Carlyle School board approves amended FY 2026 budget

   The Carlyle Community School District No. 1 school board approved the Fiscal Year 2026 amended budget during its meeting on Wednesday, June 24.
    Superintendent Annie Gray said there were two major changes to the previous amended budget. The risk management plan was applied. The tort expenses are deducted from the tort revenue and the rest of the money is allocated based on the risk management plan to help cover salaries.
    The money in the transportation fund also was changed from the previous budget because they have not received two payments from the state that have been vouchered to them but have not been released by the comptrollers. There is a payment of $45,206 for regular transportation and $11,606 for special education transportation that have not been released yet. As a result, the transportation fund is in the red by $48,000. If the money hit the bank account before June 30, they will be able to put it in that revenue with that fund. If it did not, that revenue will roll into next year. 
    Their overall revenue in Fiscal Year 2026 in the ed fund, ONM, transportation and working cash was $12,773,651 and total expenditures were $12,114,230, which puts a difference of just over $600,000 for the year.
    The board approved changes to the e-learning plan. Gray said they really didn't make any changes. The grade school and some of the teachers at the junior high like to have paper packets. Others will continue to use Google Classroom. Gray said she is pleased with the work completion they get from e-learning days.
    In her report, Gray said summer school has been completed. There were 20 students in summer school at Carlyle Grade School; 12 students at Carlyle Junior High School, five of which completed two courses each; and seven students at Carlyle High School for credit recovery, and they completed 10 courses in total.
    The freshman math academy is being brought back and will be toward the start of school.
    Preliminary IAR and ACT scores have been received. More information on that will be provided when the scores are finalized.
    The grade school playground project is almost all set up with the exception of a couple of pieces of equipment on back order. It is not open to the public yet. There will be a ribbon-cutting ceremony at a date to be determined.
    They are wanting to get some additional cameras on the playground and on the athletic field by the field events. That would be more costly than the cameras they currently have because they are away from the buildings so they have to have power and internet access. They are looking to build those cameras into the budget.
    Gray has talked to two different companies about updating the equipment in the weight room. Athletic PE will be implemented next year and they want to make sure they have the right equipment for that. Even if the order is placed this summer, it will probably be late fall or early winter before the equipment arrives.
    The school district has met with the City of Carlyle about moving the crosswalk in front of the junior high and talked to the Illinois Department of Transportation about adding another entrance/exit at the junior high to help with traffic flow.
    Gray met with Carlyle Police Chief Jason Herzing about the memorandum of understanding with the city for the school resource officer. They have talked about extending it from a year-to-year to a three-year agreement. The city wants to look at increasing what the school pays for the school resource officer. When the agreement started, part of that was grant funded through the city. That grant is running out.
    Carlyle High School principal Darin Smith said the journalism program received a 2026 school journalism grant through the Illinois Farm Bureau and the Illinois Press Foundation. They will receive a $1,300 check in August or September.
    Tamra Gerstenecker was recognized by the Illinois Association of Vocational Agriculture Teachers for 25 years of service to agriculture education. She also received the NAAE outstanding service award.
    The board approved the resignations of custodian Christopher Rolfingsmeyer, paraprofessional Tyler Guthrie, and high school girls assistant basketball coach Tony Hempen.
    The board approved the overnight field trip request from FBLA to attend the summer leadership conference in Springfield.
    The MOU for the Unit 1 Carlyle Education Association regarding adding an academic advisor as a provisional position was approved.
    The student extracurricular handbook, coaches handbook and staff handbook were approved. There was a section added in the coaches handbook about high school head coaches starting the process of putting together information for their junior high coaches and support the junior high programs. There also was a section added about overnight field trip expectations.
    In the staff handbook, there was a section added that states if teachers want to bring large pieces of furniture from outside to put in their classroom, that needs pre-approval from the building administration.
    The board approved volunteer coaches Mark Noffke and Marc Howell for junior varsity football and Jimmy Rose for eighth-grade boys basketball.
    The board approved the employment of Quinton McGuire as high school custodian, Matthew Ramirez as grade school custodian, and Dalton Tieman as junior high ISS/permanent sub.
    The board approved Hayden Hoffmann as sixth-grade boys basketball coach, Chris Gustafson as fifth-grade boys basketball coach, Tony Hempen as eighth-grade boys basketball coach, Janelle Schaeffer as high school junior varsity volleyball coach, and Reagan Oster as freshman volleyball coach.
    The board approved the employment of spring sports head coaches and all sponsors/stipend positions.
    The next board meeting is at 6:30 p.m. on July 15.