Centralia High School is reportedly faring well as school resumes during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Principal Reid Shipley stated during the board meeting on Thursday that the number of positive cases is low and that while some students have had to enter quarantine, there are fewer quarantined this year than last year.
“I think we’re at about six positive cases,” Shipley said during the meeting. “With (the guideline for quarantine based on social distancing) down to three feet instead of six feet like it was last year, that’s saving a lot of kids from having to go home. Now the quarantine list for one student (typically consists of) five, six, or seven kids versus twenty to twenty-five.”
Shipley also announced that Homecoming is planned to be held on October 2, and that festivities surrounding the event will be held as normal. Homecoming is currently planned to be held indoors, but there is also a contingency plan to hold the event outdoors if necessary. Guests from outside CHS will not be allowed to attend.
The board did not take any immediate action in response to the announcement from Governor J.B. Pritzker earlier in the day of a vaccine mandate for K-12 teachers. This was due to board members not having time to formalize a plan with the announcement coming on the day of the meeting. The position of the board throughout the pandemic has been to comply with state guidelines and mandates, and while no official plan was discussed at the meeting, it seems that the trend will continue with this most recent mandate from the governor. Superintendent Chuck Lane commented on the situation.
“We are still seeing how we are going to adapt to that. I expect our staff to continue to be resilient and focusing on two things. We want to stay in school and we want our students to be safe, so we are going to do what we have to do.”
In other business, the board approved the renaming of the school’s tennis courts to honor the late coach Craig Freels, approved the tentative budget for the 2021-2022 school year, and finalized the purchase of 20 acres of land near the school, which Lane suggested may be used for the construction of solar panels to reduce the school’s energy expenses.
CHS Open House will be held Wednesday, September 8 starting at 6:30 P.M. The next CHS board meeting has been scheduled for Monday, September 27.
Resignations:
- Tony Marcum, part-time in-school supervisor
- Travis Sanders, science teacher and head boys’ soccer coach
Employment:
- Raigen Schwartz, science teacher
- Kellie Yandian, part-time aide
- Terry Wimberly, full-time custodian
- Adra Burnes, full-time custodian
- Dennis Krupp, part-time aide
- Carter Williams, part-time nurse assistant
- Bill Alli, full-time annex security guard
