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New Elementary School named at Board Meeting Monday Night

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School board members listended to the building principals.

A main concern throughout the community has been what the name of the new school is going to be. There has been much debate about this topic because many community members still would like it named “Benld Elementary”, but that could get confusing since the school is in Gillespie. On Monday night, September 26, the school board reached a decision on the name after no discussion at all. School board president Mark Hayes said, “Matt Turcol and I discussed what it should be before his death. Matt told me that it does not have to have Benld in it since it will be in Gillespie, but I went on to tell him that is not the point. After Matt and I were discussing it, we came up with the name Ben-Gil.” With no objections from any school board member, the name ‘Ben-Gil Elementary’ was approved 5-0 after no discussion. The mascot will still be the Tiger and the school will continue to use the same school colors of orange and royal blue.

The board also updated the public on the damage done to the modular buildings. Architect Tom Hyde gave the current report. “There has been some activities that occurred this weekend. An area of the building about the size of a foot collapsed last Thursday. No injuries were reported,” said Tom Hyde. After inspection of the building on September 19 by Tom Hyde, Paul Skeans and Rob Graham, the trio had came across a weak floor in the janitor closet. Hyde contacted M-Space on Monday to inspect the building about the weak spots in the floor and M-Space responded within one week. M-Space replaced eight of the issues last weekend, but 20 places needed to be addressed. The crew of 8 will replace the reaming spots this weekend.

Hyde displays a video covering the new elementary school.

The reason these weak spots are occurring is the floor is directly above the Earth and there may be condensation occurring. There is no rock or no cement under the modulars, it is just dirt. “M-Space may add more fans to alleviate the moisture and may put down a new barrier on the ground. The issues with the plywood has occurred prior to building arriving in Gillespie,” Hyde stated. The plywood does not deteriorate over night and appears that the damage has occurred at the buildings’ previous site or in storage. All the buildings were inspected and refurbished in Indiana before arriving to the site behind the Gillespie Middle School. M-Space is repairing the worst spots first and will repair the others in the future.

Hyde went on the present a video covering the new school. Hyde’s video was a 3D video that displayed what the future school will look like. All wings will have geothermal heat. Hyde explained that the building will be built in Gillespie Red Brick. Each classroom will have two windows and are designed to let natural light in the classrooms as well as accompany a light shelf that will reflect light into the classrooms. The glass is translucent rather than clear to cut back on panels of glass. The roof will be metal and will be sloped as well in all places besides the gymnasium. The gym roof will be sloped, but at very minimal angle. In other business, the school voted to start accepting bids on the foundation, structural steel and building bid package.

In other new business, the school board received the FSY 2012 audit. “Another year with no findings,” Superintendent Skeans advised. This will mark the tenth straight year the school has not received any findings. The school board also approved liability insurance for FSY 2012. The school board approved Schmale Insurance Agency’s premium of $153,504 for the school year. The bid was the lowest bid submitted to the district this year.

Skeans read the letter from Litchfield School District.

Under personnel matters, the school board hired eighth grade math teacher Matt Brawner as freshman boy’s basketball coach. This will be Brawner first time coaching basketball, but Brawner did monitor practice sessions during last year’s basketball season. Members of the school board also voted to accept the resignation of custodian Dave Simmons. The resignation was effective on September 26 and the position was authorized for posting after a 5-0 vote. The board also recommended a post for a district special education resource instructor for FSY 2012.

The school board approved payment of the September bills:

  • Education Fund: $77,735.54
  • Building Fund: $99,049.79
  • Transportation Fund: $9,444.12
  • Site & Construction Fund: $148,501.56
  • Grand Total of all Bills: $334,727.01

Building principals then updated the board on 6th day enrollment, which is the benchmark for student information data.”These are official numbers we use to give to the State of Illinois that drives money back into the district in terms of how many students that are legally and properly enrolled in the district,” said Superintendent Paul Skeans.

  • Benld Elementary (Grand Total: 581 + 40 Pre-K)
    1. Pre-K: 40
    2. Kindergarten: 88
    3. 1st Grade: 94
    4. 2nd Grade: 110
    5. 3rd Grade: 95
    6. 4th Grade: 102
    7. 5th Grade: 92
    8. Students in other districts: 22
  • Middle School (Grand Total: 288)
    1. 6th Grade: 85
    2. 7th Grade: 85
    3. 8th Grade: 110
    4. Students in other districts: 8
  • The 3D image of the top of the new elementary school.

