The Unit 5 school board heard updates to its enrollment adjustment timeline and changes for driver's education programming during Tuesday’s meeting.
The board approved an increase to the maximum amount it can charge for driver education courses. The increase would be to a price not to exceed $450. For the next school year, the fee will be $300. The increased fee allows for more effective and efficient instruction under the Illinois Driver Education Act, board members heard.
Newly added to the most recent act is a requirement to teach driver rights in instances of traffic stops.
The board met Tuesday after last week's meeting was rescheduled due to severe weather.
The current fee amount, $250, was previously the most a school district could charge for driver’s instruction fees.
The action allows for hiring additional instructors and retaining current instructors, the board was told. In doing so, it would allow for more students per semester to receive instruction.
In part resulting from underwhelming state reimbursement for mandated categoricals, the school district was at a $291,195 deficit in its driver’s ed program.
A goal of the increased fees is to improve the percentage of students earning a grade of B or better. That is the threshold above which a student can take a driver's test. In the 2025-26 school year, the B or better mark was at 82%, which was noted as good, but the district’s aim is to improve to 85%.
Fee waivers will remain available for low-income students.
USDA audit
An audit from the United States Department of Agriculture [USDA] found no major issues with Unit 5's food offerings.
The audit monitored 15 items for compliance, including meal counting and claiming, meal component and quantities, what is offered versus what is served, dietary specifications, nutrient analysis, smart snacks, professional standards, food safety procurement and reporting and record keeping. Five financial components — general ledger, monthly purchases, lunch equity reports, food cost and meals per labor hour — also are monitored.
“I'm happy to report that we had very small, minimal findings,” said JoAnna Rewertz, Unit 5 director of school nutrition.
Reviews were conducted at four schools: Brigham and Carlock Elementary, Chiddix Junior High, and Normal West High School.
Issues encountered during the audit included some duplications of household members for free and reduced lunch recipients, and some students walking away from the lunch counter without required items like vegetables or milk. Results of a health inspection, while completed, were not displayed in the proper area at Normal West.
Enrollment update
Also Tuesday, the school board received an update on the timeline of the enrollment planning changes.
Unit 5 sent out Requests for Qualifications [RFQ] to notify potential firms of some aspects of the enrollment changes. They included the small-scale additions at Towanda Elementary and Parkside Junior High, the new early learning center and the new facility for the 18- to 22-year-old program.
There were 14 different firms that submitted RFQs by the due date of June 10.
School repairs
The board approved repairs needed at two elementary schools and one softball field.
Hudson Elementary School needs exterior masonry repair at a cost of $149,225. This includes falling brick and waterproofing measures to protect the exterior masonry and windows. The work is to be completed by Staat Inc.
The board also approved a $408,110 roof repair at Fairview Elementary School. The failing roof, installed in 2020, will be repaired by Water Proofing Technologies Inc. to preserve the building envelope, prevent further deterioration and extend the useful life of the facility. The project does not extend to the gym roof that was installed in 2016.
Work on both begins in late June and ends before the beginning of the fall semester. Both were paid for using Health Life Safety funds.
The board also approved a fully-synthetic turf softball field where the Normal Community West junior varsity baseball field currently is located. The cost is just over $1 million.
The softball team previously had no dedicated softball field on campus, forcing the team to play off-site for practices and competition. The choice of a turf field was made to address drainage issues and meet IHSA standards. It also allows the field to serve as a pilot for synthetic turf fields elsewhere.
The project will be completed by Byrne & Jones Sports Construction through the TIPS Cooperative Purchasing Agreement. That spending source allows the district to save an estimated $159,476 by avoiding the traditional bid process and associated Health and Life Safety architectural services.
The field is set to be operational by the 2027 spring season.
Portables
The school board also approved extending the two-year lease for portable classrooms at Normal Community High School. The lease was set to expire at the end of June. The two years move the end of the contract to the same end date as the portables at Cedar Ridge, Parkside and Towanda elementary schools.
That new end date is the end of the 2027-28 school year.
Each of the two portables at NCHS cost $18,500 per year, putting the total extension at $74,000.
Fundraising changes
The board approved an agreement with Givebacks, designating it as the district-authorized fundraising platform. The move was made to mitigate the risks associated with campaigns launched without pre-approval, co-mingling of funds and cash handling and security risks.
Previous fundraising efforts used cash/check envelopes, personal payment apps like Venmo and independent crowdfunding sites. Givebacks allowed for mandatory approval workflows, digital audit trails and visibility, elimination of personal payment apps and strict separation of funds.
