Return To School Went Smoothly Throughout Kankakee Valley

Posted on Author WKVI

This was the first week of school for area students.

Superintendent A.J. Gappa talks about how the first week went for Knox Community School students.

“After talking to the principals at each building, I guess the one word we could use is smooth,” said Gappa. “There were no major glitches. Bus loading and unloading seemed to go well. I talked to the people at the transportation garage and all of the routes seemed to be in place and moving well. I don’t have any preliminary numbers, but hopefully our student population is at least as much as last year.”

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West Central Confident ISTEP Scores Will Improve

Posted on Author WKVI
West Central School Superintendent Charles Mellon

The three West Central school principals addressed the school board about the ISTEP scores and Superintendent Charles Mellon indicated that they are confident new strategies will turn around those scores.

“We’re presently analyzing our data that has come back to us so we can see different trends that are taking place,” said Mellon. “We’ll get that information together before we give off-the-cuff answers for our lower scores this year. We will be addressing the board each month this year as to our progress in working our way back to more positive scores next year.”

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West Central School Board Discusses 2013 Budget

Posted on Author WKVI
West Central School Superintendent Charles Mellon

The West Central School Board held a work session Thursday to discuss the 2013 budget and get it ready for advertisement.

Superintendent Charles Mellon said the total budget keeps getting cut by the state.

“Well, we are anticipating losing another $155,000 from the state,” said Mellon. “This is a time where we start getting into our cash balances.”

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West Central Schools Still Gearing Up For School Year

Posted on Author WKVI
West Central School Superintendent Charles Mellon

The start of the new school year at the West Central School Corporation is Tuesday, August 14, and Superintendent Charles Mellon says they are still working on one summer project before the start of school.

“Most of our summer projects have been completed, but we are still working on getting the high school gym job completed,” commented Mellon. “It was time that we sanded the floor down completely and now they’re putting the lines back on. We’re still about a week away until that project is complete.”

School will start on August 14 for a number of schools in our area and, for those in need of registration information, visit the school registration page.

High Winds Not Affecting West Central Wind Turbine

Posted on Author WKVI
West Central School Superintendent Charles Mellon

One might think with yesterday morning’s extremely high winds West Central High School’s wind turbine would have been cranking out quite a bit of electricity. However, contrary to popular belief, Superintendent Charles Mellon explained that while strong winds do allow the wind turbine to produce more energy, winds that are any higher than 25 mph actually don’t produce that much more energy than 25 mph winds.

“People think when you get 40 mph winds we’re really turning it up, but that’s not the case. The meter is set to produce 900 kilowatts a day, when it’s running in full capacity,” Mellon explained.

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West Central Schools Gets a Donated Facelift

Posted on Author WKVI
West Central School Superintendent Charles Mellon

The West Central School Board discussed the many summer projects in progress and Superintendent Charles Mellon said all of the buildings should be ready for the beginning of the school year in August.

He said one of the buildings got a nice facelift from a resident.

“David Zeltwanger operates a brick laying company and out of the kindness of his heart, he has cleaned the front office outside where we have stone,” said Mellon. “It really looks nice. We also appreciate Alliance Bank for purchasing the cleaning solution.”

Mellon commented that what the school can’t afford to do, the community has stepped forward to cover those bases.

ISTEP Scores Drop At West Central Schools

Posted on Author WKVI
West Central School Superintendent Charles Mellon

The West Central School Board members discussed ISTEP scores during their recent meeting and Superintendent Charles Mellon said the scores were down this year.

“We have a lot of work to do there Our scores have gone down. I didn’t want to give any off-the-cuff reasons as to why. We’re going to do some in-depth investigation as to the rationale,” Mellon explained.

Mellon said it was a bit of a surprise as the students showed growth in testing throughout the school year.

“A lot of our inside the corporation test scores, like with acuity and so on, show student growth at a good rate. We need to go in and compare some scores and dig a little deeper to see why we’re going in the wrong direction,” said Mellon.

West Central School Board Approves RISE Evaluation Model

Posted on Author WKVI
West Central School Superintendent Charles Mellon

The West Central School Board approved the corporation’s RISE Evaluation model. Superintendent Charles Mellon said it is similar to the teacher and administrator evaluation model used by the state.

“There would be a new evaluation system for principals as well as myself,” said Mellon. “People outside the actual classroom have their own separate evaluation but it mirrors the others. The media specialist has an evaluation, and those type of people who are not in the classroom but who work directly with kids will have their own evaluation. The counselors would have their own evaluation, but again, it mirrors the RISE model.”

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West Central School Board Renews Certified Contracts

Posted on Author WKVI
West Central School Superintendent Charles Mellon

The West Central School Board approved the certified contracts which included Superintendent Charles Mellon, Middle and High School Principal Don Street, Athletic Director and Administrative Assistant Chuck Evans, and Guidance Counselor Marci Kennedy. Those staff members were on 12-month contracts which were renewed.

Mellon was quick to note that there was a change in one staff position.

“We had a change in Mr. Brose’s position,” explained Mellon. “He is now becoming an administrative assistant and we will be interviewing soon for an elementary principal.”

West Central Schools To Take Funding Hit, Says Mellon

Posted on Author WKVI
West Central School Superintendent Charles Mellon

The West Central School Board reviewed the estimated state tuition support for the 2013 budget and according to Superintendent Charles Mellon, it appears the corporation is going to take another funding hit.

“We find ourselves down another $155,000, which is a little over 2.5 percent,” said Mellon. “Again, these are just based on projections. You have to plug in your own numbers with enrollment projections and that type of thing.”

