Additional Discussions on School Safety, AI in the Classroom
At Monday's monthly meeting of the Macomb Community Unit School District (MCUSD) No. 185, the Board of Education unanimously approved the bid for a new roof at the Macomb High School and a transportation handbook for the district.
The Board accepted the lowest responsible bid of $1.7 million from Kreiling Roofing Company in Peoria for replacement of the roof at the high school, as well as an additional $252,567 to replace copper flashing with prefinished aluminum flashing during the roof replacement. Work is expected to begin this summer. Over $5 million was budgeted for the work; however, it was determined that the underlayment remained in good condition and did not need to be replaced, which significantly reduced the cost of the project, Superintendent Mark Twomey told the Board.
The Board also approved the district's new transportation handbook. In response to the fatal bus accident in the Rushville School District that occurred March 11, 2024, the Rushville Superintendent came and spoke with other area superintendents about that tragic event. Twomey said at last month's Board meeting that one of the takeaways from that discussion was the need for a transportation handbook for all bus drivers to sign off on. District transportation managers put together the handbook, which combined the new handbook in place at Rushville and criteria that Macomb managers determined to be necessary. Now that the 18-page handbook, which covers attendance, accident and injury procedures, crisis events, distracted driving, training and other topics and requirements, has been approved, the new criteria will be implemented immediately, according to Twomey.
'We will be getting this in front of the drivers as soon as tomorrow. They must read the handbook and sign off that they understand the contents and agree to follow the criteria we have set,' Twomey told the media following Monday night's meeting. 'It is most essential that we have written guidelines and expectations in place for our drivers so they can get our students to and from school safely. This is our first year having our transportation in-house, so this was a good 'a-ha' moment for us to learn from and what we needed to do to protect our students, as well as the district.'
