Special District 201 Board Meeting - January 30, 2009

[Ted]

  There is going to be a special District 201 Board Meeting today at 3 PM at Morton East in Room 200.  Here is the agenda:

http://www.jsmortonhs.com/content/img/f218881/morton201spclmtgagenda013009.pdf

                   Board of Education/Morton High School District 201
                                                 Friday, January 30, 2009
                                                 

                                  SPECIAL MEETING
                                       AGENDA

3:00 p.m. OPEN SESSION: East Campus, Cicero, Illinois - Room 200

I. CALL TO ORDER
Mr. Jeffry Pesek, President, Board of Education

II. ROLL CALL
Ms. Jessica Jaramillo-Flores, Secretary, Board of Education

III. PLEDGE TO THE FLAG
Mr. Jeffry Pesek, President, Board of Education

IV. ADJOURN TO CLOSED SESSION
Mr. Jeffry Pesek, President, Board of Education. The appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance, or dismissal of specific employees of the public body or legal counsel for the public body, including hearing testimony on a complaint lodged against an employee of the public body or against legal counsel for the public body to determine its validity.

V. MOTION TO RECONVENE TO REGULAR SESSION
Mr. Jeffry Pesek, President, Board of Education

VI. SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT
Mr. Clyde Senters, Jr., Interim Superintendent

XI. AUDIENCE COMMENTS ON SPECIAL MEETING PURPOSE

XII. ACTIONS ITEMS
1. Personnel
   A. Certified Staff
      1. Employment:
      2. Leaves, Terminations, Releases, Resignations, and Retirements
 
2. Approval of Contracts
    a. E-RATE Contracts

XIV. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS
1. Next Regular Board Meeting, Wednesday, February 11, 2009

XVI. BOARD MEMBER COMMENTS

XVII. ADJOURNMENT

[Vic0218]

Ted - do you know why a special meeting was called?

[Ted]

Ted - do you know why a special meeting was called?

The special meeting was called because all hiring or releases of administrators and principals has to occur before February 1.

  Today, John Lucas, principal at Morton West, resigned as principal at Morton West High School.

  In the special board meeting today, the board accepted Lucas' resignation.

  In addition, the board re-hired Morton East Principal Frank Zarate; Freshman Center Principal Joe Gunty and Alternative School Principal Rudy Hernandez.

  No replacement was named for Lucas as Principal at Morton West.

  The board also tentatively approved the telephone contract with ATT, pending legal review (the contract has to be signed and done before the next board meeting, which is why it was voted on today).

  Finally, the board approved a supplemental education contract with the vendor SES - Babbage, in order to release 20% of Title I funds targeted toward supplemental education.

  Ted

[Mortonvet]

John Lucas called an impromptu staff meeting after school , during which he announced his resignation, effective the end of the school year. The feeling among the staff members with whom I spoke is that this resignation did NOT seem to be of Lucas' own volition, but this was based solely on, for lack of a better word, his "vibe". Does anyone have any information as to this matter?

[Mortonvet]

Ted, was there any word on other administrative contracts? There has been quite a bit of scuttlebutt surrounding the special education positions, and I wondered if any moves were made there, as well as with the assistant principals or deans.

[Ted]

Ted, was there any word on other administrative contracts? There has been quite a bit of scuttlebutt surrounding the special education positions, and I wondered if any moves were made there, as well as with the assistant principals or deans.

The only administrative personnel decisions made were the principals, which I described above.  Zarate, Hernandez and Gunty had their contracts renewed and the board accepted the resignation of Lucas.

  The only other personnel matter voted on in the meeting was the hiring of Danielle Dempsey as a Special Education Teacher's Aide at Morton East.

  Let me also state the time frames -

  The meeting was called to order at 3:00 PM, at which time the board immediately went into executive session.

  The board came out of executive session at around 5:25 PM. They then voted on the personnnel matters, the ATT contract and the SES Babbage contract, after which the board adjourned.

  So, the executive session was almost 2 and 1/2 hours while the public portion of the meeting was 5 minutes.

Ted

[oldberwynite]

Never a dull moment at Dist 201, what could have Mr Lucas have done so wrong

[Roger]

A rumor had been spreading for the past couple of weeks that the Board did not want Lucas to stay on.  In my opinion, he resigned to avoid termination.  Some staff members believe that the Board did not think that Lucas was strong enough in the disciplinary department.   Today there was a rumor throughout the builiding that Gunti would return to West as principal for the 2009-2110 school year, and that the ex football coach, Grazzini would be appointed as the new principal of the Freshman center.

[Big AL77]

Roger

You need to get out of the rumor milll at West. 

Last I heard Grazzini was going to be Principal at West.
Then they said he was going to be Athletic Director.
I now hear he is going to be Superintendent. 

I know from a very good source that all of these rumors begin in the P.E./Drivers Ed department at Morton West.  Seems to be a credible source....I wonder who is starting the rumors and what that person has go gain.

It is my hope that Morton conducts a search and finally finds a qualified Principal for Morton West....instead of handing to some friend of a friend.  Enough of polluting my school with people that are not up to the job. 

As for Mr. Lucas...He didnt do a bad job, but lack of experience probably did him in.  He was much better than Meis, but was hardly the dynamic figure the district needs for the West building, its faculty, staff, students and inherent problems. 

BigAl77

[mustang54]

Roger

You need to get out of the rumor milll at West. 

Last I heard Grazzini was going to be Principal at West.
Then they said he was going to be Athletic Director.
I now hear he is going to be Superintendent. 

