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Changes abound in area school districts [Herald & Review, Decatur, Ill. :: ]
[September 07, 2014]

Changes abound in area school districts [Herald & Review, Decatur, Ill. :: ]


(Herald & Review (Decatur, IL) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Sept. 07--A new year school year has started, and students were greeted with several changes.

Here is a look at some of the changes taking place in Macon County's public school districts ARGENTA-OREANA: The district has two new administrators for the 2014-15 school year, one familiar face and the other not so much.

Decatur native Pat Blair is the new elementary principal after serving as middle school principal for four years and as seventh-grade history and computer teacher for 13 years before that.

A 1984 graduate of Warrensburg-Latham High School, Blair also taught history for two years at Thomas Jefferson Middle School in Decatur before joining the Argenta-Oreana district.

His replacement at the middle school is Amanda Ryder, a 2005 graduate of Monticello High School who taught English at St. Joseph-Ogden High School for the past five years.

Additionally, Dan Sheehan, assistant principal/athletic director for the middle school and high school, is taking on the duties of assistant elementary school principal this year.

CERRO GORDO: The district will again face budget cuts from the state in 2014, with between a $100,000 and $150,000 total in cuts estimated by Superintendent Brett Robinson.

"When you already run a pretty lean budget, that's challenging," said Robinson, now in his ninth year. "At this time, we're not looking at any program cuts, we're just trying to see if we can tighten the belt one more notch and, if need be, we may have to consider tapping into our reserves." Staff turnover was very low since last year, with only two new teachers to the district this year. Construction and renovation were minimal, with a new walk-in cooler/freezer installed at the high school. New buses from Birch Bus Service in Bement will also be a fixture, as the new providers submitted the winning bid and will replace First Student buses.



MAROA-FORSYTH: After what seemed like a quicker than usual summer, Maroa-Forsyth Superintendent Mike Williams is looking forward to the school year ahead. Until last year, Williams doesn't remember taking seven snow days in at least the past decade.

The district still has five emergency days built into its calendar, something Williams doesn't anticipate changing unless more of a pattern develops.


Williams said the summer consisted of the usual maintenance and cleaning but no major projects, leaving him ready for students to return to the classrooms.

An uncertain budget situation continues to be of concern, Williams said. Nearly $450,000 in cuts were made for the year to deal with decreases in revenue.

New national Common Core standards that require PARCC testing twice a year for grades three through eight and some juniors will place a burden on the schools' computer usage, Williams said. Testing will fill up all of the available computers, particularly in the middle school, he said.

District officials aren't looking to add more computers in the middle schools until plans are determined for replacing the aging middle school building, which Williams said could happen in the next five to 10 years MERIDIAN: Outside, the construction going on throughout the Meridian School District is apparent, but exciting changes also are happening inside.

This year teachers are going through a 13-part series of technology training in anticipation for every middle and high school student having access to a tablet computer by the 2015-16 school year.

Besides construction, Superintendent Dan Brue said the Meridian One-to-One Academy is their biggest project over the next several years.

"The world that we live in is technology based," Brue said. "The more than we can have our kids using it will help them in their post secondary education or careers." During professional development days, teachers will learn how to create a curriculum around the tablets. They would be able to assign homework and receive it digitally.

The goal now is to make sure when the technology is available, it's used wisely.

The tablet purchases, most likely Google Chromebooks, would be funded through a technology grant and student fees.

MOUNT ZION: Though the Mount Zion School District is buzzing with excitement over facility improvement projects, cuts in state funding remain a concern.

General state aid for the district has continued to decrease, totaling about $2 million less than four years ago, Superintendent Travis Roundcount said.

During the past few years, the district has been able to balance its budget despite receiving state funding at a prorated 89 percent, but if a change isn't made soon, Roundcount said the district will have to make some difficult decisions.

"While we've been fortunate to ride out the storm, we just need the storm to end at some point, and all of us want to see the economy pick back up soon," he said.

Though state funding has dwindled, the district has been able to provide the schools with new classroom technology through the efforts of the Mount Zion Foundation for Quality Education.

The foundation raised more than $80,000 last year for new equipment including SMART boards, iPads, laptops and microphones with instructional software.

As the level of technology has changed in the district, so has its director of curriculum and technology. Among the staff changes for the school year is William Rockey, who replaced Karen Edwards as director in June.

SANGAMON VALLEY: Valerie Janvrin always had butterflies on the first day of school, but not this year.

"I knew I wouldn't be with one group of students all year," said Janvrin, the new principal of Harristown Elementary School in the Sangamon Valley district. "I'm looking forward to interacting with all the students.

Jill Reedy left to be assistant regional superintendent of schools at the end of last school year, and Janvrin, who taught third grade at Harristown for 14 years, moved up to the principal's position.

Illiopolis Elementary School also has a new principal, Cody Trigg, formerly of the PORTA schools in Petersburg, said Superintendent Ernie Fowler.

Sangamon Valley High School has a new set of bleachers on the football field, thanks to a state construction grant.

Sangamon Valley started school Aug. 15 this year, a Friday, which might sound a bit unusual, but Fowler said last year, thanks to the nasty winter weather, the district used up all its emergency days and the school year didn't end until late in May. To avoid a repeat, the board decided to start school a little early. Teachers started work Aug. 14.

WARRENSBURG-LATHAM: The district has entered a pilot program to provide Google Chromebooks to its freshman class, as well as adding mobile Chrome labs which can be brought into classrooms.

Superintendent Kristen Kendrick-Weikle said the hope is that the new technology will help students improve in their academic performance, as well as improve their level of engagement and collaboration with other students and teachers.

Among the benefits of the Chromebooks is the ability to work on Google devices, such as Google Documents, that will allow the students to work on the same documents even if they are not in the same area.

Along with developing a collaborative spirit, Kendrick-Weikle is hopeful the program also will prepare students for online classes.

If the program is successful, Kendrick-Weikle said the district will continue to provide Chromebooks to later freshman classes, until every student in the high school has a Chromebook during the school year.

___ (c)2014 the Herald & Review (Decatur, Ill.) Visit the Herald & Review (Decatur, Ill.) at www.herald-review.com Distributed by MCT Information Services

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