Chrisman School Board moving ahead with many projects soon
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The Chrisman School Board met on February 15th. The meeting began with approval of previous meeting minutes along with financial matters that included the treasurer’s report and imprest fund reimbursement in the amount of $5,824.77.
Recent events that took place at the elementary school included a pajama party on February 7th and Valentines Day parties on February 14th. Upcoming events are good behavior parties from February 23rd-25th and Preschool Roundup on March 23rd.
The elementary school is in desperate need of new rugs at all entrances/exits. Many of these rugs have become a tripping hazard and are causing safety concerns. “We have been looking at what replacements would cost us,” said Principal Kelly Schluter. “We think we could get all new rugs, including shipping, for somewhere between $2,500 and $3,000.”
The district is still currently looking for sub bus drivers to help with routes and extra-curricular activities. Schluter has been working on finalizing the IAR schedule for the elementary building. “We are looking at beginning our testing at the end of March,” Schluter said.
Upcoming events at the Chrisman Junior High/High School include FFA Week from February 22nd-25th; HS Career Fair on March 4th; HS Envirothon Competition on March 8th ad End of 3rd Quarter on March 11th.
With the snow days last week, a number of schools used their E-Learning days, which means they don’t have to use those calendar days at the end of the school year.
Chrisman, however, was not allowed to do this because the district does not have an ISBE-approved E-Learning. “This is something Mrs. Schluter and I can work on putting into place if the Board would like to,” Principal Cole Huber said. “There are pros and cons to both options.”
Ms. Pillen and Mr. Huber have discussed offering the Co-Op class to Juniors. “We feel with the changing socioeconomic backgrounds of our student body, offering this option would benefit students,” Huber said. This change could be a potential squeeze on the master schedule, but it can work.
The February sales tax revenue for school facilities for the district was $13,120.75 for a continued average of over $10,000 per month.
The resolution for the districts intent to issue bonds was recently published. The authorization to sell bonds (approval of bond resolution) will most likely take place at the March meeting, with the money being made available in April or May.
The Facilities Committee met with a representative from Cross Construction on January 26th in order to discuss the parking lot project bid specifications, as well as bid time lines.
“The representative suggested an invitation to bid to go out in mid-February, with a bid due on March 8th,” Superintendent Acklin said. The invitation to bid was approved.
The LIFT program is a technical skills education center open to all schools in ROE 11. In order to make this more accessible to the students, the district would like the Board of Education to consider paying for a portion of the $2,000 per student annual fee.
A district contribution of $1650 would put the contribution line percentage-wise with the district contribution towards the Health Occupations program. “In any given year, we would likely have no more than two or three students interested,” Acklin said.
The current contract with the Chrisman Education Association expired on August 31st this year.
The BOE will need to think about what two members it would like to represent the BOE for upcoming contract negotiations with the certified staff. Acklin expects the teachers to be ready to begin negotiations sometime in March.
Acklin met with an electrician last week regarding the potential HVAC upgrade in the HS gymnasium. The power boxes and electrical panels are original to the gym and will require upgrading if the board decides to pursue upgrading air conditioning in the gym.
“We will be working with an engineer to put together a Health/Life Safety amendment in order to be able to expend HLS dollars on this project,” Acklin said.
