Board of Education Monthly Meeting Summary: August 2025

The Edwardsville Community Unit School District #7 Board of Education met on Monday, August 25, 2025, in the Liberty Middle School Auditorium for its monthly 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 Board of Education Dilligent website once approved by the Board. 

Superintendent's Report 

• The current enrollment is 6,979 students. The kindergarten class of 409 students is one of the smallest in recent history, while the graduating class is around 550 students. There are 269 new students to the district, including 93 who are entering either 6th or 9th grade.  

• The seven secure entry projects are complete. At a few buildings, the glass in the secure entry areas is causing extreme glare and heat. The district is exploring window tinting and glazing solutions to address this, as well as assessing furniture needs to improve functionality. A few other minor items are also still being resolved. 

• Alternate bus stop requests are still being processed. On the Friday before school started, more than 85 requests were submitted.  

• One area not addressed in the new Woodland pick-up and drop-off design is access from the newly completed shared-use path. While the new Lincoln area now provides safe access from Schwarz Street, the path does not yet connect Woodland from the south. The district is exploring grants to fund a meandering path connecting the shared-use path to Woodland’s front entrance. 

• Registration fees were posted in the PowerSchool Parent Portal and communicated as “instructional technology fees,” matching what was shown during registration. This is the same fee referred to as the “instructional materials fee” in the handbook. Starting next year, this fee will be designated specifically for technology purposes. 

• A reminder that a grand opening and centennial celebration will take place on Sunday, Aug. 31 at 2 p.m. at Lincoln Middle School. This ribbon-cutting event commemorates the August 31, 1925, grand opening of Edwardsville High School and will feature public tours of Lincoln’s newly completed areas. Guests can enjoy special speakers, commemorative bookmarks, and student-led tours. Parking for the event will be available in the lot adjacent to the Lucco Gymnasium of Lincoln Middle School, although accessible parking is available in the front of Lincoln. If you require accessible parking, please call 618-655-6014 to request a parking pass. Staff will be on hand to assist and supervise parking. 

 

Facility Renovation Update 
Four proposed construction plans for Hamel Elementary were presented. The first is the design shared at the earlier work session, featuring a remodel of the two pod areas. The second moves the cafeteria to the north pod, allowing the current gym to be used solely as a gym. The third also relocates the cafeteria but expands the gym, which would result in losing gym access for one school year. The final option proposes building a new gym east of the existing one, with the current gym/cafeteria space converted into a cafeteria only. 

Woodland School Improvement Team 
The Woodland School Improvement Team presented its plan for the 2025-26 school year. After being identified for school improvement in 2023-24, Woodland formed a team to conduct a needs analysis and develop a School Improvement Plan for 2024-25. The past year saw significant growth, with the Illinois School Report Card Index Score rising from 59.15 (targeted) in 2023 to 76.55 (commendable) in 2024. The school also demonstrated strong gains on the 5Essentials survey, particularly in effective leaders, collaborative teachers, and involved families. The 2025-26 plan focuses on four goals: developing and implementing learning targets for all essential standards in one subject area; using data from six common formative assessments to guide instruction and ensure mastery for every student; reducing behavior incidents so that 85% of Woodland students have no behavior logs per quarter through Tier 1 supports; and achieving Tier 1 fidelity in the Second Step curriculum, with all classrooms delivering all 20 lessons. 

Concussion Oversight Team 
Athletics Director Amy Boscolo provided an overview of the Concussion Oversight Team, which meets annually. She explained that athletic trainers use the SCAT6 assessment tool to evaluate concussions. Students diagnosed with a concussion receive detailed home care instructions, and per the district’s return-to-play protocol, athletes must be symptom-free for 24–48 hours without the use of NSAIDs or other pain relievers before resuming activity. 

In action, the board approved:  

• The disposal of surplus cafeteria furniture. The cafeteria furniture items (tables and chairs) removed from Lincoln Middle School and Edwardsville High School due to the renovations that were completed this summer are being declared surplus.  

• The Woodland Elementary School Improvement Plan for the 2025-26 School Year. The plan will now be submitted to ISBE.  

• EHS projects change order. The original project approved did not include any contingencies to address findings related to construction or design. As a result, administration recommended the following design and/or construction changes for the Track & Field, and Varsity Softball Field Project: 

•  A change in the scope of the project to include: 

• Partial Area Track Stabilization ($33,900); 

• F&I Storm outlet control structures ($19,150); 

• Deduction of a new Perimeter Fence (-$55,125); 

• Addition of Pro Style Panel Wall Backstop ($64,945); and, 

• Up to $58,855 for soil stabilization (to be determined during construction). 

A portion of the upgrades to the softball field will be funded by the EHS Softball Boosters.  

Next Meeting:  
Monday, Sept. 8: Board of Education Work Session (6 p.m. at Liberty Middle School) 
Monday, Sept. 22: Board of Education Monthly Meeting (7 p.m. at Liberty Middle School)