At its monthly meeting Tuesday, the Rochelle Elementary School District Board of Education heard a district facility update from District Business Manager Kevin Dale.
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ROCHELLE — At its monthly meeting Tuesday, the Rochelle Elementary School District Board of Education heard a district facility update from District Business Manager Kevin Dale.
Dale said at the board's next meeting in February, bids will be considered for a addition/renovation project and an asbestos abatement project at Tilton Elementary School. Pre-bid meetings were recently held for each project. Seven companies attended the asbestos project meeting. Dale said there were 31 attendees for the Tilton addition/renovation project pre-bid meeting. Both bid openings will take place within the next month and Dale said he's encouraged by the interest by bidders.
"I'm hoping we'll have a lot of good competitive bids and that's a positive sign for what those bids will be," Dale said.
The district has timelines in place for the work at Tilton School. Once bids are approved in February, outdoor work could begin as early as April at the school. The project will start on the inside of the school as soon as the school year ends (June 2).
"The whole project timeline will be done before school starts on Aug. 26," Dale said. "So it's a pretty tight timeline. The contractors have a lot of questions, but we're keeping it within the guidelines of what we need to do to get this done without disrupting the schools. We're trying to make this as smooth as possible."
At its meeting in June, the board unanimously approved a resolution to issue a maximum of $11,163,432 in general obligation school bonds for renovations at Tilton Elementary School and possible future work at its other schools.
The June approval was the culmination of a months-long process of securing funding for the Tilton work. The district is currently in the process of $14-16 million worth of needed renovations at Tilton School after finding in a health life safety evaluation that an estimated $7.9 million worth of work is required at the school for those issues. Health life safety concerns the physical safety of the building for students and staff to occupy. Tilton School was built in 1949. Along with funding from bonds, the district is utilizing $6-8 million from its reserves for other improvements involving security and spatial concerns including pick-up and drop-off areas. The work will be done in a three-year plan.
For longer-term plans at Tilton School, the district is tying in health life safety needs with recommended security enhancements and staff needs and wants, namely limited space in the building. The district has looked at designs and ideas with various options for the facelift of the existing building and additional space to be added in an expansion with additional classrooms, multi-purpose room, gym, library and music room space, ADA accessibility, technology and climate control.
Ten-year health life safety evaluations for the district's other buildings besides Tilton (Rochelle Middle School, Lincoln Elementary School and Central School) are underway to assess their needs, Dale said.
RMS
The board heard an update on RMS from Principal Jordan Young and Assistant Principal Katie Smith during the meeting.
Young said RMS has goals of five percent growth in academics in math and English language arts scores and a five percent drop in behavioral issues this year. School faculty meets regularly to review progress towards those goals. RMS also recently saw growth on its state report card from 2023 to 2024 and made its way closer to exemplary status.
"We hope that continues and we continue to strive to make that happen," Young said. "That is a compliment to our staff and the hard work they're doing to stay on pace, review curriculum, put things in place and try new practices to reach the kids and grow the kids as best and as fast as they can."
Cardiac
The board unanimously approved unique cardiac emergency response plans for each of its buildings during the meeting. Back in October, the board heard a report on the district's cardiac response planning from District Nurse Joelle Builta, who has been working to bring the district in line with new state legislation, House Bill 5394, which deals with schools' preparation for potential cardiac events. Cardiac response planning includes training for all staff on hands-only CPR.
Cardiac response teams have been selected for each school at the elementary school district that include someone certified in CPR, someone certified in Stop the Bleed, and someone ready to assist in an emergency.
The cardiac response plan will be disseminated throughout each school and evaluated each year with training conducted. The district has new automated external defibrillators this year, including some that can be taken to away sporting events and field trips.
Personnel
The board unanimously approved personnel changes including the employment of certified employees including Marissa Lopez (second grade teacher, fiscal year 2026) and Holli Rapp (third grade teacher, fiscal year 2026) and the transfer of certified employees including Kim Lumzy (.2 full-time equivalent sixth grade English language arts), Anna Maria Martin (.2 full-time equivalent sixth grade English as a second language) and Jennifer Gonzalez (special education, RMS).
The board also unanimously approved support staff personnel changes including the employment of Yan Guo (district substitute paraprofessional) and Alicia Jones (paraprofessional, Central) and the resignation of Josie Kuss (executive assistant).