    High School (Grand Total: 382)

    1. Freshman: 94
    2. Sophomore: 113
    3. Juniors: 81
    4. Seniors: 73
    5. Special Needs: 15
    6. Students in other districts: 6

Then the school principals updated the board on activities in each building:

Mr. Dennis Tiburzi, GHS Principal, reported a 96.3% attendance rate for the month of August. Tiburzi went on to state that Mrs. Brown obtained a grant from the Dollar General Literacy Foundation in the amount of $1,300.00. The funds will be used to purchase Star Math which is a program used to assess student’s needs in Math. In sports, volleyball is undefeated in conference, football is 4-1, soccer defeated Vandalia, and cross country participants are doing well.

Lori Emmons announced homework help has begun in the middle school. Feedback from teachers, parents, and students is positive. Emmons went on to state the first meeting for PTO was September 21 and noted that there is a need for parents to join and help with fundraisers. In sports, baseball lost 1-0 in extra innings in the regional championship, and girls basketball will start this Thursday.

Angela Turcol, BES Principal, advised the board that the title parent night is scheduled for September 28. The fall assembly will be given by Louann Brown as she introduces her new book: How to Create Spectacular Halloween Costumes. Turcol also stated that the family literacy night was very successful with over 206 students in attendance along with their parents.

Skeans closed with a letter he received from Litchfield. The letter was from the board of education and it was a survey whether our district would be interested in combining and joining the high school populous in the future. The elementary and middle school would not be joining, but only the high school with Litchfield and any other school willing to join. Litchfield expressed their concern about educational excellence along with their mission. The letter was strictly a survey if the district was interested and no action would be taken. The board opted to table the survey request for a future meeting.

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School board accepts financial report, wrestles with rising insurance costs

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Ken Loy, an auditor with Loy Miller Talley Certified Public Accountants, Alton, presented highlights of the financial report for the fiscal year that ended June 30 this year.

Members of the Community Unit School District 7 Board of Education voted on Monday night to accept the district’s annual financial report and audit, and agreed to drop $5 million in mine subsidence coverage in an effort to mitigate against rising commercial insurance premiums.

Ken Loy, an auditor with Loy Miller Talley Certified Public Accountants, Alton, presented highlights of the financial report for the fiscal year that ended June 30 this year. Loy said the auditors provided a “clean opinion” overall for the district’s procedures for accounting, tracking financial information and maintaining internal controls. State law requires the auditors to render opinions in three specific areas, including an opinion on overall auditing standards and an opinion on internal control compliance within each of the district’s major programs. Additionally, the auditors were required to present on opinion on the district’s handling of federal funds, which exceeded $3.4 million last fiscal year.

“You have three reports with three clean opinions,” Loy said.

The financial report also includes a financial profile assessment required by state law. Loy said the profile, determined through calculations for five different ratios, is 3.7 out of 4.0 for the past fiscal year. The “Recognition” status is the state’s highest category for school districts.

“Most districts have been on the ‘Watch List’ and Gillespie has been on the ‘Watch List’ in past years,” Loy commented. “But you’re at the top of the ladder now and have been for the past two years.” Loy said Gillespie had a perfect score in four of the five categories used to determine financial status but fell short in the area of long-term debt.

“Your long-term debt is a little on the high side,” Loy said, largely because of financial liabilities the district incurred after the loss of Benld Elementary School due to mine subsidence.

The report shows the district having $11,460,000 in long-term debt, requiring annual debt service payments of $1.1 million to $1.2 million. Additionally, the district has $639,711 in lease liabilities for equipment such as school buses.

Comparing revenue to expenditures, the district took in more money than it spent in all for two funds, where budgeted spending deficits were covered with existing surplus funds.

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The financial report documents a property tax for last fiscal year at $3.49 per $100 in equalized assessed valuation. At the same time, the district’s total equalized assessed valuation was set at $103,564,334, up from $87,198,959 two years ago.

