Grundy Reporter

Gardner – So. Wilmington High School District #73 Board of Education Met June 16.

Here is the minutes provided by the board:

PRINCIPAL’S REPORT: Principal, Mr. John Engelman, reported on the following: 

● Student Discipline – Discipline was way down during the 2020-21 school year.  

● School Social Worker – Jillian Wills – who is full-time, has been more accessible and deals with student issues to keep our overall discipline down. She also helps out where needed in the building, wearing many hats. Mr. Engelman thanked the board for this hire a few years ago.  

● Teachers / staff – there is very low to no turn-over here at GSW HS. Teachers are not leaving and want to be here working. Several sub teachers have commented on how great our kids are and how well  behaved they are.  

DIRECTOR’S REPORT: Athletic Director, Mr. John Engelman, reported on the following: 

● Softball and Baseball Award Ceremonies were held this month. Both teams played in Regional  Championship games, but fell short of a win. 

● Summer sports programs are in full-swing with open-gyms, scrimmages and camps being held. 

BUILDING AND GROUNDS REPORT: Mr. Josh DeLong presented the following: 

● Summer Work Update: 

o Cafeteria – painting is complete and the tile flooring is being removed. The new floor will be done soon. 

o Business Lab – painting is complete and the carpet will be installed soon. New tables, chairs and desktop computers will be installed. This revamp is part of a CTE grant.  

● Old gym mats / ice machine = GSW will be selling our old GSW logo gym end mats and old ice  machine on our Face Book page. We have purchased a new smaller, table-top ice maker that is really only used for athletics.  

● Baseball field work = GSW will be playing Fall Baseball again. Once the games are over, we will look to do some field work. We need to add some dirt, do some edging and other cosmetic updates. We are also looking into the potential purchase of a new scoreboard. It did not work during the Spring baseball season. 

● Summer Work for 2022 = The parking lot will be the main project next summer. We will fill in existing potholes for this school year. We will also look into new lockers on the second floor and new flooring for the entire 3rd floor. Quotes will be needed before determining if all this work can be done next summer as the parking lot will be a major project.  

SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT: Mr. DeLong presented on the following:  

● School Board Conference – November 19, 21, 2021 = Board members are registered and on will be  attending this year’s conference in-person.  

● Expected end-of-the-year budget balance = It is anticipated that we will end up about $200,000 in the black. 

● Next year’s levy figures = EAV went up 5%, the tax rate is $2.57, which is .06 cents less than last year. In addition the state budget (EBF) is supposed to increase by 375 million. We don’t know our figures yet but as a Tier 1 district, we will receive an increase over last year’s total. With the potential solar farm in a couple of years and the potential of a TIF extension looming, the long term financial picture will be looking pretty good. 

● Reopening next school year = There are still a lot of unknowns for the start of school in August and how things will look. We will closely follow all of the updated regulations for the remainder of the summer. We will try to keep everyone informed and updated on what mandated rules we will have to follow as a school district. In order to be covered by insurance and under tort immunity, we are required to follow ISBE and IDPH guidelines. We are hopeful that masks will be optional.  

ACTION ITEMS: 

● Hire Austin Niccum for summer custodial work 

● Approve Consolidated District Title 1 Plan for 2021-2022 

● Approve Property/Casualty Insurance Renewal 

● Approve Workman’s Compensation Insurance Renewal 

● Approve Abatement of Working Cash to the Transportation Fund of $50,000 

● Approve Resolution to transfer budgeted line items within the Education Fund 

● Approve Angelena Dallio as Class of 2025 Sponsor 

● Approve Jillian Wills as SADD Co-sponsor 

● Approve Stefanie Rymsza as SADD Co-sponsor 

● Approve Terri Balcom as building paraprofessional for 2021-2022 

● Approve Band trip to South Dakota in the Summer of 2022 

● Authorize the payment of July 2021 bills 

● Authorize employment of new staff for (2021-2022) 

https://www.gswhs73.org/vimages/shared/vnews/stories/53b4271773d6c/June%2016,%202021%20Board%20Briefs.pdf