Carrollton looking to partner with Ranken
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By Carmen Ensinger
In an age where technical careers are making a comeback, Carrollton Superintendent Mark Halwachs said he is currently in conversations with Ranken Technical College about partnering with them in a program at Carrollton High School.
Currently, Ranken has a similar partnership with the high school in Troy, Mo.
“I plan to go over to Troy and visit their facility over there and look at their program,” Halwachs said. “See what kinds of programs they are offering and things like that.”
As for the programs Carrollton might offer, Halwachs said it was too early in the process to say.
“We are just in the initial stages so we haven’t really gotten to the point where we have decided what programs we would like to offer,” he said. “We just know we want to move forward with trying to offer the program and do some kind of partnership with Ranken.”
The district started implementing a covid testing program that uses a person’s saliva for testing. Per the Illinois State Board of Education any district employee, which includes teachers, bus drivers, custodians, cooks, etcetera, who is not fully vaccinated, must submit to weekly covid testing.
“So far we have only used the testing procedure on our employees, but if a parent wishes to have their child tested, we can do that as well,” Halwachs said. “We have to send the results to a lab which takes about 24 to 48 hours to get the results back.”
Halwachs said 23 of the district 92 employees are not vaccinated. This is roughly 24 percent. Thankfully, the testing does not cost the district anything.
“The money for the testing is being funneled through the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH),” Halwachs said. “I think the federal government is paying for it through a grant to the IDPH.”
The board approved two tuition waivers for the students of district teachers who live out of the district to attend Carrollton schools.
The board also approved hiring Ginger Gilmore as middle school volleyball coach.
