BOE Monthly Meeting Summary

The Litchfield Community Unit School District #12 Board of Education met on Thursday, March 19, 2026, at the SCI Center for its monthly board meeting.

These are not the official meeting minutes and do not include every detail from the meeting; instead, they are a summary to assist the Purple Panther community. Once the board approves them, the official minutes can be found on the LCUSD #12 Board of Education Minutes page on the website.

Wrestling:

High School:

Vincent Moore, Sr.: 150 wins and IHSA state qualifier

Braxton Kieffer, Sr.: 100 wins and IHSA state qualifier

Tristan Staggs, Sr.: 100 wins and IHSA state qualifier

Jayden Ellinger, Sr.: 100 wins

Rilynn Younker, Jr.: 100 wins, IHSA state qualifier, and 5th place finisher

Middle School:

Owen Pryor: 65lbs---STATE CHAMP!!

Jayse Ellinger: 70 lbs

Grayson Short: 75 lbs

James Simmons: 275 lbs

Science Olympiad

Elementary:

Allison Barwick

Isla Barwick

Adalyn Boehler

Connor Budd

Eliza Hale

Hudson Jackson

Thea Jones

Hannah Loveless

Josie Pennock

Lincoln Rogers

Kendall Short

Stella Stout

Brantley Sullivan

Xavier Wall

Sonya Wilson

Litchfield High School:

High School spring sports have begun!

LHS co-ed track and field have competed in 3 indoor meets to this point and will open their outdoor season on March 24th when they travel to North Mac. They will also host Carliville and Gillespie on March 31st beginning at 4:30.

LHS softball picked up an opening day win against New Berlin on 3/18. The following is their remaining schedule for the month of March:

3/19 @ Greenfield

3/20 vs Athens

3/24 vs Taylorville

3/25 @ Collinsville

3/26 vs Breese Central (JV)

3/27@ Pawnee

3/28 @ Lincolnwood (JV)

3/30 vs Alton

3/31 vs Civic Memorial

LHS baseball also picked up an opening day win @ Lebanon on 3/18. The following is their remaining schedule for the month of March:

3/19 vs Southwestern

3/21 @ Springfield

3/23 @ Jerseyville (JV)

3/23 vs PORTA

3/24 vs Taylorville

3/25 @ Lanphier

3/26 @ Springfield Southeast (JV)

3/26 @ New Berlin

3/27 @ Alton (JV)

3/28 @ Mt. Pulaski

3/30 @ Athens

LHS girls soccer opened their season with a home win against Jerseyville on 3/18. The following is their remaining schedule for the month of March:

3/19 @ Roxana

3/25 vs Jacksonville

3/26 @ Athens

3/27 @ Gibault Catholic

3/28 @ Athens JV Tournament

3/30 @ Alton Marquette

4/1-4/4 Panther Classic Tournament

Litchfield Middle School:

LMS Wrestling finished up their season last week. Congratulations to Owen Pryor and Grayson Short on winning sectionals. LMS had 4 state qualifiers: Owen Pryor, Grayson Short, Jayse Ellinger and James Simmons.

3 of 4 wrestlers made it to the 2nd day of the State Tournament.

Owen Pryor became only the 2nd State Champion in LMS Wrestling History winning at the 65 pound weight class. Congratulations OP!

LMS Track practice started this week and there are currently over 90 athletes participating. The track team kicks off the season on Tuesday April 7th at the Jerseyville Invite.

LECC: It is a great time to be a Purple Panther at LECC! Spring is a season where we see significant growth and progress in our students. We have been busy and will continue to be so all the way up to spring break as well as when we return through the end of the school year.

Kindergarten Registration will take place on Tuesday, April 14 from 4-7 PM at the LECC building.

