While the 2023-2023 school year just recently wrapped up, preparations at Grades PreK-8 Fontana Elementary are already well underway by district administrators and school board members for the upcoming 2023-2024 school year.
At the recommendation of Fontana Joint 8 School District Administrator and Principal Steve Torrez, the Fontana Board of Education on June 19 set district fees for 2023-2024, with student fees seeing a $10-15 increase.
Torrez
Fontana Joint 8 School District student fees for 2023-2024 will be as follows: 4K, $35; 5K, $45; Grades 1-5, $75; and Grades 6-8, $80.
According to Torrez, the student fees cover the cost of student “consummables” like workbooks and paper, as well as other costs including student technology insurance for school-issued student Chromebooks and iPads, and student accident insurance.
People are also reading…
In board discussions on the proposed fee increases, district Business Manager Sharon Llanas noted that student fees had not gone up in “several years.”
Increases were also seen in some cafeteria fees for 2023-2024:
- Student lunch, $3.40.
- Adult or guest lunch, $4.72.
- Ala carte items, $2.25 each.
- Student breakfast, $1.90.
Unchanged cafeteria fees are as follows:
- Reduced student lunch, $0.40.
- Milk per carton at meal time, $0.40.
- 3K classroom milk break, $9.25/year.
- Grades 4K-5 classroom milk break, $70/year.
- Student reduced and free breakfast, $0.00.
- Adult or guest breakfast, $2.56.
Personnel matters
The Board of Education approved the hiring of Rylee Sahs for the position of Grades 4-5 general education teacher, with an emphasis on English language arts and social studies instruction.
Coming to Fontana with five years of teaching experience, Woodstock, Ill. resident Sahs was a second grade teacher with the Parkview School Distirct in 1,473-resident Orfordville in Rock County.
Seven candidates were interviewed for the position.
In other personnel changes at Fontana Elementary School, Torrez reported to the board that Grades 4-5 teacher Monica Torres will be filling the vacancy created with the recent retirement of veteran 17-year Fontana second grade teacher Kelly Douglas, and that permanent district substitute teacher Scott Gump will be filling the vacancy created by the resignation of middle school English language arts teacher Kelly Miller.
Other news
In other developments at the June 19 school board meeting, the Fontana Board of Education:
- Approved a non-resident enrollment tuition agreement for the 2023-2024 school year for an incoming 4K student. The $4,934 tuition fee will be billed in four installments.
- Approved a contract with 4-year Business Manager Sharon Llanas for the 2023-2024 school year, employed part-time by the district three days per week.
- Reviewed a draft list of regular school board meeting dates for the 2023-2024 school year — July 24, Aug. 28, Sept. 25, Oct. 23 (also the district annual meeting date), Nov. 27 and Dec. 18, 2023, and Jan. 22, Feb. 26, March 25, April 22, May 20 and June 24, 2024.
Next meeting
The next meeting of the Fontana Joint 8 School District Board of Education is scheduled for Monday, July 23 at 5:30 p.m. in the library at Fontana Elementary School, 450 S. Main St., Fontana.
IN 16 PHOTOS: Fontana Elementary School presents “The Wizard of Oz: Junior Edition” – April 14.15, 2023
“Somewhere, over the rainbow…”
Tired of the dreary life on her guardian aunt and uncle’s farm on the “Tornado Alley” 1931 Kansas prairie, heroic and sweet-tempered orphan girl Dorothy Gale dreams for a brighter and livelier world “somewhere, over the rainbow” in the opening scene of Fontana Elementary School’s April 14-15 production of “The Wizard of Oz: Junior Edition.” Eventually, young Dorothy discovers “there’s no place like home.”
Eric Johnson
Uncle Henry and Aunt Em on their Kansas farm
Working hard on their hardscrabble “Tornado Alley” Kansas farm during the Great Depression and drought-stricken Dust Bowl era in 1931, farmers Uncle Henry (Roman Vilona) and Aunt Em (Kinley Robbins) also serve as guardians for their orphan niece Dorothy Gale (not pictured) in the April 14-15 Fontana Elementary School production of “The Wizard of Oz: Junior Edition.”