“The last three years, you’ve had some pretty big increases in equalized assessed valuation of six to eight percent,” Loy commented. “That’s a lot different from a few years ago when it was 2.7 to three percent.”

 The document reports the cost of educating one student for one year at $8,892, which is what the district would charge as tuition for an out-of-district student. The average daily attendance was 1,005, which is up from 996 the previous year, but still shy of 1,028 for 1,100 before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Loy characterized the school’s overall financial condition as stable.

“You’ve had three or four pretty good years in a row that helps offset some of the bad years you had in the past from about 2016 to 2020,” Loy said.

COMMERCIAL INSURANCE DEBATE

On a motion by Amanda Ross, seconded by Peyton Bernot, the board voted to renew a commercial insurance policy with Wright Speciality with some modifications to the company’s original proposal. The action followed several minutes of debate as the board wrestled with substantive increases in premiums.

Athletic Director Jeremy Smith addressed the board with an end-of-season report.

The policy covers general liability, property damage, crime, vehicles and workers compensation, along with additional coverage for mine subsidence. While premiums for coverage in most areas were similar to the previous year, the premium for property damaged jumped nearly $40,000 from $105,821 to $142,444. Supt. Shane Owsley said the increase was due to the insurer’s experience with paying out weather-related claims over the past year. Additionally, the company proposed reducing the district’s deductible for wind and hail damage from 10 percent to 1 percent.

The total premium for standard coverage came in at $261,238, compared with $219,888 last year.

Additionally, the district purchased mine subsidence insurance for $124,189 for the first $10 million in coverage, plus $48,852 for the next $5 million and $44,175 for yet another $5 million in coverage. Essentially, the district was paying $217,216 for a total of $20 million in mine subsidence coverage.

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Owsley said the district could shave $5,893 from the standard policy premium pay upping the deductible to $15,000 for all perils excluding wind and hail.

“I’d love to keep all the insurance, but you’d be looking at about $50,000 in additional premiums,” Owsley said. “I don’t have any good answers for you.” Owsley proposed increasing the deductible from $10,000 to $15,000, dropping $5 million in subsidence coverage, and purchasing additional “gap” coverage for about $50,000 for wind and hail coverage.

Owsley noted that a castrophic loss due to mine subsidence, as when Benld Elementary School was a total loss, is unlikely. Moreover, $20 million in coverage would not be nearly enough to cover a total loss of one of the district’s classroom buildings. Mine tunnels under the newly constructed BenGil Elementary School were injected with concrete before the school was built, but portions of the High School/Middle School are undermined and subject to mine subsidence damage.

“When you drive around this area in the country, you see a lot of sinks,” Weye Schmidt commented.

Owsley said he’d been advised that it’s not a question of wthether or not the district will experience mine subsidence damage at some point but rather “when” that damage will occur.

Bernot agreed $20 million would not be enough to cover a catastrophic loss and if such a thing were to happen, the district would be forced to return to the legislature for funding to replace a school. Additionally, the amount of money the district can levy is limited by tax caps, meaning the district cannot levy enough in property tax to cover the increase in premiums.

“Where would that money come from?” Bernot asked.

“It would have to come from our reserves,” Owsley replied.

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Bernot commented that he’d be comfortable with eliminating $5 million in subsidence coverage to reduce premium costs.

The approved plan—with $15 million in mine subsidence coverage, a $5,000 boost in the deductible, and the addition of gap coverage for wind and hail—will total $475,386, compared with $421,976 the district paid last year.

ATHLETIC REPORT

Athletic Director Jeremy Smith addressed the board with an end-of-season report, which included an extensive discussion regarding to the future of the district’s soccer program. Previously, the district was part of a coop with Litchfield High School to field enough players tor a team, but Smith reported Litchfield recently dropped out of the coop.

“I’ve reached out to local schools to see if they would coop with us,” Smith said. “They’re not really interested, mainly because, with our enrollment, it would put them up into the next class.”

The district could resume a soccer program as a parent-supported sport, according to Smith and Owsley. However, the Litchfield program became a school-supported sport two years ago, meaning Gillespie soccer parents have not been active for the past two years. Owsley said a goal would be to recruit at least 18 players, at a cost of about $10,000 per player—meaning parents would have to raise about $180,000 to fund the program. Owsley was optimistic about recruiting 18 players because younger players have been reluctant to join the program because they could not drive themselves to Litchfield.

