District 50 Renovations

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[ The District 50 School Board heard that summer repairs are coming along nicely at both the Grade School and Junior High School.

Superintendent Tim O'Leary said that there have been a few changes to the original plans for summer work. The board has chosen to paint the panels on the top of the gymnasium, add a metal soffit to the entrance and paint the new band room doors to match the rest of the trim being painted at the Junior High.

Masons have begun preparing the building for new windows. Delivery of the windows, which will match the newly-painted trim on the building, is set for July 17.

The walls in the bathrooms being renovated have been removed. The next step is to bring in the plumbers, O'Leary said.

"We had to find a new way to reach a drain in the Grade School bathroom," he said. "That was a minor change."

The new HVAC units are on site and the concrete pad on which they will rest has been poured. O'Leary said he is looking into pouring an additional 8 feet of concrete between the building and the new pad.

The new playground equipment to replace what was damaged in the May 8 storm has been ordered. The fence around the Grade School play area was also damaged. The cost of the equipment was $6,226 and the fence will cost a little more than $1,000. The district will pay a deductible of $1,000 to repair the equipment and fence. In other business, the board:

n heard that the district made Adequate Yearly Progress, based on the Illinois Student Achievement Tests. The benchmarks for this year were to have 70 percent of students meet or exceed standards in reading and math. The district had a composite reading score of 76.9 percent and a composite math score of 87 percent. The composites broke down into scores of 73.3 for the Grade School and 78.8 for the Junior High in reading and 92.6 and 83.8 in math, respectively.

-- hired Brittany McConachie as a Third Grade teacher and Cathy Rezba as a Second Grade teacher. Rezba had been a Special Education teacher. The Special Education teacher position will be posted.

-- gave raises of $.60 per hour to all non-certified hourly district employees. One salaried employee will receive an annual increase of $1,500. There are 28 non-certified personnel. Junior High Principal Ryan Swan will receive an annual increase of $2,000.

-- awarded the bread and milk bids for the coming school year. Interstate Bakeries was given the bread contract and Pet Dairy was given the milk bid. The district will pay $1.15 for a 24 oz. loaf of bread, $1.18 for a dozen hamburger buns and $1.60 for a dozen hot dog buns. Milk is $.20 per half pint.

-- discussed the student athletic handbook. Beginning in the next school year, grades will be taken the third week of each quarter then each week after that to determine eligibility to play.

-- approved the hazardous bus routes for the coming year. There were no changes from the previous year.