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West Central School Corporation To Undergo Maintenance Over Summer

Posted on Author WKVI
West Central School Superintendent Charles Mellon

Maintenance workers at the West Central School Corporation will be busy this summer with several projects. Superintendent Charles Mellon outlined those projects, which include work at both the elementary school and the high school.

“In the elementary school, we will be replacing the lights in the classrooms and hallways and we’re going to upgrade the pool’s filtration system,” commented Mellon. “There’s always a little bit of carpeting that we do throughout the corporation. We’re sanding down and refinishing the high school gym floor and replacing the black boards with marker boards throughout the corporation.”

West Central School Board Signs Renewable Energy Contract

Posted on Author WKVI
West Central School Superintendent Charles Mellon

The West Central School Board signed a renewable energy credit contract. Superintendent Charles Mellon explains what that means for the corporation.

“Companies buy renewable energy credits – this is in connection with our wind turbine – that way they can say they are part owner of someone who is doing something along the ‘green lines,’ as far as not polluting the air. As a part of that, the corporation was awarded $67,000 for that right to those companies,” Mellon said.

The contract is for an eight-year period and when that time period is up, the board can renegotiate or send it out for bid. The corporation is only responsible for one thing.

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West Central School Board Changes Regular Meetings

Posted on Author WKVI
West Central School Superintendent Charles Mellon

The West Central School Board modified its meeting date schedule, and Superintendent Charles Mellon says the board will now only meet once a month instead of twice a month.

“We’re going to a little different format,” explained Mellon. “We’re going to be meeting the first Thursday of the month. The only time we deviate from that would be the first week in January and the first week in July. This will be something new – we’ve always been a two-meeting-per-month corporation, but we’re going to try something different.”

The first meeting in January and in July in 2013 will be on the second Thursday of the month. If the
board needs to meet more than once a month, special sessions can be called in order to take care of business.

Graduation Services To Take Place Tomorrow Afternoon For Local Schools

Posted on Author WKVI

Graduation services were held last night for Eastern Pulaski Seniors and another graduation service is scheduled for tomorrow afternoon. West Central School Superintendent Charles Mellon reports the details of graduation services for seniors.

“That’ll be on Sunday, May 27,” said Mellon. “Baccalaureate is at 2 p.m. ET with Commencement to follow.”

Knox Community High School Commencement is Friday, June 1 at 7 p.m. in the Weinberg Gymnasium, and graduation at North Judson-San Pierre High School is slated for Sunday, June 3 at 7 p.m. in the high school gymnasium.

West Central School Board Approves Reduction In Force

Posted on Author WKVI
West Central School Superintendent Charles Mellon

The West Central School Board members did approve a reduction in force proposal at their recent meeting. Superintendent Charles Mellon said there was only one this year.

“That person is going on our recall list,” stated Mellon. “He is currently teaching science in the middle school, but he does have an elementary license so if we had a class size increase – which I hope we do – or someone else from the elementary leaves the school system for whatever reason, he has the opportunity to come back. He will be on the recall list for two years. There is still a possibility for him.”

West Central Schools Prepare For Summer School

Posted on Author WKVI
West Central School Superintendent Charles Mellon

Now that the regular school year at the West Central School Corporation is winding down, the staff is now gearing up for summer school. Summer school starts June 4, according to Superintendent Charles Mellon.

“We’ll have summer school June 4 through the 15,” stated Mellon. “It’s mainly for our IREAD people that have an opportunity to take the test again which will be taken on June 20.”

The School Board approved textbook fees for the 2012-2013 school year.

“The prices increased slightly because of the publisher’s cost. It really wasn’t a large year for textbook adoption because it’s mainly for vocational courses and fine arts,” said Mellon. “K-1 stayed exactly the same and there was just a minor increase for the other grade levels.”

West Central Schools Lunch Prices To Increase

Posted on Author WKVI
West Central School Superintendent Charles Mellon

The West Central School Board approved cafeteria prices during their meeting last week, and Superintendent Charles Mellon said the lunch prices will be increasing.

“There’s some new guidelines coming down from the state that requires more fresh fruits and vegetables and we’re putting in a fresh fruit and vegetable bar next year,” said Mellon. “I guess the portions greater for high school students as they do for middle school students and the middle school larger than high school so that’s a little bit of a change. We had to increase the lunches ten cents for the elementary and the high school and five cents for the middle school.”

Student Insurance Rates Increase For West Central Schools

Posted on Author WKVI
West Central School Superintendent Charles Mellon

The West Central School Board looked to the future at their meeting this week as they approved the student insurance renewal for the next school year. Superintendent Charles Mellon explained that the cost did increase, but the price is still worth it.

“That has gone up fifteen percent, but I think that’s probably the trend for insurance,” said Mellon. “The good thing is that parents can still have their child covered while at school for $16.00 which is still very worthwhile.”

West Central Approves Textbook Rental Fees, New Course

Posted on Author WKVI

The West Central School Board approved textbook rental fees at their recent meeting and Superintendent Charles Mellon said they also approved textbooks for a new course.

“We did have one new class connected with the wind turbine. It is a renewable energy course that is also articulated with Ivy Tech. That was new course with a textbook that was adopted as well,” stated Mellon.

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West Central School Board Discusses IREAD Results

Posted on Author WKVI

The West Central School Board members discussed the results of the IREAD test at their recent meeting. The IREAD test was administered to the third grade students and if the students did not pass the test then they would need to get additional instruction and retake the test in June. If the students are not successful in their second attempt, they will be required to retake third grade reading next year.

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