Okawville Board of Education Sets Future Meeting Dates

By Alex Johannes

The West Washington County Community Unit School District #10 Board of Education met on the evening of August 24, 2017 for their regular monthly meeting.

The first item on the agenda, regarded a recent issue with the fire alarms in the building.

The fire alarms went off every five minutes, but were temporarily fixed due to the fact that when the alarms went off, the police and fire departments were contacted.

A panel had shorted a component of the system and every alarm was individually tested over the course of three days.

Next on the agenda, the board unanimously voted to lend $11,160.50 towards this year’s insurance payment.

After receiving state or local funding, the money will go back to the school.

The date for next month’s tentative budget hearing is set for Thursday. September 28 at 7:45 p.m. prior to the regular monthly meeting.

Positive remarks about the first week of school and the eclipse viewing were the main topics of the Principal’s Report.

For the first week of school, students were dismissed at 1:30 in the afternoon every day to ease into the new school year for both the students and teachers.

Leon Spinka, Okawville Grade School Principal, stated that the students and teachers were well prepared for the viewing of the solar eclipse last Monday.

Spinka stated that everything was conducted in a very safe manner, and was well received from the public.

The school enrollment for grades Kindergarten through sixth grade increased to 247 students, compared to last year’s enrollment of 265 students.

The enrollment for early childhood development classes and pre-school classes are 10 total students and 24 total students, respectively.

Okawville Junior/Senior High School Principal, Keith Senior also had positive remarks about the start of the school year.

A big goal that Senior and his staff have set for the Junior/Senior High School students is “getting kids ready for the next level.”

Senior concluded with a report of the number of dual credit classes that are offered through Kaskaskia College to high school students.

There are currently eleven dual credit classes offered to students, with the possibility of the twelfth class in the future.

Future dates for school board meetings in November and December were set.

The November school board meeting will take place on the evening of Monday, November 20th at 7:30.

The December school board meeting will take place on the evening of Thursday, December 21st at 7.

As a result of the closed session of the meeting, the Board of Education approved the hiring of Michelle Reichmann as an aide for the 2017-2018 school year in early childhood.