Enrollment
Enrollment numbers in the Mahomet-Seymour School District held steady this year. The data for school enrollment is collected on the sixth day of school.
Mahomet-Seymour enrollment for the 2012-2013 school year was 2992. This number is down just two students to 2990 for the 2013-2014 school year.
Superintendent Rick Johnston showed the Mahomet-Seymour school board total enrollment numbers alongside year-to-year class size numbers at the Sept. 3 board meeting.
The yearly trend beginning from data collected in the 2008-2009 school year shows kindergarten to first grade growth around 20 to 25 students. While class size tends to grow minimally between first and sixth grade, another trend is class size growth at Mahomet-Seymour Junior High.
Nearly all grades showed some growth this year. The first grade class gained 19 students. The freshmen and fourth grade class gained 11 students.
Fifth and eighth grade lost two students, while this year’s senior class dropped 14 in enrollment. Senior enrollment generally declines with early graduation and with students who drop out of school.
Five Year Master Plan
When Superintendent Rick Johnston came to the Mahomet-Seymour School District in 2012, he wanted to start by listening to the needs of the Mahomet schools.
Over the last year, school administration and school board members have worked to develop a five-year master plan detailing changes and upgrades the Mahomet-Seymour School District needs to focus on for growth within the buildings. The five-year master plan ties into the three-year financial plan approved by the Mahomet-Seymour school board.
An update of the five-year plan was presented to the school board on Sept. 3.
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The school district increased the bandwidth from 20-megs to 250-megs within the schools by tapping into the ICN Backbone network of dark fiber along I-74 this summer. This allowed for wireless connectivity at all schools.
In the future, the district plans to partner with the Village to create a community loop of dark fiber connectivity which will not only service the school district, but have the capabilities to provide service to residents and businesses within Mahomet.
With this increase in connectivity, the district is looking into ways to integrate today’s technology into the classrooms within the schools and also the possibilities of interactive classrooms servicing schools outside the district. The webinar capabilities would also give in-district access to presentations for teachers, parents and students.
The technology upgrades also help with the implementation of the Common Core State Standards which focus on making sure students are college and career ready. The Common Core integration has begun with educating teachers on the common core content.
Through increasing the schools connectivity capabilities, the school district also made the decision upgrade their software system in order to step away from the paper filing system.
The five-year plan also gives teachers the accessibility to copy and printing services within the schools instead of using the copy shop model they have used in years past.
After in-school tragedies which shook communities across the nation last year, the Mahomet-Seymour School District almost instantly installed school security and district-wide safety plans.
With monitored entry systems in each building and key fob access for school employees installed last spring, each school now has supervised entry and exit points. Each school also has advanced security systems which allow for instant communication to all necessary security groups within the area.
In the future, the district plans to develop a Safety Committee which will include two community members, Mahomet-Seymour staff and local agency personnel.
In order to cut back on transportation costs, the district has decided to not purchase new buses for the next three years. The district will make the final bus payment of $123,000 in the 2014 fiscal year.
With a $200,000 saving over the next three years, the district will decide to either lease buses or outsource daily routes under the direction of the transportation director during the 2016-2017 school year.
The school district purchased a suburban and leased a new-activity bus to save money on athletic trips and routes which carry a small number of students.
The Middletown Early Education Center underwent renovation this summer while the structure of the new early childhood center and administration building off of Route 150 grew exponentially.
Middletown gained four new fully functional classrooms in the former school board meeting room on the second floor of the school. The new classrooms allowed for full-day kindergarten to start this year.
The administrative center of the new building is scheduled to be completed in April, and the full building should be complete by June. All plans, including equipment and materials needed for the new school, are already in place.
The MECC Future Plans Committee will present options for the existing MECC building.
The board has also developed a Facilities Committee which evaluates facility improvements needs throughout all the schools. This money available from sales tax revenue funds and/or Health-Life Safety Funds support these needs.
In 2012, the district completed the MSJHS Music Addition, and this summer they replaced lockers at MSJHS.
