BOE Monthly Meeting Summary Litchfield CUSD12: March 18, 2025 | | |
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| | The Litchfield Community Unit School District #12 Board of Education met on Tuesday, March 18, 2025, at Litchfield Early Childhood Center for its monthly board meeting. The meeting began at 5:45 for the Fogleman Scholarship Trustees Meeting.
These are not the official meeting minutes and do not include every detail from the meeting; instead, they are a summary to assist the Purple Panther community. Once the board approves them, the official minutes can be found on the LCUSD #12 Board of Education Minutes page on the website. | | | Bank and Trust reviewed the recommendation for our scholarships this year. This is an outstanding scholarship program for our students as it is renewable. What a lasting tradition that has been funded since 1986 for our students.
The recommendation was setting the scholarships at $2,350 a piece. They are estimating 90 scholarships with 29 of those for seniors, and the remainder are renewals for freshmen - juniors. This number could go up if all the renewal that are being estimated don’t come in. | | | | |  | Rilynn Younker | |
 | LES Science Olympiad Team | |
 | LHS Science Olympiad Team | |
| | Looking ahead, we are excited about the spring activities starting to take shape across the district.
We had 5 LMS Wrestlers advance to the IESA State meet. 5th Graders Owen Pryor and Grayson Short 6th Graders Drake Beierman and Jayse Ellinger 7th Grader James Simmons 6th Grader Jayse Ellinger was a medalist placing 5th.
LMS Track has started and currently has around 80 athletes competing.
Spring sports have started at the high school as well. Boys and girls track and field have competed in 2 indoor meets at Eastern Illinois University and at Principia College. Baseball, softball, and girls soccer all begin games this week. The annual Panther Girls Soccer Classic will be held at LHS on March 31st, April 2nd, April 4th and April 5th. Please come out and support our athletes!
Our Musical, The Sound of Music, will be held from Thursday March 27th - Sunday March 30th.
Our younger students are also preparing for their spring concerts that will be held in late April and early May.
| | | Pattern Energy and The Shoals Renewables Presentation: Hunter Delor presented regarding Pattern Energy's Shoals Renewables Project. This is a proposed Wind Energy Project in Montgomery County. Pattern Energy has a history of giving back to communities where they have projects. The District will continue to meet with Pattern Energy as the project continues to see what benefits we could see in our District and Community.
School Improvement Plans – Winter Presentation: Each school leader presented updates on the improvement strategies that have been implemented over the winter. The key areas for growth are reading, math, and attendance. These plans are crucial as they directly impact our mission to enhance student learning and address areas needing growth. | | | National Reading Month Dr. McClain acknowledged that March is National Reading Awareness Month. This month, we celebrate the power of reading, which opens doors to new worlds and offers infinite opportunities for learning and imagination.
LCUSD12 is committed to fostering a love for reading in our students early on. Our classrooms have various books catering to varied interests and reading levels. We are also thankful for our close relationship with our public library, which allows our students to visit regularly and explore an even bigger world of reading. She encouraged all our families to join us in promoting reading at home by setting aside time each day for books. Listen and read with your child from an early age.
According to research from the National Education Association, having children read more than 20 minutes daily can significantly increase their likelihood of success in all academic areas. Specifically, students who read daily from an early age perform better on reading tests and acquire a larger vocabulary, more extensive general knowledge, and a better understanding of other cultures. Reading for pleasure also improves reading achievement, writing style, vocabulary, spelling, and grammatical development. Moreover, students who engage in daily reading score higher on standardized tests, demonstrating the broad impact of this simple practice on academic performance.
Reading is not just an essential skill for academic success; it is also a foundation for lifelong learning and critical thinking. Let us use this month to recommit ourselves to improving literacy and nurturing a deep, enduring passion for reading in our community.
ACCESS Testing Speaking of standardized tests, we are preparing for many Illinois tests in the coming month. One test we have completed is the Access test for our EL students. Illinois requires that all students in kindergarten through 12th grade who have been identified as English Learners take the state’s English language proficiency test each year. This test measures the student's ability to communicate in English for academic and social purposes within the school setting. Students are tested on their reading, writing, speaking, and listening proficiencies. Families and staff receive a yearly report on the student’s overall score for each language domain.
