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By Devese Ursery The Triad School Board Meeting on Monday, June 27, kicked off this week’s meeting with the Board recognizing the Triad Varsity girl’s soccer team and its coaches on their back-to-back State Championships. “We’ve asked the varsity girl’s soccer team to attend tonight’s meeting for recognition of their achievements. Certainly the most recent one… your second championship at the State level,” said Superintendent Leigh Lewis. “We’re all proud of you and wanted to give the Board an opportunity to send their congratulations directly to you. Mrs. Lewis added, “Things looked different, sports looked different, school looked different, but you persevered and you were able to achieve some greatness on the soccer field.” Coach Matt Bettlach also added some well-deserved praise to his team for their amazing accomplishments in the last couple of years. He spoke on their dedication to the task at hand and how well-rounded they are. “These girls really worked hard all year and they had one goal in mind and they accomplished that goal. I’m very proud of this group and the 12 seniors that we have, said Bettlach. “… They’re great athletes, but they are great kids… we are very fortunate, in our program, to have just outstanding young women, and may they all go on to do great things.” Caty Burton, Skylar Webb, Brynn Presley, Maddie Hunt, Isabel Boyd, and Jocelyn Carmody each stood up and introduced themselves to the Board and received a round of applause. During the administrative reports and announcements, director of special education Linda Kowalski announced the death of visual impairment teacher Dan Eads this past Sunday. In the Superintendent’s report she announced that this would be her last Superintendent’s Message as she will be retiring from her position(?). There were 18 topics of new business on the school board meetings agenda all together. The most having to do with normal school board business for the 2022-2023 school year. Item one was the approval of donations. There was an anonymous donation of $25,000 to Triad High School Athletics for new scoreboards for both the baseball and softball fields. Modern Woodmen of America Chapter 1919 donated $500 for musical activities; and donations consisting of bulk loads of hand sanitizer, disinfectant wipes, paper towels, and toilet paper came from Troy Carquest Auto Parts. Item two of new business was the approval of several resignations with most due to retirement in the upcoming years. Item three was for the approval of the 2022 amended budget, which has been on display for the required 30 days. Changes to the original budget were made to more accurately reflect differences in revenue and expenditures that have occurred within the fiscal year. Next on the agenda was the recommended renewal of the district’s transportation contract with First Student, which provides the majority of transportation to the district’s outplaced students. The 2022-2023 renewal reflects a 12.5 percent increase over last year. This is due to the increases in the cost of wages and fuel, according to official documents. The next item dealt with the renewal of the district’s food service contract with Sodexo for the 2022-2023 school year. The increase in price of 6 percent is set by the Consumer Price Index. Earlier in the school year, Triad was granted a waiver to allow the district to go one additional year without going out for a food service bid. Unless a similar waiver is granted, the district will go through the food service bid process in the middle of next year for the 2023-2024 school year. The board also approved a 10 cent increase to basic breakfast and lunch prices. Agenda topics 7-10 were the approval of bills like energy and insurance for the 2022-2023 school year. In topic 11 of the agenda for new business, the Board approved the bid from Frederic Roofing for the C.A. Henning Gymnasium roof project. The bid for the roof is $145, 381.00 which includes material and labor. According to documents, Mike Staub, architect from FGM interviewed Frederic Roofing to ensure that everything had been covered in their bid. Mr. Staub stated, “that he saw no reason that the Triad School District should not award the contract for the roofing project to Frederic Roofing. The motion was passed with unanimous vote from the Board. The next three topics the Board approved of was the new Student/Parent Handbooks for Triad High School, Triad Middle School and the elementary schools. The rest of the meeting ended in a closed Executive session. The next Triad School Board Meeting will be held on Monday, July 12, at 6:30 p.m. at 203 E. Throp Street.
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Local Hero Gets Dedication and Plaque Unveiling at SAFB
County Purchases Variety of Vaccines
Pre-trial proceedings for Collinsville man on hold in Montgomery County
Troy Council Take Action On Multiple Ordinances and Resolutions
Collinsville Mother And Son Among Four Suspected In Metro-East Homicide

