January Superintendent Newsletter
Winchester CUSD #1 Monthly Newsletter
December 31, 2018
The list of candidates for the April 2nd School Board Election has been released by the County Clerk. The candidates are: Ron Coultas, Shanna Eddinger, Bill Jacquot, Celeste Lashmett, and Dorinda Miller. The top three vote getters will be elected but only one can be from the Winchester Township. Jacquot, Lashmett, and Miller all reside in the Winchester Township.
The application for property tax relief was completed and sent in before break. Our expected tax relief would be $483,911.88 if approved. However, this is a very long shot but at least we are attempting to help our taxpayers.
Our Title I School Improvement Grant of $37,197.00 has been approved. We will be working with ROE 1 this semester on our work plan and school improvement plan.
The HVAC unit on top of the WGS Library has been replaced. The old unit was over 20 years old and was going to be expensive to repair. The library was not part of the 2017 renovation.
We have used REAP Grant funds to purchase a set of 30 smaller Chromebooks for the primary grades. These Chromebooks will have the flip design which allows them to be folded like a tablet but could still be used as a laptop. They arrived right before break but should be ready for use by the middle of January.
Our new copiers for WGS and ELC were installed on Dec. 14th. The January 3rd training has been postponed but will happen soon.
With the November elections we will have single party rule at the state level beginning this month. Look for quick action on the 3% cap on salaries (more clarification is needed) and the $40,000 minimum teacher pay. Also, a plan to address the pensions of state employees, including teachers, is gaining momentum. We will also have a new State Superintendent of Schools as that is an appointed position by the governor.
The following motions were approved at the December 11th School Board Meeting:
-
Conducted public hearing on tax levy - voted to approve
-
Enterprise Zone Resolution
-
Jason Likes’ use of gym for youth basketball league
-
Amy Sutton’s use of gym for youth basketball practices
-
Conducted first reading of Revised Policy 578 - Recruitment of Students
-
Application for Property Tax Relief funding
-
IG agreement with Bluffs to share Superintendent for FY19
-
Employment contract with Kevin Blankenship
