Home school athletic participation change approved

ROCHELLE — At its monthly meeting Monday, the Rochelle Township High School District Board of Education recognized the district's upcoming retirees. The six retirees have a total of 165 years of service between them. 

They include Marilyn Zickur (bus driver, 10 years), Sherri Smith (transportation director, 25 years), Ronda Threlkeld (bus driver, 36 years), Vicki Snyder-Chura (secretary/special projects, 37 years), Sue Sage (Focus House teacher, 19 years) and Laurie Pillen (counselor, 38 years). 

"I want to say thanks to our retiring staff members," Superintendent Jason Harper said. "Among these retirees, there's a lot of longevity and institutional knowledge. And a lot of just great service on behalf of our students and community."

Home school

The board unanimously approved updated language to its full-time home school guidelines for participation in RTHS athletics to meet a new IHSA state mandate.

Harper said home-schooled students in the district will now be required to take one course at RTHS. The district's policy previously had no requirement for home-schooled students to take any courses at RTHS to participate in athletics. Harper and RTHS Principal Chris Lewis said the change has been presented to parents of students who will be affected. 

"Regionally speaking, we were one of the few districts in the area with that type of policy and many require three periods a day or something to that effect," Harper said. "We just adjusted our policy based on the feedback we got from parents and the board and based on conversations with the IHSA to meet the mandate so our students can continue to compete in IHSA-sponsored events. If we didn't adhere to this policy, our students would have become ineligible."

Glass

The board unanimously approved a bid of $65,900 from CoolVu of Northern Illinois to retrofit glass in the building with a safety film. The CoolVu bid was the lowest of three.

Bus

The board unanimously approved the extension of the lease on a current Hub bus with low mileage for three more years at a cost of $8,970 per year.

Employment

The board unanimously approved personnel changes including the resignation of Alison Vrana as head girls track coach, the retirements of Snyder-Chura and Kristin Flanagan (end of 2026-2027 school year), the employment of Trevor Stoos (substitute teacher, summer school) and Jonathon Gehm (social studies teacher, 2023-2024 school year).

End of year

Lewis presented his principal's report portion of the meeting and detailed end-of-year operations. Graduation will be held at 10 a.m. on May 27 outside on the football field weather permitting. Summer school will begin at RTHS on May 31.

Notices

During the notices and communications portion of the meeting, Harper said the board of education will meet at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 20 for its regular meeting next month instead of June 19 due to it being a state holiday.

A vacancy on the board has become available following the resignation of Board Member Jacky Aguilera. Board member requirements and applications are available at the Shared District Business Office or online at www.rthsd212.org under Our District, Board of Education, Board Vacancy.