The Waterloo School Board heard from a number of speakers at its regular monthly meeting on March 18, with one of the larger action items concerning changes to the Waterloo High School honors system previously discussed in February.

The public meeting began at 8:05 p.m., with Waterloo School Board President Lori Dillenberger offering her apologies for the hour-long wait as the board conducted a lengthy executive session.

Following approval of the consent agenda and other small items, Waterloo Superintendent of Schools Brian Charron provided his monthly report, which centered around the cooling tower on top of WHS which serves all classrooms in the building.

As Charron and Waterloo School District Director of Building and Grounds Will Hulett described, the tower’s foundation has undergone some compromise and is currently being evaluated.

Charron expressed hopes to repair the tower – an involved process requiring a crane – in order to get the 5-7 years of life it is projected to still have.

The faculty guest speaker for the meeting was WHS Spanish Teacher Rene Koeneman, who spoke on behalf of the Waterloo Classroom Teachers’ Association.

A great deal of Koeneman’s presentation centered around the activity and involvement in the school district that parents, organizations and other parties in the community display.

Koeneman bookended her appreciation and positive sentiments by noting the district is still in tremendous need of additional help as there have been notable shortages among district substitute teachers, paraprofessionals, cafeteria workers, custodians and bus drivers.

“Despite the commendable support we receive, we are faced with the critical challenge of substitute educators,” Koeneman said. “This isn’t merely an administrative inconvenience; it directly impacts the quality of education our students receive. The strain on our dedicated faculty due to covering these shortages compromises the educational experience and risks teacher burnout. Regrettably, we’ve already had to make tough decisions, scaling back programs and opportunities that enrich our students’ educational journey. However, this is a reality we must confront together.”

Koeneman closed her speech by further urging the board to work with the community and folks in the district to try and address these shortages.

District staff and administration then offered their reports, with grades 6-12 curriculum coordinator John Schmieg noting the recently added digital media arts class had received a $10,000 grant from the Illinois Art Council and Hulett reporting that the remainder of the boys bathroom partitions in the high school are set to be installed soon, further saying construction at Zahnow Elementary School was going well.

The board then opened to public participation. One individual signed up to speak, Tony Grasso III, was originally present but left at some point as he was waiting for the public meeting to begin.

First to speak was Kristina Hedtkamp, who was previously signed up to speak in January but was unable to attend that meeting. She voiced her request that the board consider starting up a boys volleyball team, saying she was speaking on behalf of 20 students in the district who had expressed an interest in the sport.

Hedtkamp touched on several potential hurdles with such an undertaking, one being Title IX which requires districts to provide access to the same number of athletic teams for boys and girls – she suggested there are some exceptions which might allow for an additional boys team given the interest.

She also noted that a potential team could play against other larger schools as few or no schools in Waterloo’s conference offer boys volleyball. Hedtkamp further mentioned forming a co-ed volleyball team, though she suggested there could be some roadblocks due to physical differences between boys and girls.

“I do realize this is a lot of work, but I do think that investigating the budget would be worth our time and worth it for our students,” Hedtkamp said. “I think there is a lot of interest. I think boys volleyball is a growing sport. I know that there are college scholarship opportunities available, and without having an outlet for the boys to obtain the skills needed for those scholarships, we’re limiting their potential.”

Following Hedtkamp, the floor was opened to others in the audience who wished to address the board, one of whom was Zac Scheetz, who opened by criticizing the audio and visual quality for Waterloo School Board meetings.

While Scheetz said he had difficulty hearing board members speak in-person, he particularly emphasized the poor quality of the livestreamed meeting, further questioning why the meetings aren’t recorded like some other schools.

Scheetz also spoke about bullying in the district. He noted the district’s recent decision to stop the policy of having Waterloo Junior High School students change clothes for physical education classes.

“Why aren’t we punishing those that are causing the riff-raff instead of disciplining the masses by, now nobody can change clothes,” Scheetz said. “You think my teenage daughter wants to go out and sweat in her clothes if she’s gonna go back into school?”

Also addressing the board was Lloyd Jarden, who expressed concern about the changes to the high school’s academic honors recognition system discussed last month, particularly questioning why the board would want to eliminate valedictorian and salutatorian recognition.

These previously discussed changes would see WHS implement a laude system – akin to the honors system used at many universities – this year. The valedictorian rank would still be recognized for all current students, though this would ultimately be phased out by the time that freshmen coming in this fall graduate.

Charron and WHS Guidance Counselor Robert Lohman – who had presented on the matter in February – responded, echoing many of the points made in the original presentation.

Charron pointed to how the current system discourages students from taking arts or vocational classes that they might want to, instead filling their schedules with honors classes purely in an effort to pursue the valedictorian rank.

Waterloo School Board member John Caupert also responded, pointing to how WHS frequently names numerous valedictorians as an additional problem.

“To me, valedictorian is number one, salutatorian is number two,” Caupert said. “To that kid that maybe knows they want to go to vocational school after high school, the current system is actually holding them back from taking the vocational class that will actually jumpstart their career. Shouldn’t we be doing things to actually jumpstart opportunities for kids? The current system is the complete opposite.”

Caupert also indicated that when he has explained the change in this way to parents reaching out with questions, they have responded positively.

The approval of this change was the first action item the board voted on.

Initially, Waterloo School Board member Amanda Propst moved to table the decision, suggesting the board receive more input from the public on the matter. She did not receive a second.

The board ultimately approved the item, with Dillenberger, Caupert, board secretary Kim Ahne, vice president Neil Giffhorn and board member Jim Yaekel voting in favor. Propst voted against. Board member Jodi Burton was absent.

Another item presented to the board was a $13,460 contract with Foresight Services Inc. to conduct quality control with building materials and other aspects of construction at Zahnow.

Charron explained that while this contract was not included in the original budget for the project, it was anticipated as the contractor had warned of ancillary expenses. He further voiced his wish that the district spend the money now rather than deal with settling or other issues later.

The board also approved multiple memorandums of understanding. The first of these was with the WCTA to raise substitute teacher pay to $125 per day, or $140 per day for retired teachers in the district.

The second memorandum was also with the WCTA and concerned the Teacher Vacancy Grant. As Charron explained, much of the funds from this grant has already been toward other matters, but it was agreed the remainder of the funds will be divided among WCTA members in recognition of the increased cost of health insurance, though it was also noted the stipend would not cover the increase for one month.

The final memorandum was with the Waterloo Association of Service Personnel to increase pay for district paraprofessionals by $1 per hour.

The board also approved a contract with Harrisonville Telephone Company for $19,855.05 to upgrade the phone system at Zahnow.

Additionally, the board accepted donations of $5,000 for the FFA activity fund and $500 for the post-prom activity account.