The Rochelle Township High School Board held a public hearing for and unanimously approved its fiscal 2026 budget at its monthly meeting Monday, Sept. 15.

During the public hearing, District Business Manager Kevin Dale presented key figures in the budget. The district has total receipts of $19,152,173, total expenditures of $20,886,158, and transfers of $650,000.

“A lot of the deficits are intentional in some areas due to our reserve reduction plan that we put in place to spend down project costs so we’re not going out and asking for more money,” Dale said. “We’re spending what we already have in reserves and keeping those costs in house. Overall we’re healthy with beginning and ending fund balances across all funds. We’re not required by the state to file a deficit reduction plan even though we’re showing deficits in multiple funds. We’re right on track with our plans.”

Part of RTHS’s reserve reduction plan is using funds to pay for construction costs, including its newly renovated library media center, for which construction cost was $746,050 and will be paid for this year as part of the fiscal 2026 budget.

Teachers

RTHS Assistant Principal Alison Vrana presented a principal’s report to the board during the meeting and detailed RTHS’s new teachers. New to RTHS are Kim Waters (Spanish teacher), Finley Callahan (English teacher) and Amber Cravens (librarian).

Currently, 33% of RTHS’s teachers are nontenured. The school has recently worked to improve its supports in place for new teachers, including new teacher orientation, a mentor program, professional learning communities, collaboration, Danielson evaluations and the addition of a student growth coach.

Homecoming

Vrana detailed Homecoming Week plans for RTHS, which will take place Sept. 22-27. The parade will take place 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 25, and will run from the downtown area to Tilton Elementary School. The pep rally and coronation will take place outdoors on the football field at 6:30, followed by the powderpuff football game at 8 p.m. RTHS will face LaSalle-Peru in football on Friday, Sept. 26, and the Homecoming dance will be Saturday, Sept. 27.

Personnel

The board unanimously approved personnel changes, including the resignation of Deanna Jacobs (softball head coach) and the employment of Anna Criswell (interim softball head coach, 2025-26) and Chad Stewart (interim assistant softball coach, 2025-26).

Expulsion

Following a meeting in executive session, the board voted unanimously to expel an unnamed student for two years.