Artificial turf for the CHS football field was one of the topics discussed at the monthly meeting of the Centralia High School Board of Education on Thursday. A representative from Bryne & Jones, a St. Louis firm that has several fields in the area, presented information on costs and options. According to Superintendent Dr. Chuck Lane, artificial turf is far lower maintenance than grass and is something the board will consider in later meetings. Lane said the estimated cost of the project would be about 1.4 million dollars.
“One of the major things we could do is use a portion of our sales tax revenue. That is one of the uses that money is for. How that will work out we’ll have to look at and discuss further. We would really like to do it, but we have to figure out a way to pay for it.”
Progress is continuing, according to Lane, on the CHS solar project, with an agreement reached between Ameren and the school’s solar representatives.
“They have been trying to negotiate back and forth on how much the upgraded lines would be to get in order to the solar power to us. It has taken a while to get it done but it looks like they have finally reached an agreement and we should start seeing some advancements on our project.”
Construction is expected to begin before the end of 2023, with completion in the spring.
Principal Dr. Reid Shipley told the board that the annual Distinguished Alumni induction is set for November 3 at about 2 p.m. This year’s recipients are Dave Clement and Dr. Clara Rouse Voss.
CHS student council President John Veller reported that the freshmen student council members elected Scout Veller to represent their class. He also told the board that the homecoming dance on September 30 had over 550 students in attendance. He also noted that the Fall blood drive is on November 2, with a goal of 75 units of blood. It is open to the public. Veller said the council plans to “adopt” a family for the BCMW Christmas gift drive, and finally that the annual snow coming week will be December 4-8.
Next week, Nov. 2 through 5, the CHS Drama Club will present “Little Shop of Horrors in the cafetorium.
The board acted on several employment matters. Heidi Livesay was hired as assistant girls’ basketball coach, Mike Neudecker as volunteer assistant girls’ basketball coach, Travis Beppler as annex security guard, Roberta Smith as part-time ELL assistant, Janique Teaff as full-time annex aide, and Rose Marie Moore and Ernest Lingo as part-time cafeteria workers.
The board, in lieu of expulsion, placed a student found to have violated school rules by being under the influence of marijuana and having marijuana, cigarettes, and a lighter in their pocket on school property at the Alternative Learning Academy.
The November school board meeting has moved its November meeting to November 27th at seven p.m. and the December meeting to December 18th at four p.m.
