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RAC to be closed due to bleacher problems
What was a rather uneventful and brief meeting of the Rochester school board Monday ended with two major news items, one
definite and one yet to be determined.
The Rochester administration has decided to close the Rochester Athletic Complex for the forseeable future because of
continuing problems with the bleachers in the one year old facility. The action was agreed to by the board after an executive session
that followed a 25 minute regular meeting.
The other news out of the meeting involves Central State 8 Conference football, as RHS principal Dennis Canny informed the
board that preliminary discussions were held by the CS8 athletic directors last week to consider a possible merger with the Big 12
Conference for football only.
The bleachers at the RAC have been problematic since the new building opened in August 2010. Supt. Tom Bertrand said the
district had obtained two different reports from independent groups and the consensus was that the bleachers had not been
installed properly.
“This is an installation issue, not a problem with the bleacher system itself,” Bertrand said. “If it turns out that they have to be
completely removed and done over, we’ll do that. But until we are convinced they are safe, we are not going to use the facility for any
major events.”
The problems have included trouble with the motor that moves the portable bleachers in and out, and most recently, a broken
shaft on the east side bleachers. “It’s been one thing after another,” said Bertrand, who said the R.L. Jackson Company was the
firm that handled the installation. “We have their attention and we expect some action pretty quickly.”
The facility can still be used for practices, but for the time being, high school basketball games will be held in the old high school
gymnasium across from the commons area. The next home high school wrestling meet, scheduled for January 3, will be held in the
junior high gym.
Bertrand said it was uncertain how long it would take to solve the problem. “We have no time frame on completion, but it will
most likely be weeks and not days.”
On the topic of possible CS8 football changes, the board was reminded that the discussions were still only preliminary. “It’s only
been a conversation at the AD level so far, the principals haven’t met to talk about it,” Bertrand said. The move is an attempt to solve
the problem of filling the one non-conference game for all CS8 teams every year, which resulted when Rochester joined the
conference for the start of the 2010 season.
Despite their names, both the CS8 and Big 12 will be nine-team leagues starting next year as Mattoon will be leaving the Big 12
to join the Apollo. Canny said a better solution would be finding a tenth team to join the CS8, but efforts to find a tenth team to join for
all sports have come up empty.
Under the proposal, the 18 teams would be split into three six-team divisions by enrollment. Each team would play five
“conference” games then get its other four opponents from the other divisions. Rochester, the smallest CS8 school with 684
students using last year’s numbers, would be in a division with Lincoln (855), Taylorville (898), Jacksonville (985), Decatur
Eisenhower (1065) and Urbana (1079).
The middle division would have Decatur MacArthur (1212), Champaign Central (1238), Lanphier (1239), SHG (1311.75 using
multiplier), Southeast (1328) and Glenwood (1346). Springfield, the largest CS8 school with 1563 students, would be grouped with
five Big 12 teams, Champaign Centennial (1383), Bloomington (1492), Normal West (1649), Danville (1700) and Normal
Community (1864). Bertrand said afterward that if the plan ever became a reality, though, he would expect SHG to petition to play in
the larger school division.
Dave Sturdy questioned the plan because of the increased travel that would result. “The main reason we got into this conference
was to cut down on travel,” Sturdy said. “This looks like it would increase it.” Canny admitted “there are pros and cons, and the
negatives would be increased travel and having to play some larger schools.” But Canny and athletic director J.R. Boudouris both
said an advantage would be locking in a schedule for football and not having to find a non-conference opponent.
The problem with the non-conference games is magnified because of the nine-team league. Prior to Rochester joining the CS8,
the league played two non-conference games in the first and ninth weeks of the regular season, which made for a more stable
situation. With nine teams, one CS8 team is playing out of the conference each week and Boudouris said it is not easy to find a non-
conference game in the middle of the season against a similar-sized school, as Rochester has to do. Last year, the Rockets played
Jerseyville in the third week. Next year, Rochester will play Mt. Vernon for its non-conference opponent.
The administrators were not sure, but believed that if the plan came to a vote, it would be decided by a simple majority. That
would mean that even if the Rochester board voted down the plan, it could be forced to accept it if five CS8 schools are in favor.
