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Welcome to Monticello CUSD #25
2 Sage Drive
Monticello, IL 61856
217-762-8511 (Phone)
217-762-8534 (Fax)
Superintendent: Dr. Vic Zimmerman
Accounts Payable: Mrs. Christie Summers
Human Relations: Mrs. Janna McGiles
Administrative Assistant: Ms. Brenda Timmons
The Monticello Community Unit School District #25 Philosophy
The School District, in an active partnership with parents and community, will promote excellence in a caring environment in which all students learn and grow. This partnership shall empower all students to develop a strong self-esteem and to become responsible learners and decision-makers. The School District is committed to developing and using a visionary and innovative curriculum and a knowledgeable and dedicated staff.
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State Pension Cost Shift Would Cripple School Budgets |
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The Illinois State Legislature is working on a solution to
reform the state public school pension system. There are a number of proposals
floating around as potential fixes to the issue that include shifting these costs from the State down to the local governments. A majority of the
problems with the pension system were created by skipped pension payments at
the State level over the years. The State is now looking for ways to
shift these payments to local districts. Local districts did not create
these issues as we have all made all of our required annual pension payments on
time every time. While what the end result will be remains to be
seen, none of the proposed solutions will be positive ones for school
districts. One proposal shifts the state required payments for pensions
to local districts - many of which will have no choice but to pass the costs
along to the property tax payers. It is
estimated that this proposal would cost Monticello Schools an additional $500,000
annually. In another bill that was
filed last Friday, Speaker Madigan proposed the elimination of CPPRT payments
to local school districts, counties, cities, and townships. His idea is
to use these funds to make the required State school pension payments.
The elimination of CPPRT funds would cripple many school districts and local
governments across the State of Illinois. If this proposal were to be
approved, it is estimated that Monticello CUSD #25 would need to make up $3.5M
in some way due to lost CPPRT funds. The only real way we have to raise
revenue is through a property tax increase. Our tax rate would need to
increase by 50% to make up for a $3.5M loss. On the expense side, we
already run a lean program. In 2010, our Operating Cost per pupil was
$8500 compared to an average of $11500 statewide. We would not be able to
cut one-third of our Education Fund budget without devastating our overall educational
program. Our fund balances would not last more than two years. With 85% of costs being in personnel and
programs, deep cuts would have to be made. The elimination of all
extra-curricular activities, the elimination of the high school block schedule,
the elimination of pre-school and all-day kindergarten and increasing class
sizes to thirty students per class would still leave us needing to reduce our
deficit by almost $2M. We would face
very difficult times.
It is not possible to know exactly what will happen in
Springfield over the next few weeks as the political negotiations take place. I urge you to send letters, make phone calls,
and contact as many legislators as possible in the next few weeks to let them
know of the devastating effects that such cost shifting proposals would have on school
districts as well as cities, counties and townships. We have a very successful and fiscally
responsible school district with a tradition of excellence that offers a
well-rounded school experience for each and every student. It is time to urge your legislators to
support education, not to create devastation to our programs and wreak economic
havoc upon the local property tax payers through shfting the State reuired payments onto local governments. Legislative contact information can be found
at www.ilga.gov.
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End of School Year Schedule |
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May 15
MHS - Seniors' last day of regular classes
Washington - 4th grade field trip to Allerton
Washington - Band and Chorus Concert - 7:00 PM
White Heath - 2nd Grade Adopt-A-Medic Helicopter landing & Trip to MHS for a play performed by the World Theater Class
May 16
MHS - Senior exams (unless exempt)
May 17
MHS - Senior exams (unless exempt)
Washington - 4th grade Band meeting for parents 7:00 Washington cafeteria
May 18
MHS - Senior Graduation Practice at 9:00 a.m. at Middle School (mandatory for all seniors)
May 20
MHS - Graduation at 2:00 p.m. at Middle School
May 21
MHS - "C" Day (all classes meet for 45 minutes)
Washington - 5th grade band/choir tour to Lincoln School
Washington - 5th grade eating lunch at Nick's Park - bring sack lunch/drink
Washington - 5th grade visits MMS at 1:00 PM
May 22
MHS - Semester Exams A1, A2, A3
May 23
MHS - Semester Exams A4, B1, B2
MMS - 8th grade celebration - 6:00 - 9:00 PM
White Heath - Fiesta Fun Day at WHS. All students should bring sack lunches with drinks.
