Dieterich School Board Hears Latest on Community Building Proposal

Dieterich school board members Tuesday heard the latest on a proposed community building for the village.

Community Development Committee member Charity Bohnhoff shared regarding what would be the Dieterich Community Center. The proposed project is for a building to house a gym, 24-hour fitness facility, meeting rooms and daycare.

The Board also heard from building principals Scott Kocher and Josh Benefiel on the progress of the school year. The principals said, overall, the school year continues to go well. Many remote learning students are returning to in-person instruction, a tutoring program has been implemented to assist students, and the impact of COVID-19 has been minimal compared to expectations.

Board members amended this year's school calendar to include Remote Planning Days on October 22, November 25, February 12, and April 1. Remote Planning Days are days for the staff to prepare for remote learning. These days are not additional days to the calendar, but replace regular student attendance days. The school year is not extended due to the addition of Remote Planning Days.

The Dieterich board accepted the audit of the past school year; accepted a proposal for replacement and relocation of a main gas line to replace a line placed underground in the 1960s and rerouting the line on top of the building; approved Holly Koester and Hanna Niemerg as student teachers; and hired Cheyenne Brickner as the high school Scholar Bowl coach for this year.

The Dieterich board also recognized board member Diane Aherin for attaining Level 1 of the Illinois Association of School Boards' Master Board Member Program, and Dieterich Superintendent Cary Jackson updated the Board on grants providing funding for the District to enhance remote learning, cleaning and disinfecting the facilities and for student access to devices and internet. Dieterich schools will use the funds to make a learning device available to every student in the district, install WIFI access points to the exterior of the school for student and community use, enhance the internal network structure within the building, and purchase disinfecting and cleaning supplies needed to address COVID-19.