Discussion on Centralia High School’s academic watch list policy continued for the third consecutive school board meeting as visitors once again voiced concerns with the policy change new this school year preventing students who are failing three or more classes from participating in graded band and choir performances.
Nathan Sipe, president of CHS Performing Arts Boosters, spoke for visitors opposed to the policy, calling it unfair. To counter the board’s previous claims that other schools in the area have similar policies, Sipe presented communications with teachers and administrators that showed Danville, Carlyle, Altamont, and 12 other schools in southern Illinois do not have a policy like Centralia’s which bars students from cocurricular performances due to academic eligibility. Sipe said that in his research he had not found a school with the same restrictions as Centralia.
“In fact, every teacher, band director, superintendent, and multiple former district administrators all disagreed with this policy,” Sipe said. “Most of the schools researched do not even mention an academic eligibility requirement for band in the handbook because, in their words, it’s simply understood that you don’t punish one curriculum for failing a separate curriculum.”
Sipe said that the policy as currently written may be in violation of the Illinois School Code and warned that it could open the district up to litigation.
Superintendent Chuck Lane, principal Reid Shipley, and all school board members present continued to defend the policy. Lane believes that the policy is lawful and appropriate as a means of incentivizing students to keep their grades up. He sees no problem with requiring band students on the academic watchlist to complete alternative assignments instead of graded performances on the band curriculum.
“I truly believe, if you start doing stuff like that, you’re going to have kids more motivated to do what they’re supposed to do,” Lane said. “That’s the idea, that you get this started and they start catching on and checking their grades, seeing they can’t participate… That’s typically the way it goes, if they’re motivated.”
The board did not make a motion to change the academic watch list policy. Visitors indicated that they would return to discuss the policy again at future meetings.
The board approved updates to the curriculum, including removing the Personal Law class and incorporating elements of it into Business Law. Personal Finance and AP Environmental Science classes were added. Robotics was split into Robotics I as a one-semester class and Robotics II as a full-year class. The Orientation to Health Occupations class was divided into two one-semester classes.
A new bus lease agreement was approved with Midwest Bus Sales. The new contract contains a four percent increase in price for the buses. The total number of buses decreased from 13 to 12. Negotiation for the price of bus cameras remains ongoing, as Lane believes the price offered was too high.
The board hired Rick Starr as volunteer assistant wrestling coach and Randy Ruggles as assistant softball coach for the 2025-26 school year.
The November and December board meetings were rescheduled to November 24 at 5:30 p.m. and December 18 at 5:00 p.m.