We wish to remind all parents that children of LECC age are required to be in an age-appropriate safety restraint. While we appreciate parents and guardians ensuring a quick and speedy pickup at the end of the day, everyone must remain mindful that buckling and harnessing often requires adult assistance until a child masters the skill (and the adult still needs to check!). Use this link for more info: IDOT Child Safety Restraints

With the varying weather, we continue to be thankful for our indoor recess space, but we will continue to focus on being outside as much as possible. Parents and guardians are encouraged to ensure their children have clothes appropriate for outdoor recess time.

We continue to focus on excellent attendance. Our students have many things to learn at this young age—including academic, social, fine motor, and gross motor skills. As our mascot, Pounce, states on our digital outdoor sign: "Be at school, on time, every day as long as you are not sick."

The building continues to focus on hands-on learning, and we are working with our play-based learning coach to achieve these goals. This approach is a natural fit for early childhood teachers, who remain mindful that academic skills are embedded alongside the social-emotional goals of our students.

First grader Myla Cox was nominated to attend the Illinois Principals Association (IPA) Student Recognition Breakfast at Greenville University on Friday the 13th. Students are selected based on a wide range of academic and community qualities. The event hosted 59 students and over 212 total attendees. The Illinois Principals Association is an organization that supports school principals in their roles as building leaders and provides events such as this to highlight and connect with the communities they serve. Myla was a great representative of our school!

The LECC playground will have a sunshade structure installed over the summer. The structure is funded by local grants from the Baker, Davis, Duff, and Corwin foundations. We look forward to a more comfortable recess facility for all of our young learners.

LES: This school year is flying by, and the month of March is no exception. The LES calendar has been packed since the last board meeting with lots of learning, giving back to our community, preparing for the IAR tests, and testing. We even managed to work in some fun too!

LMS: IAR testing is currently underway and progressing smoothly. Students have approached testing with a positive mindset and have reported feeling confident about their performance. We are excited to see how well they have done.

In addition to testing, students have had valuable learning experiences outside the classroom. Our 6th grade students traveled to St. Louis to attend Music of Lewis and Clark at the Sheldon Theatre, while our 8th grade students visited the Lincoln Museum and Lincoln Tomb in Springfield. Both trips provided meaningful opportunities to connect classroom learning to real-world experiences.

Last Friday, we held our 3rd quarter Success Day with a focus on i-Ready lesson mastery. Students who scored 80% or higher on an i-Ready lesson were entered into a drawing to “Tat a Teacher,” which created a high level of excitement and engagement.

The results from the day were impressive. Students completed a total of 3,781 lessons, with 2,973 lessons passed, resulting in an 85% pass rate. In total, students spent 42,191 minutes engaged in learning, which equates to 703 hours of instructional time. By grade level, 6th grade students passed 1,000 lessons, 7th grade students passed 1,173 lessons, and 8th grade students passed 788 lessons.

LHS: We have had an exciting and productive few weeks filled with student achievement and community engagement.

• During FFA Week (Feb. 23-27), students participated in themed dress-up days and extended their learning beyond the high school by teaching elementary students about plant growth at LES and LECC. We would like to recognize and thank our FFA sponsors and Ag teachers, Matt Belusko and Stacy Swanson, and FFA student members for their leadership and outreach.
• As part of Panther Points, we celebrated students demonstrating strong attendance, academic effort, and commitment to the “Panther Way" (involvement, character, and making a positive impact) with a Donut Day.
• We participated in our annual Musical Preview Day held to build excitement for this weekend’s performances. We encourage the community to come out and support our talented students starting tonight through Sunday.
• Our community service group of sophomores and their teacher, Stacy Swanson, recently distributed the inaugural issue of the Purple Panther magazine to local businesses, strengthening connections within our community.
• Our Social Committee provided Oreo Cookies for Oreo Appreciation Day and Pie on Pie Day to celebrate these to days with the staff at LHS.
• We are proud to also share that our Scholastic Bowl team and their coaches, Jo Brummet and Stacy Carter, earned a Regional Championship, and this has been an outstanding season of success for this group and other Academic groups at LHS. Students participating in All-State Band and Choir, Solo & Ensemble, Science Olympiad, and Scholastic Bowl have represented Litchfield High School with excellence this past month and will be celebrated at our April Board meeting.

