Though experiencing disruptions amid heavy storms and a tornado warning, the May meeting of the Waterloo School Board carried on Monday night with a trio of presentations and the first major step toward the future for Waterloo Junior High School.

Among the largest action items approved by the board was a project authorization between the district and FGM Architects for WJHS facility planning.

Waterloo Superintendent of Schools Brian Charron explained this project authorization was for $20,000 to explore the extent of maintenance needs at the school compared to construction of a new building.

FGM also extended the offer for a more full study, gauging not only the cost of maintenance but also the full projected cost of later maintenance on the new building as well as other concerns for an additional $5,000.

As discussed earlier in the month at a special board meeting, the junior high building at 200 Bellefontaine Drive is nearly 80 years old, with other school buildings in the region having had comparable life-spans.

A presentation at that meeting, the school faces a number of maintenance concerns given its age including plumbing, flooring and windows. Other school necessities such as fiber and locker rooms also require substantial updating.

Charron spoke more about this prior to the board’s vote, noting the major issues of water pipes being tremendously old and worn and the original HVAC system no longer having parts manufactured, demanding the maintenance team cannibalize parts from vents in unoccupied rooms to make sure active classrooms have ventilation.

“When we open that wall, we have water lines that are older than anybody in this room right now, some of them with holes that you probably wouldn’t want to look inside of those water lines, and they need to be replaced, and that comes at a cost, and at some point I think it’s a smart thing for the board to have this study done,” Charron said. “$25,000 is not a lot of money when you’re considering the investment that you’re going to be making soon.”

He strongly recommended that $25,000 option to the board, emphasizing the value in that investment relative to the multi-million dollar investment the board is set to make in the future whether they go with a major maintenance project or a new building.

“We’re not qualified to do this analysis for you, and we’re talking about tens of millions of dollars of taxpayer money that we’re going to be committing in the years ahead,” Charron said.

It was also noted in this discussion that the board would likely be seeking input from the public soon, gauging what the community would like to be done with its tax dollars once the study is concluded and the board is able to present to the community what either decision could look like.

The board also approved a range of other action items at the meeting, including a cafeteria bid for a conveyor washer at WHS for $81,869 from Stafford Smith Inc. and the final 2024-25 school year calendar, the district having used six emergency days in the latter half of the year.

Also approved was a settlement of pending litigation with district patron Bonnie Schwarze and a resolution authorizing service credit in the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund for staff in the district who previously served in the armed forces.

The first reading of Press Plus Issue 118 policies, a number of new employments and two lease agreements for desktop computer rentals – Director of Technology Nick Hergenroeder noted the district needed new computers due to support for Windows 10 ending later this year –were also approved.

A substantial chunk of the meeting was centered around presentations, with speakers having to holler into the microphone to be heard amid the heavy rain.

First to present was Jenna Bivins and a number of her fellow speech and language professionals in the district.

This month’s Waterloo Classroom Teachers Association presentation focused on these staff members and their work throughout the district, guiding students through speech therapy and working on various social and developmental skills.

It was also noted how a greater need for communication aids has been observed among students.

Pre-K through 5th grade Curriculum Coordinator Jessica Washausen spoke at length about district administration’s work toward a new ELA curriculum, saying the three-year effort will likely come to fruition as it is set to appear on the board’s June meeting agenda.

She explained that the committee originally formed to tackle the curriculum began with the mantra of “don’t throw the baby out with the bath water,” acknowledging how teachers work hard on their own curriculum.

In extensive studies of the science behind learning how to read, Washausen and her fellows ultimately decided to adopt the Amplify Core Knowledge Language Arts curriculum, generally known as CKLA.

Also speaking as part of the presentation were two teachers who have been part of a pilot program adopting the curriculum into their classrooms.

Brittany Hollis, a second grade teacher at Rogers Elementary, emphasized the growth she’s seen in her students since trying the curriculum.

“As part of the piloting team, I was able to see a great growth of knowledge and engagement in my students,” Hollis said. “I have more students raising their hands than ever to participate. Students were using their newly learned vocabulary words cross-curricularly, and they were even checking out topic-specific books from the library.”

The third big presentation of the evening came from Waterloo High School Principal Tim McDermott, who discussed the possibility of adding an esports team.

Accompanied at points by Hergenroeder, McDermott offered an overview of student interest that’s been gauged as well as what a WHS team might look like, also noting that a number of schools in the area – Red Bud High School among them – have already formed esports teams.

He emphasized some of the benefits that establishing such a team could have for students, emphasizing that it would be a good opportunity to allow those students who don’t already participate in team extracurriculars to do so.

“They form teams, they have team competitions, they have strategy sessions, they have communication skills that have to be built in order to be successful,” McDermott said. “It does offer an opportunity for students to develop some of those things that we would like all of our students to have in a way that we’ve never offered before.”

McDermott added the establishment of new esports teams can be rather expensive, with costs projected around $75,000, though he anticipates a WHS team might be able to start more humbly for a fraction of that cost.

During his monthly report, Charron spoke on one particular matter as he responded to a question from Board President Lori Dillenberger about a rumor circulating that the district had turned down an anonymous donation for baseball turf installation.

Charron noted those discussions were actually still ongoing, and the district had simply opted to hold off until other district projects are settled down before taking on the additional cost of turf installation.

“We wanted to get the Zahnow project done and our budget figured out because so far the offer was not meant to pay for the entire project, and it’s premature for me to give a number for what the board can afford next year before we handle contract negotiations and start working on next year’s budget, but I have been in contact with the individuals that talked about the donation, and that conversation continues,” Charron said.