Triad officials are working to ensure that students’ families are in the loop when it comes to safety precautions.
The district will host two open house-style sessions surrounding safety practices on July 31 and Aug. 14. Both will be held in the high school auditorium at 6 p.m.
During the Board of Education meeting Thursday, Superintendent Vickie Hoffman-Maruniak said the informational sessions will include safety tours but will largely revolve around question and answer time for students’ parents and guardians.
The district’s School Resource Officer (SRO), a deputy with the Champaign County Sheriff’s Office, and the private security guard hired through a contract with Genric will both be at the sessions.
Board member Randy Moore said the goal is to “inform everyone as much as we can without giving away the game plan.”
Hoffman-Maruniak agreed, noting that general practices will be shared but specific locations will not be.
Along with the in-person safety sessions, the superintendent said she will be regularly uploading videos online that explain different aspects of the district’s practices.
For instance, parents and guardians will be able to learn more about what would happen if an event occurred at school that required family reunification afterward.
Hoffman-Maruniak said she would explain that families would meet at a location other than the school building and would need to present a photo ID in order to be reunited with their children. However, she would not disclose where the reunification would take place.
She said officials at the district are working to ensure that as many safety precautions are taken as possible, and families are aware of them.
In other business:
– Hoffman-Maruniak detailed several improvements made to district buildings throughout students’ summer break.
She said power-washing the high school made “such a huge difference” to its appearance and removed staining to the bricks.
She explained that the estimate to power-wash the entire building was higher than the district desired to spend at once, so the project was split into portions. The front of the high school and sidewalks were cleaned during this session and other sections will be done on a rotation.
Other projects included improvements to the middle school parking lot, work on egress windows in the high school so there is one in every classroom, updated paint and flooring at the middle school and completion of the visitors ticket booth at the athletic facilities.
– The board approved the cafeteria prices for the 2023-24 school year, which will remain the same as the previous year.
Lunches will be priced as follows: $3 for high school, $2.75 for middle and elementary school and $4 for adults. Milk is included in the price for students but not adults.
While prices will remain the same, Hoffman-Maruniak noted that reduced lunches will now be free thanks to government programming.
– The board also approved the purchase of a student transportation van, totaling the district’s fleet at three aside from buses.
Triad will purchase a 2023 Honda Odyssey four-door wagon EX from Honda Marysville for $38,619.50.
Hoffman-Maruniak said the vehicle that was previously being used was no longer in the condition it should be to transport students. She said the new vehicle will replace it on business and internship visits to which students are transported.