ROCHELLE — At its monthly meeting Monday, the Rochelle Township High School Board of Education voted unanimously to approve a bid to upgrade the building’s HVAC automation system.
RTHS secured bids from various contractors this month to upgrade the system. The district’s architect, GreenAssociates, led the process and got two bids. The bid approved Monday was from Applied Controls, Inc. for $580,600 for the total project. Another bid was received for $743,795 and was rejected. The work is planned to be done over the summer, beginning immediately after school ends in May with plans to complete the work before Aug. 4.
Designation
Assistant Principal David Perrin made a presentation on the school’s recent annual Every Student Succeeds Act summative designation.
The designation is concluded by a number of factors, 50 percent of which is made up the school’s graduation rates, which is currently about 85 percent. Factors also include English language proficiency, chronic absenteeism, a climate survey, ninth grade on track, science and SAT scoring.
There are four ESSA summative designations. They include exemplary, commendable, targeted and comprehensive.
RTHS has been designated as commendable, which is a school with at least a 67 percent graduation rate and no subgroups performing in the lowest five percent of all students.
Levy
District Business Manager Kevin Dale presented the district’s 2022 tax levy. The board will vote on the levy at its Dec. 19 meeting.
Last year, the equalized assessed value (EAV) was $471,424,237. This year, the EAV is estimated to be $501,583,928. Last year, the district was extended $10,002,067.53. This year, the district is asking for a 2.17 percent increase, which is about $217,000 of new money, Dale said, for a total of $10,219,017. The district asks for dollars, not with a rate.
“When you look at the estimated tax rate that we’re looking at, we’re scheduling it to be about $2.33, which is down from $2.41,” Dale said. “We’re at 2.17 percent, and we’re trying to keep a balanced rate that’s lower for the taxpayers. We’ve been reducing the tax rate almost every year.”
Employment
The board unanimously approved the resignation of Mark Bratko (event coordinator/outside maintenance) and the employment of Janine LeMar (substitute teacher), Matthew McMeekan (girls basketball assistant coach) and Sarai Orozco (G-Force coordinator).