The district currently sends six players to Litchfield.

Smith said he is awaiting results from a survey of students to gauge the level of interest in a local program. In the meantime, GHS Principal Jill Rosentreter said soccer parents are “anxious” about what direction the school will take. She said she and Smith are making an effort to keep parents informed as the local district works toward a resolution.

Smith also introduced a sports webpage which can be accessed via the school district’s webpage. The new website includes a sports calendar, schedules, and information about Sports Hall of Fame inductees. Smith said parents can even set up a personal account through the page which will ensure they receive emails regarding schedule changes, cancellations and other information.

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PERSONNEL

Following a one-hour executive session, the board voted to post a vacancy for an elementary Social/Emotional Learning coordinator, and voted to hire Kelly Helen as a district custodian.

In other action, the board accepted the resignation of Jay Weber as head coach for the parent-funded middle school cross-country program, and hired Trae Wargo as the seventh grade basketball coach.

The board accepted the resignation of Alexis Ollis as the GMS/GHS head cook and posted a vacancy for the position. Board members also voted to hire Amy Costello as a three-hour part-time cafeteria worker, pending a background check, and voted to post a vacancy for a six-hour part-time cafeteria worker.

CEO FUNDING

In other action, the board accepted Owsley’s recommendation to make a $3,000 investment in the county’s Creating Entrepreneurial Opportunitites (CEO) program, payable in three $1,000 annual increments. CEO board chairman Scott Reichman made the request last month during a District Focus segment.

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Elementary school earns ‘Exemplary’ designation from state; Middle, High schools earn ‘Commendable’

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Ben-Gil Elementary School (photo/Ben-Gil Elementary)

The Illinois State Board of Education has recognized all three Gillespie Community Unit School District #7 schools with top designations, marking an outstanding achievement for the district.

Ben-Gil Elementary School has earned the prestigious “Exemplary” designation, placing it among the top 10 percent of elementary schools in Illinois, while both Gillespie High School and Gillespie Middle School have earned “Commendable” designations.

The Exemplary designation is awarded to the highest-performing schools in the state, while the Commendable designation recognizes schools that have no underperforming student groups, a graduation rate greater than 67 percent, and whose performance ranks in the top 90 percent of schools statewide.

“This is a proud moment for the entire community,” said Superintendent Shane Owsley. “This designation is a sign of the hard work, time and dedication put in by the students, staff and community members of CUSD #7.”

All three schools demonstrated strong performance across multiple academic indicators, including:

  • Student academic achievement
  • Student academic progress
  • English language proficiency progress
  • Chronic absenteeism
  • Graduation rates (High School)

Ben-Gil Elementary’s Exemplary status places it in an elite category of Illinois schools, while the Commendable designations for the middle and high schools reflect the district’s consistent commitment to educational excellence across all grade levels.

This district-wide achievement highlights Gillespie CUSD #7’s success in maintaining high educational standards and ensuring every student has the opportunity to succeed, from elementary through high school.

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Police search for suspects after robbery at Besserman Superbowl

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A screenshot of the suspects involved in the break-in from the business’s security system. (photo/Besserman Superbowl Facebook)

Police in Gillespie are searching for at least two people involved in an early morning break-in and robbery that happened early Wednesday at Besserman Superbowl.

The bowling alley said on their Facebook page the incident occurred around 2:30 a.m. on Wednesday, October 23. The suspects compromised the ATM and a gaming machine. The business’s security measures and a quick response from the Gillespie Police Department limited the suspects time inside the establishment to under 10 minutes but substantial damage was sustained.

Temporary repairs were made quickly and normal business hours were not interrupted for Besserman Superbowl but no arrests have been made. Anyone with information about the incident or the individuals involved are urged to contact the Gillespie Police Department at 217-839-2922.

“We appreciate the outpouring of support from our patrons, friends, and family in response to the break-in yesterday morning,” Besserman Superbowl posted on their Facebook page. “We value your loyalty and anticipate serving you soon at our renowned bowling alley and friendly community hub.”

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