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Peotone School Board Approves Summer Projects
By Andrea Arens A whole lot of projects are getting done. After good news, the Peotone School Board didn’t hesitate to approve more than $766K worth of improvement projects in less than 30 minutes. Connor Shaw Center will get new carpet installed in rooms 207 and 208 for $11,985.38, plus Marquez Painting also will paint…
New Principal for Peotone Elementary
By Andrea Arens Peotone Elementary School will have a new principal for the 2024-2025 school year. Christina Lewis was hired at the January 17 board meeting. Lewis has 16 years in education and previously served as an Assistant Principal at a junior high. Lewis replaces Carol Zurales, who is moving up to Assistant Superintendent. Beyond…
Peotone School Board Approves Tax Levy
By Andrea Arens Several Peotone School Board meetings and presentations were held prior to approval of the 2023 tax levy. The final tax hearing was held, and there was no commentary, with the levy approved unanimously thereafter. Inflation was higher than the property tax extension limitation law of 5 percent, so the district requested the…
207-U Votes For Intention to Take $10.9M in Bonds
By Andrea Arens The Peotone School Board voted in favor of declaring an intention to issue $10.9M in working cash fund bonds. Only one board member, Tim Stoub, voted no. The funds will give the district the money necessary to replace the HVAC system at PES, build a baseball, softball, and soccer field complex at…
Battle of the Books at the Board Meeting
By Andrea Arens Books were the topic for four individuals during public comment at the August 21 Peotone School Board meeting. Three of those four individuals were Peotone High School English teachers. The same subject of books was addressed back in May, when parent Mark Varboncoeur brought it to the attention of the board that…
Letter to Ed: Chisausky
Dear Editor: I just watched the Peotone School Board meeting from August 21 and am horrified by what I saw. Multiple English teachers spoke about a situation at the school where books they have been teaching are now being challenged as inappropriate. Three of my children attended Peotone schools, and I always was pleased with…
Peotone School Board Votes to End Summer Reading
By Andrea Arens At the last school board meeting in May, a parent addressed the board with concerns about the required summer reading for incoming freshman. The books referenced had violent and sexually suggestive themes. Of which, that parent, said 13- and 14-year-olds should not be required to read. Flash forward to this month’s meeting…
Three More Threats After Board Approves Cameras
By Andrea Arens Two more similar threats were found on both Monday, May 15, and Tuesday, May 16, after one was found the previous week. Both said almost exactly the same thing and had the same handwriting, “Shooting May 24,” but they were at different schools. Monday night’s threat was found at Peotone Junior High,…
Park District and School Boards Discuss Expenses
By Andrea Arens A 90-minute meeting between the Peotone Park District Board and the Peotone School District Board resulted in a verbal commitment to continue discussions and form a committee to recreate an IGA between the two taxing bodies. The Park District actually initiated the conversation back in February, when it sent a letter to…
School Board Approves Union Contract; Discusses Boiler Leak
By Andrea Arens At a special board meeting on April 24, the Peotone School Board approved the union contract but not unanimously. Board member Tim Stoub asked if the finance committee had a chance to look at the annual financial impact of the Union Teachers Contract. Board President Tara Robinson said the contract had been…
Attendees Shed Light on Hot Topics at Peotone School Board Meeting
By Andrea Arens Two visitors took the opportunity to speak and both brought up some important topics of conversation. Nicole Green addressed the board asking them to consider allowing homeschooled children to participate in extracurricular sports. Currently, Peotone does not allow homeschooled children to participate. Green pointed out that Manteno does, with stipulations. Both the…
School Board Approves Cameras at High School
By Andrea Arens The March 13 board meeting included the approval of an expense parents will appreciate: security cameras. In the past few years, there have been several shooting threats at Peotone High School, and the high school was not equipped with cameras. A grandparent attended last month’s board meeting to plead the board for…
Peotone School Board Bits
By Andrea Arens The Peotone School Board meeting was business as usual. Three board members, Dawn Love, Tim Stoub, and Jennifer Moe were absent. The milk contract was approved. There’s a $0.02 increase per half pint. The asbestos abatement bid for Peotone Intermediate Center came in at $42,300 and was unanimously approved. Work will be…
Routine Board Meeting Produces Interesting Tidbits
By Andrea Arens A routine monthly Peotone School Board meeting produced nothing earth shattering but a bunch of interesting tidbits the community might want to know. Business manager Adrian Fulgencio said the Consumer Price Index came in at 6.5 percent, which will allow the district to levy up to 5 percent. Elementary school principal Carol…
New Playground For Peotone Preschool
By Andrea Arens At Monday night’s Peotone School Board meeting, Special Services Director Amy Loy thanked the board for their vote in favor of a new preschool playground at Connor Shaw Center. A construction application was submitted to the State Board of Education, and the district was approved to use COVID relief money issued to…
Peotone School Board Approves Tentative Levy
By Andrea Arens Inflation will be over five percent for the first in 30 years, therefore allowing taxing bodies to increase their levies significantly. Property Tax Extension Limit Law caps taxing bodies at increasing the levy by five percent or inflation, whichever is less. Seniors and veterans can take advantage of freezes on their property…
School Board Receives Excellent Audit
By Andrea Arens Peotone School District received the district audit presentation at the October 17 meeting. In it, John Michalesko, CPA of Gassensmith & Michalesko, Ltd., said each fund for the district came in under budget. He reported there were a total of $17.5M in all funds and noted the district had $23.1M in revenue…
