District parents offered some comments on mandatory reporting and arts programming during the latest Columbia School Board meeting on March 19, which also saw some action items prepping for next school year.

Notably, this month’s school board meeting was not live-streamed and recorded on the district’s YouTube channel as is usually the case. Rather, an audio-only version of the meeting was made available on the channel following the meeting.

Columbia Superintendent of Schools Chris Grode explained this came about as Taylor Nickerson – German teacher at Columbia High School and the individual who oversees the streaming setup each meeting – had other commitments, and the decision to not stream the meeting was made well in advance.

The board heard from two members of the public early in the meeting, the first of whom introduced herself as Keagan Miller, the mother of three boys.

A former Columbia student herself, Miller voiced her thanks to the board for their work and commended them for the various areas of expertise they bring to the school board.

Her remarks mainly concerned the incident late last month involving an anonymous and threatening message written on a bathroom stall at Columbia Middle School.

Noting her appreciation that Columbia police were able to conduct an investigation into the message, Miller further voiced concerns about transparency and the importance of accurate and timely communications being shared with folks in the district.

With a background in crisis communications, she suggested the board look into adjusting and improving their communication process by either organizing a task force focused on response plans for safety issues and concerns, working with an outside consultant to develop such a plan or purchasing a notification system for more timely district alerts.

Miller further spoke about April as National Child Abuse Prevention Month and reminded board members of their role as mandated reporters and the importance of having a culture that upholds the importance of mandated reporting.

“Schools are often the first line of defense in getting children help and access to resources, so it’s important to ensure that all mandated reporters know their legal obligations as individuals,” Miller said. “Lastly, it’s the role of the school board to ensure that internal systems, policies and communication practices surrounding mandated reporting are clear, consistent and effective.”

The second member of the public to speak, Kevin Beabout, likewise began by introducing himself as a parent of three kids in the district and voicing his appreciation, specifically with the arts programs in Columbia.

Noting how he was a member of the marching band during his time at Belleville West High School, he expressed his enthusiasm and concerns for the CHS program led chiefly by Kristian Avise-Rouse.

“I was really impressed with the marching band this year and the program that Mr. Avise-Rouse put on, but I’ve noticed that he is one teacher, and there were 110 kids in that marching band this year,” Beabout said. “To have only one faculty member in the high school who is in charge of a program of that size… There is no athletic program at this school that has only one faculty member for a group of anywhere near that size.”

Beabout suggested the addition of another music teacher to assist with the program.

He further pointed to the theatre program at Columbia Middle School, the most recent show being the first to have to cut students from the performance as over 100 kids auditioned.

Beabout generally encouraged the allocation of more resources to district arts programming, emphasizing the importance and value of such programs for the development and creativity of students.

The board approved a handful of action items later in the meeting, including approval of non-tenured teachers, annual membership for the Illinois High School Association and the second reading of board policies Press Plus Issue 120.

Regarding student fees for the 2026-27 academic year, it was noted no changes were seemingly needed, though the food service director will be looking into a potential need for an increase at the end of this school year.

The board also approved a resolution involving   GRP|WEGMAN, an “innovative facility and energy solutions company” per their website.

Grode explained this item concerned energy efficiency in the district, pointing to CMS as the school building with the highest electrical bills in Columbia.

Though Grode, Board President Greg Meyer and board member Adam Hemken indicated other improvements have been discussed elsewhere in the district, changes at the middle school and high school are the most cost effective at the moment.

“Changing out the lighting and getting solar at the middle school and changing out lighting at the high school would be quite the benefit,” Grode said. “We would pay for this directly out of Working Cash, so we would not need to take any loans or anything like that, and we would see savings, and we would see the rebates, so there’s really no reason not to do this. I will also say that if we don’t act now, if you want to do solar next year, a lot of the rebates and the incentives are going away.”

Among the meeting’s administrative reports, Columbia Middle School Assistant Principal Khourtney Miller spoke about various goings-on at the school including the recent performance of the junior version of “Annie,” social and emotional learning conducted on school half-days and the upcoming celebration of a St. Baldrick’s Foundation event, with a number of students signed up to shave their heads in support of childhood cancer research.

Much of the CMS report came from paraprofessional Sarah Brandenburger, who serves as a sponsor for the Best Buddies program.

“Best Buddies is a worldwide program that promotes inclusion and friendship between students with disabilities and their peers,” Brandenburger said. “The goal is simple but powerful: to create meaningful connections so that every student feels valued, included and part of the school community.”

Along with several members of the program, Brandenburger discussed various group activities such as their regular coffee cart, sensory need education and the annual ACE Olympics event.

In her report, Columbia Assistant Superintendent of Schools Amanda Ganey discussed attendance at a recent job fair at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville as well as district adoption of SchoolAI, a platform offering various AI tools for students and teachers.

Ganey also offered positive updates on progress being made in the districts English Language Arts curriculum, state testing and Career and Technical Education offerings.

CHS renovations received further attention toward the end of the meeting, with Grode, Meyer and Hemken each speaking positively about the progress.

The meeting concluded with an executive session, and though it was noted an action item afterward was possible, Meyer announced following the closed session that the proposed action “fell through” and would be addressed at a later date.