroom for English or Math. Therefore, the Guidance Office wants to change how students move up a grade level says Maschhoff. The grade requirements would not change, as a student still needs 5 credits per year to advance, but if they fail a class, they might not be able to advance, even with the 5 credits and they could be in school longer than 4 years. Currently, freshmen must pass their English I and first Math class to become a sophomore in those 5 credits. Failing a class might have to double up in that subject to get caught up, but this can be a problem for a younger student, as they would be getting tested in all these classes, as well as having duplicate work. She says it would be helpful to allow the student to move up, as long as they have the 5 credits and repeat a class the following year, instead of having them double up, except as juniors and seniors, as the student would be more mature to handle it. The idea is that this might keep more kids in school, instead of having them drop out at 17 years of age, because they are not advancing like their friends. This will be brought back for action at a future meeting. The Board also tabled any action on adopting a resolution to support Illinois Vision 20/20, which is a grassroots effort throughout the state to make education in Illinois the best it can be for the students. Future NCHS Superintendent Ernie Fowler was in attendance and was asked what his school is doing about it and he said they are going to approve a resolution to support Illinois Vision 20-20 at their Board meeting tomorrow night. There were only 4 of 7 Board members at this month’s meeting, so some of these topics were tabled to allow all of the members to be able to discuss and vote on them.