Members of the Community Unit School District 7 Board of Education on Monday night voted to accept a new three-year union contract covering the district’s non-certificated workers. In other action, the board learned the district may responsible for additional fees in the near future to send students to the South Central Illinois Workforce Training and Innovation Center in Litchfield, and reviewed a tentative calendar for the upcoming 2026-27 school year.

The non-certificated contract approval followed a 40-minute executive session during which board members discussed personnel, collective bargaining and other issues.

The new contract becomes effective on July 1, and bumps non-certificated employees up by one step on the salary schedule, and includes a $1,500 longevity provision for long-time employees who have reached the top tier in the step system. Additionally the contract provides a three percent wage increase for non-certificated personnel in the district’s Birth to Three program.

The contract also includes an additional $150 clothing allowance for cooks and custodians. Custodians are to wear matching polos, while cafeteria staff are required to wear chef’s coats. The new contract now requires six-hour cafeteria workers to hold a food managers license rather than a food handlers license.

With the new contract, the school district will pick up 90 percent of the cost of health insurance premiums for each employee, with the employee being responsible for the remaining 10 percent.

Both certificated and non-certificated employees are represented by the Illinois Federation of Teachers, though both groups have separate contracts. The non-certificated contract includes a sick day buyout and a perfect attendance bonus that matches the contract for certificated employees.

Supt. Shane Owsley told the board the contract negotiations were cordial and productive. He specifically thanked custodian Neil Balzraine, who serves as president of the union local, and paraprofessional Theresa Carter for their professionalism during the negotiations.

“I know it’s kind of a thankless job and a lot of work with no compensation other than the contract,” Owsley noted. “I want to thank you for being respectful and kind, and for being understanding to come up with a contract that not only benefits the employees but also the school district.”

“We are happy to come to terms on a new contract with the CUSD 7 school board,” said Balzraine, reading from a prepared statement. “Our negotiations were cordial, efficient and most productive. We look forward to this atmosphere of negotiations in the future.”

POTENTIAL SCI FEES

Supt. Owsley briefly advised the board regarding the potential for the school district incurring additional fees in the near future to continue participation in the South Central Illinois (SCI) Workforce Training and Innovation Center.

The three-year-old facility, located in Litchfield, was launched with state grant funds but Owsley said those grants are expiring necessitating alternative revenue to keep the facility in operation. With an annual budget of about $624,000, SCI serves students from school districts in Macoupin and Montgomery counties, offering classes in construction trades, automotive mechanics, and other vocational concentrations. 

Owsley, who serves as SCI’s Board of Governors Board of Directors, said the governing body has discussed the possibility of charging a per student tuition to send students to SCI or assessing a participation fee for each participating school district. The later option could run in the neighborhood of $16,000 per year.

“I just wanted you to know this may be coming,” Owsley said.

Gillespie High School Principal Jill Rosentreter said nearly 30 students are attending SCI classes this year. She had no estimate regarding the number of students attending SCI over the past three years but she suggested having the option to attend vocational training is important, especially for students who are not college-bound and intend to enter the workforce immediately after high school. 

Underwritten by the Laborers Union, SCI’s construction trades course qualifies students for union membership upon completion. Students studying automotive mechanics graduate from the program with the qualifications to work at automotive dealerships or other employers. In addition, SCI offers training in sports medicine and plans to add a sports marketing component in the near future.

DISTRICT FOCUS

During a District Focus segment, the board recognized students Emily Bergen and Lucas Rosenthal, both of whom were recently designated as Illinois State Scholars by the Illinois Student Assistance Commission. The recognition is based on academic performance and SAT scores. Only about ten percent of Illinois seniors earn the State Scholar designation.

“This is a very high honor,” said GHS Principal Jill Rosentreter. “They were the only two out of our senior class this year.”

The board also recognized students who won spelling bees at the local level and went onto compete in the Regional Office of Education’s regional spelling bee.

Those advancing to regional competition were Ryder Costello, fourth grade; Charlotte Gotchell, fifth grade; Chaysen Thomas, sixth grade; Gunner Koniak, seventh grade; and Ryan Helmkamp, eighth grade. Costello went on the place fourth in the regional competition.

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PERSONNEL

In separate actions, the board voted unanimously to extend the contracts of High School Principal Jill Rosentreter, Middle School Principal Patrick McGinthy and Assistant Principal Tara Cooper by one year each. All three administrators work under a three-year contract, meaning their new contracts will expire in 2029-30.

Supt. Owsley pointed out that Elementary Principal Angela Sandretto was not offered an extension because of her upcoming retirement. With two years left in her contract, Sandretto has announced she will retire at the end of the 2028-29 school year.

Board members voted unanimously to accept the resignation of high school social studies teacher Alex Jasper, effective at the end of the current school year, and to post the position as vacant.

The board also accepted the resignation of Jody Dunn as BenGil Elementary School yearbook editor at the end of this school year, and to post the position as vacant.

The board voted unanimously to update the effective date of title teacher Dana Tieman’s retirement from the end of the 2027-28 school year to the end of the 2026-27 school year.

In other personnel action, the board voted to post positions for an elementary school teacher and a high school special education teacher for the upcoming 2026-27 academic year.

SCHOOL CALENDAR

The board placed on first reading a tentative calendar for the 2026-27 school year. Though subject to change, the calendar schedules teacher institute days on Aug. 11 and Aug. 12, followed by the first day of student attendance on Thursday, Aug. 13. The last day of student attendance could be as early as May 12 if no emergency days are used during the academic year. School would end on May 20 if all emergency days are used, or on May 21 if the General Assembly approves legislation requiring school districts to deem Election Day as a school holiday.

A parent-teacher flex day set for Monday, Nov. 2, also is contingent upon legislation requiring Election Day to be a holiday. If no legislation is passed regarding Election Day, both Nov. 2 and Nov. 3 will be student attendance days.

Otherwise the calendar is similar to past years. There will be no school for any of the major holiday observances—Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veterans Day, Martin Luther King Day and Presidents Day. School improvement days with no student attendance are set for  Oct. 23, Jan. 4, and Feb. 12. Winter break is tentatively set form Dec. 23 through Jan. 3. Spring break is anticipated March 25-29.

Early dismissals are set Oct. 21 and 22 for evening parent-teacher conferences, and for the end of the first quarter on Oct. 16, end of the first semester on Dec. 22, and end of the third quarter on March 12. Early dismissals are at 1:45 p.m. The last day of student attendance also will be an early dismissal day.

The calendar is subject to change prior to the start of the 2026-27 school year.

OTHER ACTION

In other action, the board:

• Entered into an agreement with public accountants Loy Miller Talley, P.C. at a cost not to exceed $20,250.

• Agreed to declare as surplus and offer for sale for following items: stainless steel single oven; stainless steel double oven; stainless steel range; 88-passenger 2008 Thomas school bus with 152,345 miles; 77-passenger 2008 Thomas bus with 124,897 miles; 77-passenger 2003 Freightliner bus with 152,282 miles; and a 1979 GMC Sierra Grande 35 pick-up truck with 157,985 miles.

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