Washington - All School Cookout - lunch provided for everyone
May 24
MHS -Semester Exams B3, B4
Washington - Field Day
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The last day of attendance for students for the 2011-12 school year will be May 24. Students will be dismissed on May 24 at the following times:
White Heath School (2nd and 3rd grade) - 11:00 AM
Washington School (4th and 5th grade) and Monticello High Shool (9-11) - 11:10 AM
Lincoln School (Pre-K, K, and 1st grade) - 11:15 AM
Monticello Middle School (6th, 7th, and 8th grade) - 11:20 AM
Have a great summer!
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Information for the 2012-13 School Year |
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We have links to information for the 2012-13 School Year on the main menu of our website. Start of School Year dates includes information on registration, parent nights, and first days of schools. Early Dismissal Dates includes dates and times of early dismissals for next year. We will be dismissing early on eight Wednesdays for School Improvement activites - lunch will be served on these days. School supply lists are included under the School Supply link. The calendar for 2011-12 has been updated to include dates for 2012-13 and a school calendar summary for both 2012-13 and 2013-14 are inlcuded below. While we are finishing strong in 2011-12 we are already planning for the 2012-13 school year. It's a Great Day to be a Sage.
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Anti-Bullying Efforts Ongoing at Monticello CUSD #25 |
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Anti-Bullying programs, efforts, and discussions have been
on-going in Monticello Schools for years.
Most districts have the required Anti-bullying (7:180), Anti-harassment
(7:20), and Discipline policies (7:190) in place. Our bullying policies are fully implemented and have been reveiwed with district adminsitration and the Board of Education. It takes more than written
policies to deal with bullying and harassment situations that occur in
schools. Specific efforts have been
undertaken in 2011-12 to keep the discussion going and to provide information to
students and parents on the topic of bullying at all of our schools. These pro-active efforts have included open
discussions about bullying at school open houses, an evening parent workshop at
Lincoln School, all school assemblies on bullies and anti-bullying, an anti-bullying
pledge program at MMS, all-school announcements on what bullying is and what to
do if you see it, student led anti-bullying committees, MHS student led “Terminate
the Hate” presentations at Washington and MMS, “Terminate the Hate” t-shirts
sold at MMS and MHS events, a “Say No to Bullying “ bracelet campaign at MMS, a
freshmen mentoring program at MHS, the Lifesavers support group at MHS, an MHS
Thespian anti-bullying skit provided at our elementary schools, signage and
posters done by the MHS Computer Concepts class about bullying in schools, Red
Ribbon Week, the White Heath Bucket FIllers Program, classroom presentations, anti-bullying lessons included in curriculum, required
anti-bullying and anti-harassment training for teachers, and character
education. Last Spring, our entire
faculty and staff attended an on-site workshop provided by nationally-known anti-Bullying
expert Dorothy Espelage. An All-School Assembly
at MHS took place in April that addressed the topic of bullying and encouraged students to sign an anti-bully pledge. The assembly was developed
and was led by MHS students. In May, the MHS hosted an anti-cyber-bullying assembly conducted by the Illinois Attorney General's Office. Even
with these efforts we do deal with bullying situations in our schools. Bullying takes many forms and when a
situation is determined to include bullying or harassment it is dealt with using
our Student Discipline Code. Classic
bullying always includes five elements including: aggressiveness, repetition, a
power imbalance, intentionality, and lack of remorse. We encourage our students, teachers, parents, and
community members to continue to support our school-wide efforts to eliminate
bullying in our schools and to terminate the hate in our society.
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New Emergency Contact Information |
Monticello CUSD#25 is using a new company to manage mass calls to parents including emergency and informational calls as well as calls for school closings due to weather. The new company, School Messenger, allows parents to log in to a web site and to manage student contact numbers and indicate which numbers are to be called for each call category. In order for you to login to School Messenger and manage your students' contact numbers you will need your students' ID number and an authorization code. This information will be sent home with the students in the coming days.
Once you receive this information you can visit the School Messenger site at https://contactme.schoolmessenger.com , select the green "Sign up now" link and create your personal account. You can add your students to your account with the instructions included in the letter that will be sent home. Once you have added your students to your account you can manage the contact numbers as you see fit. If you need to make changes to your students' contact numbers you can make the changes yourself via your School Messenger account or you can call your student's school and we will be happy to make the changes for you.
It is our hope that this ability for you to manage your students' contact numbers will help make our calling system with School Messenger better for all concerned.
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