Dr. McClain thanked Mr. Favre for all of his work in completing these tests. He has to work with each of our students spread out across the district to complete the test. This is not an easy task. Because we do not have a formal EL program, he is our coordinator and works to ensure, with Mrs. Thompson, all the regulatory guidelines that ISBE has for our EL students. Thank you again, Mr. Favre. | | | Approve bills and Treasurer’s Report
Bills - Bills payable for March 2025 total $322,518.24.
From the Education fund: $221,953.25; of this total $13,260.03 is payable for SCI.
From Operations & Maintenance: $48,775.45.
From Transportation: $21,838.29.
From Capital Projects: $4,501.00.
From Tort: $25,450.25.
Treasurer’s Report:
Ending balance in all funds at February 28, 2025 is $16,571,386. Balance in operating funds is $13,778,405. Balance in Capital Projects is $1,264,094.
Early Graduation Requests: We have four students who have completed their requirements ahead of time. The Students will have met the state and district requirements to earn a high school diploma in December of 2025. They are requesting to graduate at that time. Mrs. Wagenblast and Mrs. Cress have reviewed their educational status and have forwarded their requests to the Board.
Annual Renewal of IHSA Membership: Our Illinois High School Association membership ensures that our students can participate in state-recognized athletic and academic events. This is vital for the development of sportsmanship and intellectual engagement.
2024-2025 Amended District Calendar: Due to a combination of eLearning Days and the use of Emergency Days, we will need to amend our school calendar. The final day of school is May 28th. | | | Hires: - Greg Urbanc as an Assistant High School Football Coach beginning the 2025-2026 school year.
- Megan Lee as a substitute aide for the Make It program effective immediately.
Volunteers: - Brian Vazzi as a Volunteer Coach to the Girls Soccer Program effective immediately.
- Logan Miller as a Volunteer Coach to the High School Football program beginning the 2025-2026 school year.
- Luke Davis as a Volunteer to the music department at Litchfield High School effective immediately.
Resignations: - Rocky Giannuzzi as the Fresh/Soph Boys Basketball Coach at the end of the 2024-2025 school term.
- Abby Carlson as Assistant Principal at Litchfield High School at the end of the 2024-2025 school term.
- Allison Bell as Special Education Teacher at Litchfield High School at the end of the 2024-2025 school term.
Transfers: - Voluntary transfer of Dylan Maxwell from paid assistant football coach to a volunteer coach beginning the 2025-2026 season.
- Voluntary transfer of Victoria Knoche, Middle and High School Health teacher to a Special Education teacher beginning the 2025-2026 school year.
- Voluntary transfer of Jessica Ball, Elementary Physical Education at Litchfield Elementary School to Elementary Physical Education and Middle School Health beginning the 2025-2026 school year.
- Voluntary transfer of Corey Waltz from Elementary Physical Education at Litchfield Early Childhood Center to Elementary Physical Education at both Litchfield Elementary School and Litchfield Early Childhood Center.
- Involuntary transfer of Vincent Fanelli, Elementary Physical Education at Litchfield Elementary School to High School Health and Physical Education teacher beginning the 2025-2026 school year.
- Involuntary transfer of Elizabeth Clark from Kindergarten teacher to 3rd grade Elementary Teacher beginning the 2025-2026 school year.
- Involuntary transfer of Shea Murray from 1st grade teacher to 5th grade Elementary Teacher beginning the 2025-2026 school year.
Administrator Contracts/Placements: Agreement for Administrator Reimbursement and Placement 2025-2026 administrative contracts and assignments for:
- Mrs. Jennifer Thompson- Director of Curriculum & Instruction/ Special Education Liaison
- Mrs. Hilary Wagenblast- Principal of Litchfield High School
- Mr. Adam Favre- Principal of Litchfield Early Childhood Center
- Mrs. Juletta Ellis – Administrator of the South Central Illinois Regional Workforce Training Center
FMLA:
2 FMLA requests were approved by the Board
| | Next month’s Board of Education meeting will be held on April 18th at the Unit Office beginning at 6:00 pm. | |  | Dr. McClain, LCUSD12 Superintendent https://www.lcusd12.org/ |
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