The District 158 Board of Education shuffled through the doorway and quickly took their seats as they awaited the arrival of the general public. After the observers had taken their seats, Marlowe Middle School students, along with Principal Adam Zehr, led the Pledge of Allegiance to mark the start of this month’s meeting.
The first order of business the BOE had to accomplish was the recognition of Heineman Middle School staff member Lynn Petryniec.
On Jan. 28, Petryniec was approached by a student in the cafeteria who had noticed that her friend had difficulty breathing. Petryniec quickly ran to the aid of the student and performed the Heimlich Maneuver to extract the object she was choking on.
“[The BOE] is extremely proud of our staff,” said Michael Fleck, BOE member. “I applaud her, and any staff member, that goes that extra distance when it comes to the well being of our students.”
Both of the students who were involved along with Petryniec received medals. Principal Jake Litchfield was also present during the recognition.
The board also approved the summer school plan for this upcoming summer.
Summer school will consist of two sessions, June 13 to July 8 and July 11 to Aug. 4. Both sessions will also include the option of a few online classes. The board hopes to expand the number of online courses available in the future.
“[The students] are very adept at using technology as a tool for learning,” said Fleck. “Those classes are structured in a way that will allow them to learn content in a way that’s easy for them to understand.”
Lastly, the BOE explored the idea of expanding Huntley High School’s parking lot due to recent circumstances, where HHS students parked in neighboring Del Webb.
Del Webb residents filed many complaints stating that though it was not illegal for the students to park on the street, many were trespassing on their property when walking to HHS. Vandalism was also reported.
“[The BOE] doesn’t have any jurisdiction over the streets in Del Webb,” said Fleck. “We’re going to have to work with the Village of Huntley, the students, and the residents of Del Webb to resolve this problem because we don’t want [the residents] to develop a negative opinion towards our students.”
The number of parking spaces at the high school increased by 117 spaces, and in order to prevent future issues, the BOE signed a contract with HR Green Engineering Contracts in order to explore the idea of potentially expanding the parking lot.
In the meantime, the district has continued to invest in transportation as an alternative.
According to Fleck, there are enough buses and routes to supply transportation to every student. Students are encouraged to make use of these alternatives to help resolve the issues faster.
“Any fix is not going to be easy, cheap, and it’s not going to happen soon,” said Fleck. “Everybody is going to have to work together to find a solution.”