New District Facebook Page:

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61581114507291

If you have not, please like our new page. Our old group has been archived.

MAKE IT PROGRAM

If you are interested in enrolling your student in MAKE-IT, please contact Kelley Walker at kwalker@litchfieldpanthers.org.

Strategic Planning Update

Over the past several months, Litchfield Community Unit School District #12 has been engaged in an important strategic planning process designed to guide the district over the next five years. With the support of facilitators from Student-Centered Services, we have brought together a group of staff members, parents, students, and community partners to help shape the future direction of our schools.

At our recent planning sessions, participants continued refining several key pieces of the plan. One of the most meaningful outcomes so far has been the continued development of a Portrait of a Graduate, which describes the skills and characteristics we hope every Purple Panther develops during their time in our schools. These include empathy, communication, critical thinking, self-management, resilience, and a strong sense of responsibility to their community.

Participants also worked together to draft and vote on possible mission and vision statements, identify the core values that should guide our work, and begin refining goals in several important focus areas. These areas include Teaching and Learning, Facilities and Learning Environment, Climate and Culture, Governance and Finance, and Family and Community Connections.

This process has allowed us to hear from many voices across our district and community. The goal is to make sure we are clear about our priorities as we continue building on the strong traditions of Purple Panther Nation.

Our final strategic planning session will take place on April 15 at the Kilton Fine Arts Center, where the group will finalize the key components of the plan and work to determine the district’s long-term goals. We appreciate everyone who has participated in the process and helped ensure that our plan truly reflects our community.

Dates of Strategic Planning & Portrait of a Graduate Committee

• Meeting 6: April 15, 2026 (5-8 pm)

You can join in one or more sessions by contacting Kris Adamson at (217-324-2157) or via email at kadamson@litchfieldpanthers.org.

Fogleman Scholarship:

The BOE heard information regarding the finances and recommendation for these scholarships. This year we are estimating 40 seniors will qualify for scholarships and the total that will be distributed this year to all students is 102. This is up from 87 last year. The recommendation was approved at $2100 per scholarship. This is a renewable scholarship for our students with the annual amount to be set by the BOE each year. This amount does vary due to the reasons above.

Early Graduates:

Approved 5 early graduates for the 2026-2027 school year. All submitted the documentation needed for early graduation and will meet the necessary requirements.

Bills- Bills payable for March 2026 total $327,578.64.

From the Education fund: $174,710.23; of this total $15,903.59 is payable for SCI.

From Operations & Maintenance: $96,385.15.

From Transportation: $24,850.50.

From Capital Projects: $27,127.26.

From Tort: $4,505.50.

Treasurer’s Report -

Ending balance in all funds at February 28, 2026 is $18,257,014.

Balance in operating funds is $15,475,762.

Balance in Capital Projects is $1,250,732.

Agreement with Illinois Laborers' and Contractors Apprenticeship and Training Trust Fund and SCI Center

The BOE approved an ongoing agreement with the Laborers for the next two years. It should be noted that we will have a new instructor next year, but we know the great program that Jason Jackson started will continue to support our community and the workforce. Thank you to Mrs. Ellis for working with the Laborer's and their Board to continue this opportunity.

Lease with ROE3

The agreement with the ROE for the use of space at the Unit Office was updated. This partnership helps the District offset utility costs and gives the Regional Office a great space to house some of their programs that support both Litchfield and other schools in the area. We are thankful for the partnership with the ROE.

Annual IHSA Membership
This is an annual occurrence and must be done to ensure our students can compete in IHSA events.

2025-2026 amended District Calendar

The calendar was amended to allot for the two e-Learning days. No change to the end of the year date. It will still be May 22nd.

