West Central Maintenance Officials Working on Boiler Issue

Posted on Author WKVI
West Central School Superintendent Charles Mellon
West Central School Superintendent Charles Mellon

The West Central School Board recently learned that the boiler system needs repairs fairly quickly as the colder weather sets in.

Superintendent Charles Mellon explained that one boiler needs to be repaired and another needs replaced at the high school.

“It’s a three-phase unit so we are down to one boiler and we need one repaired rather quickly,” stated Mellon. “We don’t want to be caught having no heating system at all. We’re going to move rapidly on that.”

Mellon has discussed the issue with the maintenance director at the school corporation and repairs are ongoing at this time.

West Central School Board Looks Ahead for 2014-2015 School Year

Posted on Author WKVI

West Central School Superintendent Charles Mellon
West Central School Superintendent Charles Mellon
The West Central School Board members approved the 2014-2015 school calendar at their recent meeting. The calendar is similar to this year’s calendar.

Superintendent Charles Mellon explained that while it is early, the course description book was also presented to the board by middle and high school principal Don Street.

“It’s that time of the year where we are getting to enroll students for next year. That seems a little early, but that’s the process. The state had changed a lot of course titles and we have some new offerings that are due to some of the licensing of our staff so we were able to make some course selection changes for the 2014-2015 school year,” said Mellon.

West Central Schools Receive Secured School Safety Grant

Posted on Author WKVI
West Central School Superintendent Charles Mellon
West Central School Superintendent Charles Mellon

The West Central School Board members received word last week that the school corporation was the recipient of a Secured School Safety grant.

Superintendent Charles Mellon commented that Safety Director Chuck Evans worked hard to make sure the grant was completed properly and on time to be considered for this grant. The grant, totaling just over $26,000, will be used to upgrade security in the entryways to all of the schools.

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Wind Turbine Good Investment for West Central Schools

Posted on Author WKVI

West Central School Superintendent Charles Mellon
West Central School Superintendent Charles Mellon
The wind turbine that serves as a power source for the West Central School Corporation has been working well so far, according to Superintendent Charles Mellon.

July and August are typically months where wind isn’t prevalent so the turbine had not been in action and Mellon explained they were able to fix some mechanical problems at that time.

Mellon said that the turbine has already saved the corporation money.

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West Central School Board Receives ISTEP+, ADM Report

Posted on Author WKVI

West Central School Superintendent Charles Mellon
West Central School Superintendent Charles Mellon
The West Central middle school and elementary principals went over the ISTEP+ test results with the board and Superintendent Charles Mellon said there is room for improvement.

“We had very good results in the elementary school but the middle school wasn’t quite what we wanted,” explained Mellon. “We will be spending some time and looking at that, searching to see what we need to do to kind of produce better student performance in those areas.”

Mellon also shared the Average Daily Membership (ADM) count with the board.

“We went from 833 students to 806. Our vocational numbers were up so we got a little bit of extra funding in the vocational line. That will help.”

Common Core Standards Decision Delayed

Posted on Author WKVI

West Central School Superintendent Charles Mellon
West Central School Superintendent Charles Mellon
No recommendation has come out of a committee tasked with evaluating the Common Core standards.

The General Assembly decided earlier this year to pause further implementation of statewide Common Core standards beyond second grade. A committee was formed and lawmakers approved a decision for a year of public feedback on Common Core before the Board of Education decides what the state’s standards will be.

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ISTEP+ Results at Knox, West Central and Eastern Pulaski Schools

Posted on Author WKVI
 
 

The ISTEP+ results have been looked at by officials at all schools in our area and Knox Community School Superintendent said there were some positive points and areas that need to be worked on.

“There were some good points and some points that need to be looked at,” explained Gappa. “In the elementary school, the average in both Language Arts and Math were in the upper nineties – the high point being the fifth grade Math with over 90 percent. The middle school had a little bit lower results and those will be checked out and we’ll report to the board at the next meeting.”

