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East St. Louis SD 189 board recognizes staff and students, approves routine items and moves to executive session
Summary
At its regular meeting, the East St. Louis School District 189 Board of Education recognized staff and student achievements, approved minutes and committee reports, and voted unanimously to enter an executive session to discuss self-evaluation and professional ethics.
The East St. Louis School District 189 Board of Education at a regular meeting on Jan. 30, 2025, recognized staff and student achievements, approved minutes and several committee reports and voted to enter executive session to discuss self-evaluation and professional ethics.
Board members opened the meeting with roll call and a brief prayer before the board heard a presentation recognizing district employees and student accomplishments. A district staff member told the board that Keandra Smith, the district’s director of finance and federal and state programs, earned an educational specialist degree in education administration with a superintendent endorsement from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville in December 2024. The staff member said Sandra Dawson, a special-education teacher at East St. Louis Senior High School, earned a graduate degree in curriculum and instruction. The board was also told that Mason Clark Middle School’s student council received a 2025 student-service grant from the National Association of Secondary School Principals to establish a “cardinal care closet” providing middle-school students free access to hygiene and personal-care items.
The staff presenter also reported results of the districtwide spelling bee held Jan. 30, 2025, and said Nina McLean, a fifth-grade teacher at James A. Van Elementary School, was named the 2025 southern regional teacher of the year by the Illinois State Board of Education and will be eligible to compete for Illinois Teacher of the Year. The presenter noted that East St. Louis Senior High junior Pierre Walton won the IHSA Class 2A state wrestling title at 165 pounds; an award ceremony was announced for the following day at 1 p.m.
On procedural matters, the board approved the meeting agenda, unanimously adopted minutes from the Jan. 24, 2025, regular meeting and approved a package of ombuds and committee items. The board voted to accept the building and grounds report, the curriculum committee report and an addendum to the agenda. Roll-call votes recorded in the meeting transcript show all seven listed board members voting in the affirmative on each motion.
Later in the meeting, the board voted to move into executive session “to consider 1 22 c 16, self evaluation, practice and procedures and professional ethics” and to meet with a representative of the statewide association of which the public body is a member (referred to in the record as a representative from ISB). The board’s motion to enter executive session carried on a roll-call vote with all listed members recorded as voting yes; the transcript indicates that only the association representative and specified staff remained for the closed session.
No substantive policy changes or contract awards were recorded in the public portion of the meeting; the formal votes recorded in the transcript concern adoption of the agenda, approval of minutes, acceptance of committee reports and the decision to enter executive session.
