PCHS Construction Going Well
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Only one day of work has been lost on construction of the new school. Everything is on schedule in the first phase.
The next bid package for structural work- steel and masonry - will be let on April 12 and opened April 27.
Superintendent Jon Green said bids will be awarded May 12.
The board approved a contract with Geotech Engineering for testing during the construction of the new school. Pricing varies by test.
Geotech has done all the preliminary testing for the new school, as well.
In other business, the board:
-- signed an agreement with Clearwave for 50 MB dedicated internet service to the new building at a cost of approximately $500 per month.
-- agreed to amend the current budget to reflect the $5 million in health/life/safety bonds that were sold. It will be placed on file at the next meeting.
-- discussed the 2011-2012 budget. Green said he does not anticipate any major changes from this year except for the purchase of computers for students.
-- discussed test scores. Students in 8th through 11th grades were given the Plan and Explore tests which are ACT predictors. Results show that 60 to 70 percent of students meet or exceed standards in English. The numbers drop for the remaining subjects: Math- 35 - 37 percent, Reading 37 - 47 percent and Science 10 to 23 percent. "These numbers were not a surprise," Green said. "This is the reason we've changed our curriculum. We're working with the feeder schools on our goals." He said PCHS has been working on these same targets for 20 months. He hopes to see significant improvement in the next three to five years.
-- amended the 2010-2011 school calendar to include the four snow days this year. The last day of school will be May 24. Graduation is May 21 at 6 p.m.
-- approved the 2011-2012 school calendar. The fall semester begins on Aug. 9 with a teachers' institute. The last day of school will be May 8. School is starting earlier and finishing earlier to allow more time to complete the new school.
-- re-employed all certified tenured and non-tenured staff for the next year.
-- accepted the resignation of Jim Gibson as assistant golf coach and agreed to post that position.
-- discussed the ISBE audit findings. PCHS owes $322 for overcharging on general state aid. The amount will be subtracted from future payments.