The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
Joy Swearingen, Quill Correspondent
A Veterans’ Day program will be held jointly by Illini West High School, Dallas City Elementary School and Carthage Elementary/Middle Schools at 9 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 8. The event will be held at the Illini West gymnasium. The public is welcomed to attend.
Illini West Superintendent Jay Harnack talked about the program with the Illini West school board at their regular meeting Oct. 16, which was held at the LaHarpe Elementary School.
“I am excited for our Veterans’ Day celebration,” Harnack said. “It will be very nice to have everyone together there.” Schools have held separate recognition programs in past years.
Harnack reported that a team of four from Illini West took part in an area reunification drill at Western Illinois University on October 4.
“The drill united students with parents after a mock event,” Harnack explained. The reunification of nearly 300 students, mostly from Macomb Middle School, with their parents at an off-campus site was practiced with local First Responder crews.
“We all learned a lot and are now in the process of working through our current crisis management plan, which I think is good, but after that drill there are some things we want to work on. Some are communication-oriented, ways to keep the process as functional and efficient as possible.”
Those taking part from Illini West were Harnack, Principal Amanda Congdon, Director of Student Services Grant Surprenant, and substitute teacher John Amschler.
The board set a levy hearing which is required by law. The tentative levy and levy resolution will be presented at the next board meeting, Nov. 20. It must be approved at the December meeting.
A memorandum of understanding was established between Illini West High School and Memorial Hospital for mobile on-site counseling services.
Under the agreement Memorial Hospital will provide a motorized recreational vehicle large enough to provide a meeting space for parents, students and other support personnel, as well as private meeting space to give family-centered prevention, treatment and recovery services.
Memorial Hospital and clinics will provide the mobile mental health services staff. The hospital is requesting that the district allow the mobile unit to park at the school while their counselors meet with students who are clients.
In his report, Harnack stressed that the school is not associated with providing any of the services. This agreement would allow the mobile unit to be on site to provide services.
“If I were to pick out one of the best things that has happened in education since the arrival of the pandemic, it is the focus we have made nationwide on providing mental health services to students,” Harnack said.
In addition to guidance counselor, Ryan Bliss, the district has a social worker. Now grants to the Mental Health Centers of Western Illinois and to Memorial Hospital provide additional counseling and treatment service.
“We support this mobile unit as it reduces the amount of lost instructional time students would experience from leaving school to attend regular appointments.”
In his report, Harnack noted that the district will need to abate existing asbestos tiles in the former district office, before continuing work on the dressing room project.
Following closed session, the board made the following staff appointments:
LaShay Ramirez, assistant softball coach; Danielle Rambo, assistant girls track coach; Michaela Gooding, assistant girls basketball coach; and Daytona Dooley, volunteer (unpaid) softball coach. The resignation of Kim Barr as custodian was accepted, effective Oct. 25.
A flu and pneumonia vaccination clinic was held on Oct. 10 for staff of Illini West and Carthage Elementary schools by Hancock County Health Department.
Suprenant reported attendance for September was 95 percent for freshmen and juniors, and 96 percent for sophomores and seniors.
Early graduation requests were approved for Jamisen Akers and Isaac Link.
Graduation was set for Sunday, May 18.
Overnight trips were approved for the wrestling teams to attend tournaments in December and January, and for FFA students to attend the State FFA Convention in June 2025.
A group of 198 Spanish books were declared as surplus.