Shiloh School Board Briefs

Special Board Meeting Brief
January 15, 2003 - Public Forum

This was a special board meeting held as a public forum to hear the thoughts of community members about consolidation, cooperative high school, and county school.

There were about 80 people in attendance.

Several individuals presented their thoughts to the Board and the Public.

These presentations came from Larry Skinner, Joe Krabel, Roger Sy, Deb Young, Gloria Velazquez, Wade Hales, and Troy Eads.

The Board and administration was very appreciative of these individuals sharing their thoughts.

Summary of Thoughts presented:

Larry Skinner: Thanks to the Board for a job well done. There are issues we all have to look into. We should call ourselves an LCE-Low Cost Educators. The is no money left. Farmers are losing a lot. I am not opposed to consolidation. I have grandkids in Oakland. I encourage the Board to take a real close look at cost cutting measures.

Joe Krabel: WE have to be responsible with what we have. We need to explore all options. We have an extra building we may not need. Riffing is not fun. I have been there. Sometimes you have to make unpleasant choices. An Oakland, Kansas, Shiloh consolidation may just postpone and we will have to do another one down the road. The three schools may not be enough.

Roger Sy: The State of Illinois is taking a big hit in Illinois. He related interesting figures on how much money the State was losing. If the District could hang on for a couple of years maybe the State will come through.

Deb Young: Concerns-(1) Square mileage of the Shiloh, Kansas, Oakland District (2) Is a new building needed?
Please look closely at the school finances. Before closing the Newman building I would like to see a floor plan of how the students would be housed and solid figures on savings.

Gloria Velazquez: How does the budget look right now? Do we have funds? What about the kids? WE just moved here from Mahomet. Shiloh offers better class size. Two of my children are getting better attention in Newman. There is a breakfast program here and I had never heard of that. One of my children was able to participate in the Learning Olympia and that was a wonderful experience. The students here are in school longer than in Mahomet so you know they are getting more of an education. My concern is if we consolidate-Would all of these tings go away? I work at the U of I and we have had no raises and expect no raises again. If we can hang on and make cuts-maybe we can make it.

Wade Hales: This is a new era with a new governor. There have already been cuts made. There is a hiring freeze on the State of Illinois. There are 22 jobs that Ryan made appointments to that have been taken away by the new governor. Consolidation may be a viable option. The State has no money so the cost of a new building would have to come to the taxpayers. If in consolidation we are looking at a tax increase anyway, can we look at a tax referendum ourselves to see if we can make it on our own?

Troy Eads: I feel a consolidation is a temporary fix. Indiana has county schools; they are ahead of the times. Cooperative High School is something to look into. It is a small first step before a consolidation. We need to look at the budget and trim the fat.

There were many questions asked during the evening. Many of the questions were concerning "What is a cooperative high school and how would it be financed."

It was a very interesting evening. Thanks to everyone attending.