I know from a very good source that all of these rumors begin in the P.E./Drivers Ed department at Morton West.  Seems to be a credible source....I wonder who is starting the rumors and what that person has go gain.

It is my hope that Morton conducts a search and finally finds a qualified Principal for Morton West....instead of handing to some friend of a friend.  Enough of polluting my school with people that are not up to the job. 

As for Mr. Lucas...He didnt do a bad job, but lack of experience probably did him in.  He was much better than Meis, but was hardly the dynamic figure the district needs for the West building, its faculty, staff, students and inherent problems. 

BigAl77

BigAl whoever you are you are pretty much right on about the West campus.
Too many people working there who think it is a political arena instead of a high school. But you get those type of people when you have people who are insecure about their job or status. They worry more about everyone else instead of doing the job they are paid to do. That is a huge sign of their incompetence at their job.
  Gunty does an outstanding job at the freshman center. As do the principals at East and the alternative school. I hope they leave them where they are. If its not broke don't fix it and don't risk creating a new problem too solve an existing one.Personally I think Mr. Lucas is a wonderful man. He inherited a real mess from probably the worst excuse for a high school principal ever. But i think he has had problems at West because of his previous experience. When you spend years at Lyons Township and at a catholic high school Morton West is a huge difference in size,and student enrollment. Plus too compound it as you said the problems with students,faculty and staff don't help when your new in a school of its size.
  I have actually heard the same rumors you have, and the ones Roger mentioned. In fact i have even heard a few more! lol!! But i will say what I have said before West needs a good enema.

[oldberwynite]

I have seen in previous post Mrs Wood is also a candidate, but what can these people do different than Lucas has done, right now West is the school that is very diversified and is having the most problems with academics and fighting, I have heard alot of racial tension between Blacks and Hispanics is going on

[Roger]

In my opinion, Lucas did as good a job as possible considering all of the circumstances he had to deal with.  To all the Dr. NO haters who work at West......... I sincerly hope that Gunty comes back to West as principal. If he does, all of that micro managing and accountabilty that you loved so much will return like a blast from the past. lol.

[Roger]

Grazzini as Superintendent?  Now that could be very, very interesting to say the least. LMAO!  Mustang54, are you sure that you won't reconsider running for the School Board? lol.

[Ted]

  I wonder if the board will wait until after the election to hire a new superintendent and a new principal at Morton West or whether they will try to get those positions filled before the election.

  The current board will hold its last regular board meeting on April 8, the day after the April 7 election.   The May meeting would be the first meeting of the next board.

  In April 2007, the old board extended Nowakowski's contract just days before the election.

  It will be interesting to see what the current board does and whether they will wait until the May board meeting (after any new board members take office)  to make decisions on a new principal or new superintendent.

Ted

[mustang54]

  I wonder if the board will wait until after the election to hire a new superintendent and a new principal at Morton West or whether they will try to get those positions filled before the election.

  The current board will hold its last regular board meeting on April 8, the day after the April 7 election.   The May meeting would be the first meeting of the next board.

  In April 2007, the old board extended Nowakowski's contract just days before the election.

  It will be interesting to see what the current board does and whether they will wait until the May board meeting (after any new board members take office)  to make decisions on a new principal or new superintendent.

Ted

Ted i would guess if they found someone before the election who they felt strongly was the right person they would would hire them,especially if they were coming from another district. That way they could lock them up and not have to worry about losing them to another district if they wait til April. Now if they are moving up inside people they just might wait til after
the election. Should be ineresting.

[oldberwynite]

Its ridiculous that everyone is more concerned about the plasma TVs, and we dont even know who are next Principal will be

[Ted]

  Email today from District 201 on the resignation of Morton West principal John Lucas and the re-hiring of the other principals:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, February 03, 2009

Contact:
Eric Kohn
(p) 312-575-9500
(c) 773-209-3435
(e) eric@urqmedia.com


Morton 201 Announces Renewal of Principal Contracts at Morton East, Freshman Center and Alternative School, Accepts the Resignation of John Lucas, and Begins Search for New Principal at Morton West

   Cicero, Illinois... At a special board meeting held on Friday, January 30, 2009, the J. Sterling Morton High School District 201 Board of Education, as required by statute, renewed the contracts of the Principals at Morton East High School, the Freshman Center, and the Alternative School. The Board of Education looks forward to continuing the progress that Frank Zarate, Joe Gunty and Rudy Hernandez have made at these schools. While recognizing his dedicated service to the District, the Board of Education officially accepted the resignation of Morton West High School principal John Lucas, effective June 30, 2009.

   "John Lucas has served this District diligently at Morton West High School for the last three years. His effort on behalf of the Morton West students and staff has been appreciated," said 201 Board President Jeffry Pesek. "Losing an educator with the experience of Mr. Lucas will require the Board of Education to search for a replacement that shall continue to move the District in a positive direction. This positive direction must include the implementation of the educational changes and goals laid out by the Board of Education. However, let us take this opportunity to offer our thanks to Mr. Lucas for his service and wish him continued success in his chosen endeavors."

   Subsequent to Lucas' resignation, the 201 Board today announced that it is immediately posting the job opening for the position of principal at Morton West High School.

   "We are casting a wide net to attract a talented applicant pool," said Pesek. "We want to find a highly motivated individual who is passionate about the education of our young people to help us ensure every Morton West student has the opportunity to earn a quality education that prepares them for success in our digital, information-based world. In addition, the Board of Education seeks candidates who can motivate the community, faculty and staff to help Morton West students achieve what we know these students are capable of achieving."

Persons interested in applying for the position of principal at Morton West High School can contact of the Office of the Superintendent at (708) 222-5702 for more information.