The Board of Education promptly began their meeting at 7:00 p.m. on the evening of Tuesday, Mar. 20 in order to discuss several plans for the upcoming school year as the class of 2024 prepares to graduate.
Xochylt Montoya was honored for being the February Student of the Month, despite not being present in person to receive the award. She was selected due to her commitment to leadership in West Chicago and her outstanding contributions to Art Club, Alegria, and Latin Fever.
Senior Jayden Huesca-Rodriguez was additionally honored for her third straight qualification and placement for Girl’s State Wrestling in the IHSA. She is the first Girl’s Wrestling champion in West Chicago history.
“I am glad that I was part of IHSA girls wrestling, especially [after] becoming a state champ. I am really looking forward into seeing what WEGO women’s wrestling will bring,” Huesca-Rodriguez said.
Business Director Dan Oberg gave his scheduled financial update in which he assured the Board that the department budgets will generally stay the same as they are now, however, some additional funds will be allocated toward Special Education tuition and towards transportation funding.
District 94’s Director of Human Resources Julie Swartzloff also mentioned in her report to the Board the efforts of the Human Resources department to find and connect with potential candidates.
Dr. Will Dwyer, West Chicago Community High School’s principal highlighted in his report the upcoming LifeSmarts, Chess, and Wildcat Chronicle out-of-state trips which will occur during the month of April, and put a spotlight on the upcoming SAT and Illinois Science Assessment dates which will be held on April 18th and the 19th, respectively.
Jack Walsh, a senior, was March’s Student Board Representative, discussed several student matters during his speech, including voicing his support for Den time and congratulated numerous Wildcat athletes, such as the aforementioned Huesca-Rodriguez and senior Brady Johnson. He urged the Board of Education to consider adding more courses with Advanced and Honors weighting such that students who take electives do not have their GPAs hindered by pursuing their interests.
“It’s pretty sad that [wrestling season is] coming to an end. Wrestling [was] a big part of my high school years and it will stay in my heart forever. However, I am extremely grateful that the school gave me the opportunity with this sport,” Huesca-Rodriguez said.
Superintendent John Langton stressed the importance of school safety and discussed the methods the District put into action in order to make sure that WEGO remains a safe learning environment, including working with surveillance cameras and launching investigations into severe student discipline scenarios.
Following an approval of minutes from the past five Board of Education meetings (including open and closed sessions and special meetings), two representatives from Healthy West Chicago, a nonprofit organization which promotes healthy diet and lifestyle choices for West Chicago residents, gave a brief speech about the organization and requested $5,000 in funding annually over the next three years from the Board. The Board largely dissented and stressed that no funds could be given unless a spending agreement could be made by the April Regular Board of Education meeting.
Additionally, the Board voted on several different spending measures made in order to improve quality of life at WCCHS. In order of discussion, notable topics included:
- Increase in the price of summer school for the summer of 2024 from $50 to $100, as requested by Administration.
- Extension of an Andy Frain security contract, which would include a 3% raise in hourly wages for contracted staff.
- Purchase of vape detecting hardware from Security Systems Specialists in the amount of $12,015.17.
- Purchase of 541 Chromebooks (with an increase of memory from 4GB to 8GB) in the amount of $216,941.
- Contracting of Abbey Paving and Sealcoating in order to mill and re-surface the pool parking lot and a complete overhaul of the deteriorated Geneva Street student parking lot in the amount of $304,185.
“Unlike the parking lot by the pool, the Geneva parking lot will be a full-depth removal and replacement. Based on the size of the property lot lines, we were able to expand the parking lot by about 1 foot, which isn’t much, but we hope it provides a little more space for students to maneuver in the lot. Additionally, we are adding 3 lights on the East side of the parking lot to increase the safety of our students,” Oberg said.
