The Bluford Board of Education held its regular March meeting on Wednesday, March 15, 2023.
Information from administration was shared with the Board that included:
Student recognition from the Illinois Principals Association for Kadi Bain, Landon Cook, Emeline Carnongan, and Aidan Reed.
State testing for both the grade school and high school will occur within the next couple of weeks.
Recognition of the JH and HS Scholastic Bowl teams, who each had excellent seasons.
Schedule: Dual credit meeting- March 29, Freshman Orientation- April 26.
The Board acted on the following personnel items. The Board accepted resignations for Josh Simmons (Head HS Softball), Dave Moser (Assistant HS Softball), Brad Beaty (Head HS Boys Basketball), and Travis Helm (Head HS Girls Basketball). The Board acted to employ Dave Moser (Head HS Softball), Melissa Smith, (Assistant HS Softball), and Taylor Thackrey (Assistant HS Softball). Finally, the Board approved a contract for Mrs. Amanda Strohschein to become the grade school principal for the 2023-2024 school year. Mrs. Strohschein has served as a classroom teacher in the district for the last 17 years and is excited about the transition into a leadership role.
In other action, the Board scheduled a Special Organizational Meeting for April 27, 2023 at 6:00 p.m. to seat the new Board after the election. Kim McCormick was issued a $300 bonus for serving in two roles during the transition with the administrative assistant position. All student fees for 2023-2024 were waived. This will make the fourth consecutive school year in which students can attend Bluford Schools with no fees. It is typical in most districts to have book, technology, parking, and athletic fees. The Board also approved a semi-annual review of executive session minutes.
The final action taken by the Board was the approval of an HVAC project to eliminate the need for a boiler in the 1957 portion of the building. The boiler and piping are in need of approximately $45,000 of repairs. Additionally, the district spends on average $22,000 annually in natural gas to fuel the boiler. A bid in the amount of $83,315 from Rightnowar Service was approved to install 19 mini-split units to heat and cool classrooms and common areas.
The next regularly scheduled meeting is Thursday, April 20, at 6:00 p.m. in the district office.