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Volume 142 No. 25
Friday, May 27, 2016
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Do the new rules apply to Tonica? Board looks at transgender students and disciplinary actions By Zachary J. Pratt news@tonicanews.com
TONICA — Tonica is preparing for new rules which will affect the school. At the school board meeting Wednesday, May 18, school attorney Walt Zukowski talked to the Tonica School Board about new rules regarding accommodations for transgender students as well as those regarding disciplinary actions. Zukowski has been working with the district for a number of years. “Back when Tonica had a running high school,” he said in illustration. “That’s been a long time.” Transgender New rules have come out regarding accommodations for students who state they are transgender. Called a “Dear Colleague Letter,” these rules have not gone through the leg-
islative process and thus are not a law. Nevertheless, Tonica could be expected to abide by them. “It’s a letter written by those departments in the Obama administration looking at the situation and saying, ‘This is what we would like you to do,’” Zukowski said to explain what these rules are. “This is not a law,” Zukowski said. He explained that, in the hierarchy of rules, these letters are not at the top. At the top is the law, which has an arduous process to reach that point, after which comes regulations. It is only after regulations that these Dear Colleague letters come into the picture. “What they are recommending you do is that you accommodate students who identify as transgender,” Zukowski said. “This does not require any surgery, nor does it require any sort of therapy for the situation. It
appears, at this point anyway, that it requires only a statement from the student that they identify as a sex other than their birth sex.” This requirement is a major point of contention, as evidenced by the discussion at the meeting. “In my opinion it’s a joke,” said board President Jeremy Hillyer. “Saying, ‘I get to go in the girls’ bathroom because I say I’m something other than what I was born as?” Other board members had the same issue. Regardless of the student’s actual intent or the truthfulness behind the declaration, these letters seem to indicate that it takes only a statement before the school will have to make a decision whether it will comply.
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TONICA — In the wake of its program cuts, the Tonica School Board discussed methods through which to generate more revenue, which would help insulate the school from needing to get rid of more programs. Discussion regarding this topic continued at the board’s Wednesday, May 18, meeting this month, especially in regards to food and sports. Interim Superintendent Lawrence Carlton presented his proposed price changes, which prompted discussion regarding how much the school can justify increasing various prices. “I’d like to see us break even,” Marty Wiesbrock said of the food program. “There’s deficit spending all over the place, and I think lunch should break even.” The anticipated problem with such a goal is the question of whether raising certain prices will cause the school to lose numbers sold. “I don’t think there’s a way to say, ‘This is what the price is going to be; this is what will make us break even,” board member Al Leffelman said.
Bidding Fieldcrest farewell? Malahy: ‘There really isn’t a reason to dissolve the agreement right now’ Tonica News photo/Dave Cook
A bittersweet goodbye Putnam County High School valedictorian Olivia Lindstrom bid a thoughtful and emotional farewell to her school and classmates during Putnam County’s 50th annual commencement ceremony on May 20. Lindstrom is also a member of the National Honor Society and completed more than 100 community service hours during her time at PCHS.
Fieldcrest Page 2
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School board Page 3
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Vol. 142 No. 25
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By Zachary J. Pratt
LOSTANT — Lostant has considered the possibility of dissolving its Intergovernmental Agreement with the Fieldcrest school district, but discussion indicates the agreement will likely remain in place. At the Lostant School Board meeting Wednesday, May 18, Superintendent Sandra Malahy spoke about the discussed changes to the agreement.
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Tonica School Board carefully considers all three
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