Lake County Gazette

The April meeting of the Coal City Community Unit School District #1 Board of Education opened at Coal City Middle School, where members of the Coal City High School and Coal City Middle School wrestling teams and Coalers Speech Team were recognized for their achievements during their respective seasons.

Speech Coach Ben Baer spoke on the team’s successful season and highlighted three state qualifiers—Madison Wilson, Jordan Olson, and Jacob Cimino.

Wrestling Coach Mark Masters introduced the members of the 2025 State Championship Team and individual wrestlers in attendance for recognition. He noted post-season recognitions for Assistant Coach Zach Berman and Athletic Director Brad Boresi, who are being honored by the Illinois Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association as Assistant Coach of the Year and Administrator of the Year respectively.

Middle School Wrestling Coach Joey Rivera introduced state-qualifying members of his team. He spoke about their success, noting a 31-0 season record and a second-place finish at the state tournament with two state champions—Maxx Christensen and Dominic Zucarello.

Morgan Caracci, chief of staff for Senator Chris Balkema, presented certificates recognizing both wrestling teams' accomplishments.

Following these recognitions, the Board moved to the District Administration Center to continue its meeting. Items on the agenda included:

Luke Krippel, director of student services, reported that special education "child count" numbers must be submitted annually as of December 1 to determine state funding. The district's special education services saw an increase from previous years, reaching 396 students in 2024/2025.

Jennifer Kenney, Director of Curriculum and Instruction, reported that spring testing is underway with various schools completing or scheduled to take exams, including IAR, Pre-ACT, ACT, and ISA.

Superintendent Spencer announced that proposals would be sought for renewing before-and-after-school care agreements as they are set to expire this year. An update on staffing for 2025-2026 was provided along with authorization for employment contracts pending board consultations.

An intermediate school repair project update indicated tentative design plans but aimed for completion by 2026-2027.

The Board approved entering an amended intergovernmental agreement involving multiple local taxing districts concerning property tax negotiations related to Dresden Nuclear Generating Station.

Other approvals included hazardous bus route declarations; summer camp dates; quarterly dropout reports; renewing memberships with IHSA ($1,275) and IESA; extending an agreement with Image Group Photography; joint financing renovations at Grundy Area Vocational Center; upgrading technology infrastructure pending e-rate funding; supporting student attendance at FBLA National Leadership Conference in Anaheim, CA ($250 per qualifier); nurses' salaries; various staff resignations/retirements/transfers/employments/volunteer coaching assignments/extracurricular transfers/honorable dismissals/facility use requests.

Student enrollment stood at 2,175 by March end.

The next regular meeting is scheduled for Wednesday May 7 followed by a study session on Wednesday April 30 both starting at 6 p.m. at the District Administration Center.