Signs of some rough transition between the old and new Danville District 118 Board of Education were apparent Monday (June 9th) evening when the new board tabled an attempt to amend the current 2024-25 school year budget, which ends on June 30th.
As District Director of Business and Finance Narcissus Rankin explained the amending, it was recently elected and also returning board member Christopher Easton who asked most of the questions. He eventually motioned that the vote be tabled, with newly elected Toni Towne seconding the motion. A unanimous vote of 5-0 followed. Kimberly Corley was out of town and could not attend Monday’s special meeting, and resigned board member Pastor Thomas Miller’s seat remains empty. (The deadline to apply for that seat, by the way, remains this Friday. June 13th.)
(1st Picture) Board member Christopher Easton asks questions about amended District 118 budget. (2nd Picture) District 118 Director of Business and Finance Narcissus Rankin prepares to address 118 Board.
After the open session portion of the meeting, as the board moved back into closed session, CIMG was able to talk with Christopher Easton. As he sees it, Monday night’s meeting, a special meeting at that, does not make good on how this should have been handled.
Audio PlayerAUDIO: The board policy says when you’re going to update the budget that you need to have the board see what you’re going to post publicly. That wasn’t done, and it was $18,000,000 of an adjustment. I had to go looking for it to even see when it posted. It posted a month ago, 30 days; which is what’s required. But when it was posted, the board should have approved it to be posted, and also set the hearing date. This was a special meeting. So, why are we having a public hearing in a special meeting that’s not televised? It’s not transparent to me. I don’t like how it looks; don’t like how it smells.
The next District 118 Board meeting is Wednesday, June 18th.
Also at the meeting Director of Curriculum MaryEllen Bunton talked about a new approach to preparing students for the careers they are interested in. She says the district is already talking to students about this prior to their high school years. But this additional approach, from the Illinois State Board of Education, would allow students to adjust the exact kinds of classes they take when they get to high school. And it’s not an expense to the district, just an adjustment.
Audio PlayerAUDIO: In the earlier grades, they’d be exposed to things that would help them kind of develop a career pathway; like what areas of the world they’re interested in, what problems do they want to solve. So then they could start taking classes that would make more sense.
The board gave its approval. Bunton says it’s not a matter of taking away the number of years of English or Math classes needed in high school. But it is a matter of adjusting which ones they do take, based upon their career interests.
