Board of Education Work Session Summary: October 15

The Edwardsville Community Unit School District #7 Board of Education met on Tuesday, October 15, 2024, in the Liberty Middle School Auditorium for its monthly work session.  

These are not the official meeting minutes and do not include every detail from the meeting but rather a summary to assist the District #7 community. The official minutes can be found on the District #7 Board of Education Board Docs once approved by the Board. 

Professional Learning Communities/Guiding Coalition 
Tara Fox (Director of Curriculum and Instruction), Michael Cory (Lincoln Middle Schol Principal), Lauren Mullikin (Elementary Instructional Coach), and Nickie Pontious (EHS English Teacher), four members of the District’s PLC Guiding Coalition, provided an update on Professional Learning Communities (PLCs). The district is entering its third year of PLCs, marking a shift from a focus on teaching to a focus on student learning.  

A PLC is an ongoing process where educators collaborate in recurring cycles of collective inquiry and action research to improve student outcomes. It fosters a culture of collaboration, shared priorities, common pacing, and clarity, allowing educators to share the load in achieving better results for students. During the 2022-23 school year, the Board of Education approved an early dismissal for each school to allow teachers dedicated time for PLCs. However, PLCs are more than just meetings held on Wednesday – every action ties back to the district's mission statement, ensuring consistency in purpose and effort. 

PLCs are focused on three big ideas, including:  

1. Focus on Learning – Prioritizing student learning outcomes. 

2. Collaborative Culture – Creating a strong sense of teamwork among educators. 

3. Results-Driven – Using data to guide decision-making and improvement. 

The educators provided a look at how PLCs work in practice, offering a collaborative approach that promotes teacher efficacy and supports teams at all levels.  

Lincoln Middle School Renovation Phase 2 
BLDD and S.M. Wilson provided an update on the Lincoln project, announcing a $1,100,000 credit adjustment to the Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP) for Phase 1. Scheduled for completion in June 2025, Phase 1 features a 60,000-square-foot addition, including a competition gym, storm shelter/annex gym, library/media center, commons area, eight classrooms, and a multipurpose room. The original GMP for this phase, approved on March 25, 2024, was $40,526,264, with a total program cost of $44,985,948. 

Phase 2, also known as Bid Package 4, will be presented to the Board for approval at the monthly meeting on October 28. This phase focuses on the renovation of the original 1925 section of the building, with a proposed GMP of $46,351,217. Covering 90,000 square feet, Phase 2 will include upgrades for handicap accessibility, classroom and corridor renovations, and office and student support spaces with a projected completion date of 2027. Each GMP includes a five percent contingency. 

Next Meeting:  
Monday, October 28 – Board of Education Monthly Meeting (7 p.m. at Liberty Middle School)