mpanying budget task force dominated much of the Waterloo School Board meeting last week, the board also addressed a number of other matters such as the ongoing discussion surrounding the future of Waterloo Junior High School and a handful of action items.

Though no action was taken on the issue, the possibility of renovating or replacing WJHS again received the board’s attention with Waterloo Superintendent Brian Charron sharing some of what the building and grounds committee has talked about recently.

Charron reminded the board of the more recent idea to build an addition to the existing school to replace the older half of the structure rather than conduct a full renovation or construct an entirely new facility elsewhere.

This idea, he said, stemmed from some of the feedback heard during previous open house events hosted at the school.

He further communicated the committee’s interest to share the idea with WJHS staff, conducting a survey process as was done with the other proposals.

As at past board meetings, Charron expressed that the somewhat newer half of the building constructed in 1956 could still serve the district for a number of years while the 1938 wing of the school has many more issues that would be especially costly to renovate.

Charron also reminded the board and audience that these many issues would all have to be addressed were the school to undergo substantial renovations.

“Some of the classroom sizes are as little as 500 square feet, which is very, very small,” Charron said. “There’s very narrow stairways. There’s no elevator to get to the second floor, so we’re not meeting code requirements there. We don’t have to right now if we stay in the building because we are grandfathered into when it was constructed, but any time you’re doing a renovation of the school building and you’re going to renovate more than 50 percent… then the entire building has to be brought up to code.”

Waterloo School Board Vice President Neil Giffhorn raised the point that the gymnasium in the older part of the building is still functional and serviceable and would likely remain even as the classroom space of the 1938 wing was demolished.

Charron reiterated again that the project was originally prompted in large part thanks to the aging HVAC system that has led to maintenance staff cannibalizing parts from ventilation units in unused rooms as parts can no longer be purchased.

“That is a significant expense, probably five, six, seven million dollars just in replacing the HVAC system,” Charron said. “We want to make sure that the board has a long-term commitment to that building if we’re going to spend that much money installing a 20-30 year HVAC system. Over those 30 years, there’s lots of other things that will be necessary to do in that building.”

Following approval of the tax levy, the school board also approved a bid of $99,225 to D7 Roofing for partial roof repairs to Waterloo High School’s auxiliary gym.

This matter has garnered the board’s attention previously, though Charron reminded those present of the mold that has been found growing between the roof and the ceiling which he said, “is evident on the ceiling of the gymnasium.”

Additionally, the board approved the adoption and second reading of board policies Press Plus Issue 120 along with the dismissal of a probationary cafeteria worker.

The final item receiving approval by the board was the initial reading of the 2026-27 WHS course guide.

WHS Principal Tim McDermott offered a brief overview of the courses to be added based on student interest. These include classes on fashion, marketing, game and app development, anatomy, physiology, college English through Southwestern Illinois College, and sign language as a world language offering.

The monthly presentation from the Waterloo Classroom Teachers Association was offered by Amanda Catanzaro and Morgan Riggs at Rogers Elementary, who offered a brief speech followed by a video highlighting the work of their students mainly regarding the reading and math curriculum.