Jacksonville North Pulaski board approves bond application, personnel and program items in routine business

The Jacksonville North Pulaski School District board unanimously approved a series of routine business items on Monday, including a motion to submit an application to issue up to $9,230,000 in construction bonds and several personnel and program actions.

The board voted to move forward with the bond-permit application required by state law, approved FY26 federal assurances needed to receive federal funds, adopted salary-schedule changes including a $5,000 stipend for two teachers to oversee a cybersecurity pathway, and approved revisions to classified employee sick leave and other personnel items. The board also accepted the FY24 audit report for review and acknowledged two student-discipline cases that were handled as uncontested matters.

Why it matters: Approving the bond application begins a multistep process that allows the district to borrow for facilities and equipment without a voter referendum if existing revenues and cash flow support payments. Federal assurances and the school improvement plans are prerequisites for receiving federal and state education funding for FY26.

What the board approved (high-level): - Application to issue bonds: Motion to submit an application for a permit to issue bonds and related documents for $9,230,000 in construction bonds to the State Department of Education and designate a fiscal agent; motion passed. - FY26 federal assurances: Motion to approve federal assurances required for receipt of federal funds for FY26; motion passed. - License stipend addition: Addition of a $5,000 stipend to the 2025–26 salary schedule for two teachers to oversee the district cybersecurity pathway; motion passed. - Classified sick-leave revision: Revised policy moving classified employees to half-day or full-day leave increments to align with payroll system; motion passed. - FY26 school improvement plans: Approval of school improvement plans for the district's schools, aligned with Act 83 (2019) and funded through Title and 103 funds; motion passed. - Titan Learning Academy conversion charter: Motion to submit the conversion-charter application and desegregation analysis for Titan Learning Academy; motion passed. - Student-discipline actions: Approval of two uncontested student-discipline cases as presented; motion passed. - Handbook addendum: Acceptance of a 30-day review period for the 2025–26 handbook addendum; motion passed as an administrative step. - Personnel actions: After an executive session, the board approved the personnel recommendations presented; motion passed.

Board procedure and votes: For nearly all items the chair called for the motion, a board member moved and another seconded; the membership present voted “Aye” when the chair called for the question and no opposing votes were recorded in the transcript. Daniel Gray was recorded as absent during roll call. The transcript records the motions and confirmations but does not contain roll-call tallies by name for each motion.

Items acknowledged or discussed (no formal final action recorded): - FY24 audit: The audit report and two management findings (a payroll salary adjustment and fraudulent ACH bank charges credited back) were presented and acknowledged; no approval was required. - Park Street property: The board discussed a potential purchase of property on Park Street and whether to allow a charter school to continue K–5 operations in the building for FY25–26; the board agreed to continue discussions and possibly schedule a workshop but took no vote.

Provenance: See transcript excerpts attached to each listed action for topic-introduction and topic-finish evidence.

Ending: The approvals position the district to pursue facility financing and to implement program and personnel changes ahead of the 2025–26 school year; several items will return to the board for follow-up (bond issuance steps, handbook final adoption, and any required state approvals).