District submits full day school improvement days

On Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2024 the Board of Education held their meeting.

A public hearing was held at 6:45 p.m. in advance of the regular Board of Education meeting. The purpose of the hearing was to gather feedback from the community on the District’s submission of a waiver to implement full day school improvement days for the 2024-2025 school year. Upon approval from the Illinois State Board of Education, this would allow Staunton Schools to transition its six half days for professional development into three full days.

Under Board Spotlight, the Board of Education was excited to recognize band and choral students who participated in the annual Illinois Music Education Association’s competitions and earned awards this school year. Junior high student, Lorelei Byrne, read a poem that was recently published after her submission in a national competition. High school students Daniel Blotevogel and Matthew Neihaus were recognized for their acceptance into the John Deere Academy. And, the FFA presented on their chapter achievements over the past year, highlighting many successes by our students. Congratulations to all of these students on their hard work.

Allen highlighted that the eleventh annual 5Essentials Survey is available for completion. All families were notified of the survey on Feb. 14 and are encouraged to complete the survey to assist in the school improvement process. To access the survey, parents can go to the following website: https://survey.5-essentials.org/Illinois/.

The Illinois State Board of Education has approved the 2024 Maintenance Grant Projects for the District. These projects are all focused on improvement to HVAC across the district. Formalized bid requests were issued on Feb. 27 for completion of the library/art room renovation project in the high school. Board approval for a contractor to complete the project is slated for the March BOE meeting.

The administrative team is currently working collaboratively with their School Leadership Teams on adjustments to the Handbook for next year. After thorough review, research, and reflection, it has been determined that the creation of handbooks that are more building specific would be most appropriate moving forward. To ensure there is no confusion for families, staff, and students, all handbooks will be published on the website and easily accessible from the district and building specific pages and direct them to one central page.

Steven Moore, the Educational Services Administrator, gave a presentation to the Board on the detailed work that has been taking place in relation to the Safe Routes to School Grant for $20,000. Some of the deliverables for the grant have been completed and revenue has been issued. Consultant Mark Fenton will be on campus March 6 and 7 to observe school arrival and dismissal patterns and develop program, project, and policy ideas for improvement.

Under finances, the Board of Education approved a contract to employ Loy Miller Talley, PC as the District’s External Auditor.

Next under old business, the Board approved the application to the Illinois State Board of Education for submission of a waiver to enact full day school improvement days for the 2024-2025 school year.

Under new business, The Board approved the 2024-2025 school calendar. The calendar is accessible online by visiting the District’s website. Next, CENPRO Services, Inc. was approved as the contractor to complete the removal and disposal of the flooring in the Multi-Purpose Building for $137,600.

Allen and Moore gave a presentation at the meeting that highlighted current and future District collaboration efforts. They discussed various strategies in which Staunton Schools works with other local area schools to provide educational services. In addition, Allen and Moore reviewed the six manners in which the Illinois State Board of Education allows for reorganization to take place and the steps that must be followed.

Upon further discussion, there was Board consensus for administration to research the possibility of conducting a feasibility study. This study would occur with contiguous school districts that may be interested in learning more about the benefits and negative impacts of reorganization.

Next, discussion took place on District facilities and the critical infrastructure needs at the high school level. The three story high school facility has reached its useful life and to ensure that Staunton Schools continues to provide a safe and high quality instructional environment for students, steps must be taken for improvement. As a result, there was consensus amongst the Board for district administration to further research the process of introducing a building referendum for facility improvement on the Nov. 2024 ballot.

Upon returning to Open Session, the Board of Education accepted the resignation of Laura Poole as the Director of Facilities & Grounds. Next, the Board approved an FMLA request for Doug Cruthis and an unpaid leave of absence for Kenny Billings. Under employment, the following individuals were hired: Tony Bagaglio as a bus driver/trainee; Linda Curtis as a part-time transportation aide; Tim Klein as a junior high ELA teacher for summer school; and George Gerhardt as the interim director of facilities and grounds.

Next, the Board of Education approved a resolution authorizing the public sale of the former baptist church parsonage that was donated to the School District. Information on the public sale will be released to the public on Wednesday, March 6.

The next regularly scheduled meeting is Monday, March 18, 2024.