Randy Hawkins said the easiest solution for the CS8 would be to find a tenth team to join. Mt. Zion has been the school most
targeted by the conference in recent years, but it has turned down the requests to remain in the Apollo Conference. However, past
requests for a new member have required the new school to join the CS8 for all sports, as Rochester did. Both Canny and Bertrand
said that if a proposal to join for football only was offered, there might be some takers.
Dennis File told the board that the Capital Area Career Center was now looking for both a new director and principal, since the
current occupants are retiring. File said CACC is facing some critical issues because of declining enrollment from District 186 and
Bertrand elaborated on the enrollment numbers, saying that CACC was down to around 540 students after being over 800 just a
few years ago. In the past, two-thirds of the CACC students would come from Springfield but that trend has reversed to where the
county schools are sending the majority. Rochester’s CACC numbers have remained relatively constant over the years. This year,
the district has around 55 students enrolled and the board currently budgets $160,000 for the vocational school.
Canny reported that the district is looking at some solutions to eliminate abusive behavior by fans at sporting events, adding that
there have been two fan ejections at recent home games. Bertrand noted the problems have been with adults, and said “these
kinds of incidents are increasing not just here but everywhere and it’s mostly adults and not students causing the problems.”
The board held a truth in taxation hearing prior to the meeting and during the open session, the board voted 7-0 to approve the
2011 tax levy, which totals $10,640,514.
The breakdown of the levy by funds is Education ($5,324,601), Operations and Maintenance ($1,733,007), Transportation
($496,042), Working Cash ($125,580), Municipal Retirement ($326,509), Social Security ($326,509), Special Education ($125,580)
and $2,182,686 to be levied as a special tax for debt service.
In other action, the board approved some minor policy changes on a 7-0 vote, including the now required “Student Athlete
Concussion and Head Injuries” policy. The new policy changes are available on the district’s website. Also approved 7-0 was a
request for early graduation by RHS senior Wes Lunt.
Following the executive session, the board approved 7-0 a short personnel report. Ken Teubner was employed as a Cross
Categorical Special Education Teacher starting January 3, 2012, which will allow the district to house some students on campus
that might otherwise be placed with SASED Central. Clinton Allen was hired as a high school custodian and Brett Moore was hired
as the junior high cross country coach.
What was a rather uneventful and brief meeting of the Rochester school board Monday ended with two major news items, one
definite and one yet to be determined.
The Rochester administration has decided to close the Rochester Athletic Complex for the forseeable future because of
continuing problems with the bleachers in the one year old facility. The action was agreed to by the board after an executive session
that followed a 25 minute regular meeting.
The other news out of the meeting involves Central State 8 Conference football, as RHS principal Dennis Canny informed the
board that preliminary discussions were held by the CS8 athletic directors last week to consider a possible merger with the Big 12
Conference for football only.
The bleachers at the RAC have been problematic since the new building opened in August 2010. Supt. Tom Bertrand said the
district had obtained two different reports from independent groups and the consensus was that the bleachers had not been
installed properly.
“This is an installation issue, not a problem with the bleacher system itself,” Bertrand said. “If it turns out that they have to be
completely removed and done over, we’ll do that. But until we are convinced they are safe, we are not going to use the facility for any
major events.”
The problems have included trouble with the motor that moves the portable bleachers in and out, and most recently, a broken
shaft on the east side bleachers. “It’s been one thing after another,” said Bertrand, who said the R.L. Jackson Company was the
firm that handled the installation. “We have their attention and we expect some action pretty quickly.”
The facility can still be used for practices, but for the time being, high school basketball games will be held in the old high school
gymnasium across from the commons area. The next home high school wrestling meet, scheduled for January 3, will be held in the
junior high gym.
Bertrand said it was uncertain how long it would take to solve the problem. “We have no time frame on completion, but it will
most likely be weeks and not days.”
On the topic of possible CS8 football changes, the board was reminded that the discussions were still only preliminary. “It’s only
been a conversation at the AD level so far, the principals haven’t met to talk about it,” Bertrand said. The move is an attempt to solve
the problem of filling the one non-conference game for all CS8 teams every year, which resulted when Rochester joined the
conference for the start of the 2010 season.
Despite their names, both the CS8 and Big 12 will be nine-team leagues starting next year as Mattoon will be leaving the Big 12
to join the Apollo. Canny said a better solution would be finding a tenth team to join the CS8, but efforts to find a tenth team to join for
all sports have come up empty.
