Carlinville High School recognized for 11th year by U.S. News

By ERIN SANSON
Enquirer~Democrat Reporter

The Carlinville School Board met in the High School Media Center on Oct. 17 for its regularly scheduled meeting. Topics of discussion included building upgrades, potential grants for the district and employment issues.

District Spotlight

The district spotlight was shining on the Carlinville High School which was recently named in the U.S. News and World Report for the tenth year in a row and the 11th year in total.

There are 484 school districts in Illinois with 724 High Schools. Carlinville High School ranked 152 out of those 724. Nationally, Carlinville High School is 4,205th. U.S. News and World Report Carlinville High School ranked as the 33rd best school in the St. Louis Metro area. According to Superintendent Becky Schuchman, schools one through 25 were in Missouri or in St. Louis. Columbia was the first Illinois High School on the list at 26th, O’Fallon was ranked as 31st and Carlinville was only the third Illinois school listed.

Maintenance Grant

The board accepted the motion to approve the Fiscal year 2023 Maintenance Grant as presented. The grant is from the State and is a grant offering $50,000 in matching funds for maintenance work. Schuchman intends to use the grant to finish the roof at the High School-Middle School complex. Schuchman says the roof project will cost more than $50,000 on the District’s end.

SCI Center Discussion

Discussion was held but no action was taken over the intergovernmental agreement for the Southern Central Innovation Center in Litchfield. The Litchfield school district purchased a warehouse building in which it plans to have a workforce development center and offer trade and vocational classes. it is hoping to get other school districts on the governing board, which would develop the programs and curriculum offered at the center. Schuchman is on the fence about agreeing to be on the board because of some vague wording in the agreement.

Other problems are that some of the programs the center would offer are programs Carlinville already has such as welding and metalworking. The SCI Center could also offer courses that Carlinville does not, such as offering a specific automotive course, though Carlinville does have an Ag Mechanics class.

While the center could offer classes that Carlinville could not, it does not mean they will or that the classes offered would align with the curriculum of Carlinville. There were also several questions about transportation, cost of sending students and concerns about other classes being missed because students would be commuting to school for vocational classes.

Employment

The board approved three resignations. Gayla Walters is resigning at the end of the 2022-23 school year. Deb Rathgeb is resigning effective Nov. 17. Sharon Bates will be resigning effective Feb. 3.

The board also approved the hire of four individuals. Ciarra Ceiseler was hired as a bus driver. Alexis Hill was hired as a co-yearbook sponsor at the High School. Shane Michaelis was approved as the High School head wrestling coach and Chase Michaelis was hired as the volunteer assistant wrestling coach.

Risk Management Plan

The board approved the Risk Management Plan. The risk management plan is a list of things that tort dollars can be spent on. In recent years, the risk management plan has been updated to include a School Resource Officer and bus cameras.

Bus Garage Extension

Several minutes of discussion was spent on the bus garage and a request to extend the garage by five feet. The hope with the extension is to add another bathroom and a kitchenette in the lounge area of the garage. This is not the first time such a request has come for the bus garage but an appropriate solution has not yet been found.

Other Business

A resolution was passed to sell or destroy surplus property. The discussion was held at the September meeting but was accidently left off of the agenda for that month. Action was tabled until this meeting.

Fast Stop in Carlinville requested the use of the Carlinville School District Name and Image Licensing for the creation of a CHS Fast Stop Card. According to Schuchman, Fast Stop would be giving two cents per gallon to the school if a Carlinville Card is used or one cent per gallon if it is not. The revenue would then be used to fund the purchase of supplies and equipment for the middle school Agriculture and CTE classes.