Area Sports

Collinsville’s Houck pitches against Cardinals

By Editor | June 23, 2022 |

By Mark Jurgena Houck strikes out Paul Goldschmidt looking…game over Red Sox win! Yes, I am aware it’s 15 miles to St. Louis but last Friday, June 16th was a big day for Kahok Nation. Collinsville High School alum Tanner Houck, the new closer for the Boston Red Sox, picked up his third save of…

Triad Scores IHSA 2A State Championship

By Editor | June 7, 2022 |

By Anthony Jones There are a lot of words that could be used to describe this year’s Triad girls soccer. But one sticks out after last week–champions. Their IHSA state title marked their second in as many years, a feat that had only been completed 9 times before in state history. Facing off against the…

Kahok Boys Track Continues To Improve As Spring Moves Along

By Editor | April 26, 2022 |

By Mark Jurgena Finally, the weather is getting warmer. It’s still a little windy which can hurt times, but at least the temperature is up. Those conditions helped the Collinsville boys track team put in some excellent performances last week. Winston Brown Invitational In the April 23rd meet at Edwardsville, CHS placed eighth in the…

Kahoks Take Second At Granite City Meet

By Editor | April 19, 2022 |

By Mark Jurgena A second-place team finish was the reward for a great effort by the Collinsville boys track team on April 15th at the Granite City Invitational. CHS recorded 87 team points to edge O’Fallon, Mo. (Ft. Zumwalt West) by two points. Marion won the championship with 154.5 points. “That just doesn’t happen often…

Knights Pick Up Eighth Straight Victory, Now 13-3 Overall

By Editor | April 19, 2022 |

By Anthony Jones Since a 5-1 loss to O’Fallon on April 1, not much has been able to slow down Triad baseball. The team has gone on to win 9 straight and has only played from behind once over that stretch. This past week was another key part to this hot streak, with the Knights…

Collinsville Boys Track Takes Part In Two Big Meets

By Editor | April 14, 2022 |

By Mark Jurgena On April 9th, the Collinsville boys track team took part in the gigantic Norm Armstrong Invitational at Belleville West. Athletes from 36 teams took part in the event. Collinsville finished in 19th place in the team standings with 12 points. Minooka beat Edwardsville for the team title. The Indians scored 88 points…

Bulldog Baseball Extends Winning Streak To Six

By Editor | April 14, 2022 |

By Daniel Makarewicz Three mercy-rule wins helped the Highland baseball team extend its winning streak to six games. In fact, the Bulldogs scored at least 15 runs in victories over Granite City, Wesclin and Mater Dei. Highland opened the week with a 16-2, 5-inning win over Granite City at GCS Park in Sauget. Senior Matt…

Triad Track Races At Distance Carnival, Indoor Top Times

By Editor | March 31, 2022 |

By Anthony Jones Competing at the same two meets, Triad’s girls and boys track and field teams had a big two day stretch of action last week. Both teams kicked off their outdoor season on March 28, as they hosted the second annual Triad Distance Carnival. Even in the face of strong winds, this proved…

Parrill Fires No-Hitter; CHS Baseball Wins Twice

By Editor | March 31, 2022 |

By Mark Jurgena Collinsville’s baseball team flexed their hitting muscle twice last week as they scored 22 runs in two games to have a perfect week of games and raised their overall record to 4-2 on the young season. Oh yes and they recorded a no-hitter as well. Collinsville 11 Plano 0 (5 inn) 17…

Bulldogs Open With Three Wins On The Diamond

By Editor | March 31, 2022 |

By Daniel Makarewicz The intent of Highland sophomore shortstop Trey Koishor’s seventh-inning suicide squeeze bunt was tying the score on Saturday afternoon. Instead, it ended the game. Koishor’s perfectly executed bunt easily scored Matt Miscik from third base, but also plated Tyler Griesbaum from second. The squeeze helped the Bulldogs snag a 6-5 win over…