2026-2027 Student Fees

The Board of Education reviewed and approved student fees for the 2026–2027 school year.

Under meal prices, the district plans to apply again for the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP), which allows schools to provide free breakfast and lunch to all students. Our Free and Reduced Lunch percentage has declined, so we are hopeful we will still qualify. However, the application does not open until April 1, and we likely will not receive confirmation until April or May. If we do not qualify, the Board will revisit and approve updated meal pricing at that time.

The district will also begin transitioning from touchscreen Chromebooks to traditional non-touchscreen Chromebooks. Because of this change, the fee associated with replacing a touchscreen device has been removed. If a touchscreen device breaks, it will be replaced with a standard Chromebook.

Additionally, admission pricing for middle school athletic events will return to a previous structure of $2 for students and seniors and $4 for adults. Athletic Directors across the conference continue to discuss possible conference-wide pricing for the future. If any changes occur, they will be brought back to the Board for consideration.

Finally, the out-of-district tuition rate will be set according to the district’s most recent audit, which calculates the Per Capita Tuition Charge at $13,405 per student.

Extra-Curricular Official Pay Scale

The Board also reviewed updates to the officials pay scale for athletic events.

One addition includes a shot clock operator, which is now required for varsity basketball games.

The district is also proposing modest increases ranging from $5 to $10 per event for certain officials in the following sports:

Litchfield High School

• Varsity Football

• Boys Basketball

• Baseball

• Softball

Litchfield Middle School

• Volleyball

• Basketball

Athletic Directors believe these adjustments will bring Litchfield more in line with surrounding and conference schools and help the district remain competitive in attracting officials. As many communities are experiencing, qualified officials are becoming increasingly difficult to secure.

Agreement with Mississippi Valley Property Casualty Intergovernmental Cooperative

As part of the district’s annual insurance review, the Board considered options for property, casualty, and workers’ compensation coverage. During this process, the district also evaluated an opportunity to join the Mississippi Valley Property Casualty Intergovernmental Cooperative (MissVIC), a school insurance pool formed in 1985 that currently serves 15 districts. Notably, no district has left the cooperative since its formation.

MissVIC proposed that Litchfield CUSD #12 join the cooperative beginning July 1, 2026, under a three-year agreement. In addition to providing coverage, the cooperative includes a Large Loss Fund, which helps support member districts in the event of significant or catastrophic events, as well as cybersecurity services that would replace current systems already in place by the district.

While we value the partnership the district has had with our previous provider, it is important that we periodically review options to ensure we are making responsible financial decisions for the district and community. For these reasons, administration recommended approval of the MissVIC agreement.

Hires:

1. Jamie Stokes as Director of the SCI Center and College & Career Programming Center beginning July 1, 2026.
2. Nick McKorkle as the Director of Buildings and Grounds / Transportation for the District beginning April 16, 2026.
3. Dana Geggie as a Bus Monitor beginning August 1, 2026.
4. Tara Gerl as a substitute Bus Driver effective immediatly.
5. Johanna Gotcher as a Special Education Teacher beginning the 2026-2027 school year.
6. Megan Orozco as the Head Volleyball Coach beginning the 2026-2027 school year.

Transfers:

1. Kim Frerichs-Casey from 4 hour custodian at Litchfield Elementary School to a full-time (8-hour) custodian at the Middle School beginning May 26, 2026.
2. Renee Melchert, bus driver from the Heart Route to the Horse Route beginning March 7, 2026.

Resignations:

1. Kalli Avera, Behavioral Technician effective March 17, 2026

2. April Pier, Substitute Bus Driver for the District as of February 23, 2026.

3. Kiersten Gibson, Accounts Payable Clerk/ Administrative Assistant effective February 28, 2026.

4. Amy Brelsfoard, Paraprofessional at Litchfield Early Childhood Center effective March 26,2026.