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ADM Counts Vary at Local Schools

Posted on Author WKVI

 
 
The Average Daily Membership, or ADM, count was taken at every school in the state on Friday, Sept. 13. Knox Community School Superintendent A.J. Gappa said the corporation was down 31 students from the same point last year and 19.5 students down from the projected DOE tuition page. Last Friday’s total came to 1,850.5 students. Kindergarten students are counted as a half-student.

“In this particular year, the elementary was up one student compared to last year. The middle school was down 14 and the high school was down 18,” reported Gappa. “Last year the middle school was up three. It varies from year to year in the class sizes. With the money following the students and open enrollment, it has changed things a little bit more.”

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West Central to Apply for Safe and Secure School Grant

Posted on Author WKVI
 
 

The West Central School Corporation is in the process of writing the secure and safe school grant.

Superintendent Charles Mellon explained that the state is giving a $50,000 matching grant to schools with over 1,000 students in a school corporation and a $35,000 matching grant to schools with less than 1,000 students in a school corporation. West Central fits in the $35,000 matching grant category which, if awarded, the school will use the money to upgrade security at the buildings. That could include hiring a security officer, buying equipment or performing a security audit.

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West Central School Supt. Outlines Preparations for 2013-2014 School Year

Posted on Author WKVI

West Central School Superintendent Charles Mellon
West Central School Superintendent Charles Mellon
The West Central School Corporation is gearing up for the start of school. Superintendent Charles Mellon gave a report of activities leading up to the start of the 2013-2014 school year.

“We start on Aug. 8 with our first-year teachers and going over the policy manuals at each building,” Mellon explained. “On Aug. 9, we begin the school year with a half-day of in-service with the staff. The following Monday and Tuesday we continue that in-service. Our students arrive on Aug. 14 to begin the school year.”

West Central Middle School Students to Participate in One-to-One Computer Initiative

Posted on Author WKVI

West Central School Superintendent Charles Mellon
West Central School Superintendent Charles Mellon
The West Central School Corporation will be rolling off its one-to-one computer initiative this coming school year.

An update on the project was given during last week’s school board meeting. Superintendent Charles Mellon said Technology Coordinator Rob Evans and Kris Aschbrenner gave the update to the board.

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West Central School Board Discusses Budget

Posted on Author WKVI

West Central School Superintendent Charles Mellon
West Central School Superintendent Charles Mellon
The West Central School Board members discussed the budget during a special work session this week. Superintendent Charles Mellon said the board spent most of the evening looking into finances for next year.

The board members did act on the budget discussion during the regular meeting.

“They did approve advertising the budget we had worked on so that is in the hands of the newspaper people at this time,” stated Mellon.

In another action item, the board approved an insurance premium contract for underground storage tanks.

West Central School Board Approves Summer School Classes

Posted on Author WKVI

West Central School Superintendent Charles Mellon
West Central School Superintendent Charles Mellon
Now that the regular school year is over for students in the Kankakee Valley area, summer school is now in session.

West Central Schools will offer summer school in July, but Superintendent Charles Mellon said classes were approved by the school board just last week.

“Mostly those were in the elementary just for remediation,” stated Mellon. “The life skills class will be doing a short six-day schooling at the latter part of July.”

West Central Buses Pass Inspection

Posted on Author WKVI

West Central School Superintendent Charles Mellon
West Central School Superintendent Charles Mellon
A bus inspection was conducted on May 21 at the West Central School Corporation and Superintendent Charles Mellon said it was a positive report.

“This is the first time we have had a bus inspection during the school year but things went very well,” explained Mellon. “All of the buses passed inspection. I want to thank the maintenance staff and the drivers for keeping their buses in good running order.”

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ISTEP Testing Issues Could Cause More Problems

Posted on Author WKVI

 
 
Online ISTEP testing caused several problems for schools around the state last week. The state has a four-year $90 million contract with T-C-B-McGraw-Hill to provide the capabilities to allow ISTEP testing to take place online. This is the second year in a row that students have been interrupted taking the state mandated test which has brought up questions about the validity of the testing this year. Students who were “kicked off” while testing came back the next day and had to start the test over. That’s a lot of mental pressure on the students.

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