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SEDOM Center to shut down Transition of students to other programs will be on case-by-case basis By ALLISON GOODRICH agoodrich@shawmedia.com
Just rehearsing for performances will take some adjustment, Hester said. Sometimes performing arts teachers would use the auditorium for practicing choreography for fall follies. With the ongoing work, which at times can be loud, classes have moved to the lobby of the school or to other band rooms. The gym itself also is available to use, Hester said. John Jordan, a board member and co-founder of the Cary-Grove Fine Arts Foundation, helped organize the effort to raise money for a new auditorium. The foundation committed to contributing $1.5 million of the $8.5 million project price tag. Jordan said the foundation has $250,000 more to raise. Money has been raised through a benefit concert in November and through donations by Foglia Family Foundation and local businesses, among other things. The fine arts foundation does plan to have a donor recognition wall in the lobby of the auditorium.
WOODSTOCK – As plans unfold to restructure the Special Education District of McHenry County, namely the impending closure of the SEDOM Center in Woodstock, questions and concerns are circulating among families of affected students. SEDOM Center, 1200 Claussen Drive in Woodstock, will cease operations after this school year, according to SEDOM Superintendent Kathy Wilhoit. Wilhoit said the decision came about a month ago after years of declining enrollment, particularly within the center, as member districts have increasingly provided in-house special education programming. Parents of the roughly 60 students enrolled at the center, as well as faculty and staff, were notified last week, she added. There are about 131 students total in SEDOM programs. Wilhoit said the transition of center students to other programs will be determined on a case-by-case basis at their individual and annual planning meetings. Missy Gruenes of Harvard has a 15-year-old, wheelchair-bound daughter enrolled at SEDOM Center. The news about the center, Gruenes said, was upsetting. “I feel the school needs to be there because now we could be talking about putting these kids in a public school environment,” she said. Similar concerns were expressed by Wonder Lake
See AUDITORIUM, page A6
See SEDOM, page A6
Photos by Kyle Grillot – kgrillot@shawmedia.com
A Cary firefighter works to break a hole through the ceiling below the sound room inside the Cary-Grove High School theater Sept. 16 during a training session. The training session gives the department a chance to practice how to cut through certain materials and building structures.
Old makes way for new Cary-Grove tears down 50-year-old theater to build auditorium By JOSEPH BUSTOS jbustos@shawmedia.com CARY – In order to make way for a new auditorium at CaryGrove High School, the 50-yearold theater had to be torn down. The fenced-off area at the school has piles of old concrete and debris. In recent weeks, workers removed asbestos, members of the Cary Area Fire Protection District assisted with the teardown by holding a training session in the auditorium, and large equipment was brought in to perform the main part of the demolition. Crystal Lake-based Community High School District 155 is in the process of building a new 650seat auditorium for the school, with an accompanying lobby, multipurpose room, restrooms, dressing rooms and scene shop. The yearlong project also will include a reconfigured main entrance for the school to provide enhanced security during school days. The $8.5 million project has been in the works in recent years. Because of the yearlong proj-
Pepper Construction employees work to clear debris Sept. 20 while demolishing the old Cary-Grove High School theater in Cary. ect, the school has relocated and rescheduled several performing arts events throughout the year. Concerts are scheduled to take place in the school’s gyms, and the annual spring musical is planned for January at the Crystal Lake South High School auditorium. The traditional fall follies are scheduled for the spring. A spring choral concert has
been moved to October. “It was very important ... to preserve the performance opportunities for our students,” Choir Director Kristine Hester said. “We didn’t want anybody to miss out on anything.” Hester added the change of venue also allows some creative juices to flow as they work out how to set up some of the performances, from seating to lighting.
“I feel the school needs to be there because now we could be talking about putting these kids in a public school environment.” Missy Gruenes Harvard resident who has a 15-yearold wheelchair-bound daughter enrolled at SEDOM Center
By the numbers
620 students enrolled at SEDOM in 2003
169 students enrolled at SEDOM in 2013
County sheriff’s candidate calls out GOP official Releases documents detailing criminal background of party fundraiser Schuch By CHELSEA McDOUGALL cmcdougall@shawmedia.com McHenry County sheriff’s candidate Jim Harrison launched a new attack in his campaign against Republican nominee Bill Prim, taking aim at a relatively high-ranking member of the county GOP. Documents Harrison released to Chicago-area media this week show the local Republican party’s fundraiser, Mickey Schuch of Woodstock, has a misdemeanor convic-
tion from 2000 stemming from an armed robbery attempt in Crystal Lake. Schuch is a Republican precinct committeeman, vice chairman of the McHenry County Republican Party Ways and Means and president of the McHenry County Right to Carry Association. In his role with the county Republicans, Schuch is responsible for fundraising and knowing what kind of financial resources the party needs. He is part of a new slate of Re-
publican leadership elected earlier this year. Republican Party Chairwoman Sandra Salgado did not return a phone message left for her Wednesday. Schuch was 22 years old when, in November 2000, he and two others were arrested in a robbery attempt. According to police reports provided by Harrison, Schuch cut the phone line to a man’s home in Crystal Lake. The masked men knocked on the door, and when the homeowner didn’t
let them in, they fled. Police reports indicate Schuch was armed with two knives, and another man had a homemade bludgeon. No one was injured. Schuch called his arrest a “mistake” and a “stupid decision many years ago.” “I’m not an attorney, but to the best of my knowledge, volunteering to help with not-forprofits and local political races is not a crime nor improper. In fact, I’m proud to have helped
See ELECTION, page A6
Photo provided
State’s Attorney Lou Bianchi (left), Republican precinct committeeman Mickey Schuch, McHenry County Board Chairman Tina Hill, GOP Sheriff’s candidate Bill Prim, former Prim campaign manager Matt McNamara and McHenry County GOP Chairwoman Sandra Salgado are pictured.
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