Under the proposal, the 18 teams would be split into three six-team divisions by enrollment. Each team would play five
“conference” games then get its other four opponents from the other divisions. Rochester, the smallest CS8 school with 684
students using last year’s numbers, would be in a division with Lincoln (855), Taylorville (898), Jacksonville (985), Decatur
Eisenhower (1065) and Urbana (1079).
The middle division would have Decatur MacArthur (1212), Champaign Central (1238), Lanphier (1239), SHG (1311.75 using
multiplier), Southeast (1328) and Glenwood (1346). Springfield, the largest CS8 school with 1563 students, would be grouped with
five Big 12 teams, Champaign Centennial (1383), Bloomington (1492), Normal West (1649), Danville (1700) and Normal
Community (1864). Bertrand said afterward that if the plan ever became a reality, though, he would expect SHG to petition to play in
the larger school division.
Dave Sturdy questioned the plan because of the increased travel that would result. “The main reason we got into this conference
was to cut down on travel,” Sturdy said. “This looks like it would increase it.” Canny admitted “there are pros and cons, and the
negatives would be increased travel and having to play some larger schools.” But Canny and athletic director J.R. Boudouris both
said an advantage would be locking in a schedule for football and not having to find a non-conference opponent.
The problem with the non-conference games is magnified because of the nine-team league. Prior to Rochester joining the CS8,
the league played two non-conference games in the first and ninth weeks of the regular season, which made for a more stable
situation. With nine teams, one CS8 team is playing out of the conference each week and Boudouris said it is not easy to find a non-
conference game in the middle of the season against a similar-sized school, as Rochester has to do. Last year, the Rockets played
Jerseyville in the third week. Next year, Rochester will play Mt. Vernon for its non-conference opponent.
The administrators were not sure, but believed that if the plan came to a vote, it would be decided by a simple majority. That
would mean that even if the Rochester board voted down the plan, it could be forced to accept it if five CS8 schools are in favor.
Randy Hawkins said the easiest solution for the CS8 would be to find a tenth team to join. Mt. Zion has been the school most
targeted by the conference in recent years, but it has turned down the requests to remain in the Apollo Conference. However, past
requests for a new member have required the new school to join the CS8 for all sports, as Rochester did. Both Canny and Bertrand
said that if a proposal to join for football only was offered, there might be some takers.
Dennis File told the board that the Capital Area Career Center was now looking for both a new director and principal, since the
current occupants are retiring. File said CACC is facing some critical issues because of declining enrollment from District 186 and
Bertrand elaborated on the enrollment numbers, saying that CACC was down to around 540 students after being over 800 just a
few years ago. In the past, two-thirds of the CACC students would come from Springfield but that trend has reversed to where the
county schools are sending the majority. Rochester’s CACC numbers have remained relatively constant over the years. This year,
the district has around 55 students enrolled and the board currently budgets $160,000 for the vocational school.
Canny reported that the district is looking at some solutions to eliminate abusive behavior by fans at sporting events, adding that
there have been two fan ejections at recent home games. Bertrand noted the problems have been with adults, and said “these
kinds of incidents are increasing not just here but everywhere and it’s mostly adults and not students causing the problems.”
The board held a truth in taxation hearing prior to the meeting and during the open session, the board voted 7-0 to approve the
2011 tax levy, which totals $10,640,514.
The breakdown of the levy by funds is Education ($5,324,601), Operations and Maintenance ($1,733,007), Transportation
($496,042), Working Cash ($125,580), Municipal Retirement ($326,509), Social Security ($326,509), Special Education ($125,580)
and $2,182,686 to be levied as a special tax for debt service.
In other action, the board approved some minor policy changes on a 7-0 vote, including the now required “Student Athlete
Concussion and Head Injuries” policy. The new policy changes are available on the district’s website. Also approved 7-0 was a
request for early graduation by RHS senior Wes Lunt.
Following the executive session, the board approved 7-0 a short personnel report. Ken Teubner was employed as a Cross
Categorical Special Education Teacher starting January 3, 2012, which will allow the district to house some students on campus
that might otherwise be placed with SASED Central. Clinton Allen was hired as a high school custodian and Brett Moore was hired
as the junior high cross country coach.
Issue Date: Dec. 22, 2011