Eric Johnson
Miss Almira Gulch comes to take away canine Toto and have him destroyed
Strict, antagonizing neighbor Miss Almira Gulch (Ellie Clausius) arrives by bike at the Kansas farm of Uncle Henry and Aunt Em to take away orphan niece Dorothy Gale’s dog, Toto, and have him destroyed. Gulch, who had hit Toto with a rake, arrives at the farm and lies that Toto bit her, announcing that she got the sheriff to give her an order to have Toto put down. Taking Toto away in a basket on her bike, Toto escapes from Gulch and runs back to Dorothy. Realizing Gulch will return for him, Dorothy and Toto run away from the farm and get swept up in a tornado, which whisks them away to the strange and magical Land of Oz, where they encounter Gulch’s doppelganger, the nefarious Wicked Witch of the West, also played by Clausius.
Eric Johnson
Dorothy Gale consults with psychic reader Professor Marvel
Looking to both rescue her beloved dog Toto and also escape her dreamy life on her aunt and uncle’s Kansas farm, young heroine Dorothy Gale (right, Gianna Kud) consults with psychic reader Professor Marvel (left, Alex Kudnik) in the April 14-15 Fontana Elementary School production of “The Wizard of Oz: Junior Edition.”
Eric Johnson
The Mayor of Oz
The Mayor of Oz (Millie Ferretti) provides a welcome to new visitor Dorothy Gale (not pictured, Gianna Kud) upon her arrival in the Land of Oz in the April 14-15 Fontana Elementary School production of “Wizard of Oz: Junior Edition.”
Eric Johnson
“Tot Munchkins” sing and dance in Fontana Elementary School’s April 14-15 production of “The Wizard of Oz: Junior Edition”
Among the denizens of the magical Land of Oz are the singing and dancing Tot Munchkins — from left, Lily Grant, Natalie Petersen and Eve Hachmeister.
Eric Johnson
Scarecrow, Tin Man and Dorothy in the April 14-15 Fontana Elementary School production of “The Wizard of Oz: Junior Edition”
As lost Kansan Dorothy Gale (right, Gianna Kud) travels the yellow brick road through the Land of Oz, she meets and makes several traveling companion friends along the way, including Scarecrow (left, Jacki Rambatt) and Tin Man (center, Cameron Cripe).
Eric Johnson
Jitterbugs swarm in
The “Jitterbug,” a musical number that was cut from MGM’s 1939 film “The Wizard of Oz,” is sometimes used in stage productions such “The Wizard of Oz: Junior Edition,” seen staged here at Fontana Elementary School on April 14-15. The Jitterbugs — (from left) Kinley Robbins, Millie Ferretti, Lily Grant and Natalie Petersen — are used by the Wicked Witch of the West to attack Dorothy Gale and her companions at they approach her castle, just before the winged monkeys swoop in to capture Dorothy. The bites of the mosquito-like Jitterbugs cause their victims to break into a frenetic dance.
Eric Johnson
Nikko, leader of the Winged Monkeys
Nikko (Millie Ferretti) is the leader of the Wicked Witch of the West’s winged monkey army in Fontana Elementary School’s April 14-15 production of “The Wizard of Oz: Junior Edition.”
Eric Johnson
“I’ll get you my pretty — and your little dog, too!”
“I’ll get you my pretty, and your little dog, too!” — In the dark and spooky haunted forest near her castle, the Wicked Witch of the West (Millie Ferretti) threatens Scarecrow (Jacki Rambatt) and Dorothy (Gianna Kud) as they make their way along the yellow brick road through the Land of Oz to see The Wizard at Emerald City.
Eric Johnson
Things look bleak for Dorothy Gale in the dungeon of the Wicked Witch’s castle as time runs out
As sand in the hourglass runs out. things look bleaks for imprisoned young heroine Dorothy Gale (Gianna Kud) as she awaits an ignominious end in the castle dungeon of the Wicked Witch of the West during the April 14-15 Fontana Elementary School production of “The Wizard of Oz: Junior Edition.”
Eric Johnson
Arrival at Emerald City
Nearing the end of their long and perilous journey along the yellow brick road, having vanquished the broom-riding Wicked Witch of the West, lost Kansan Dorothy (second from left, Gianna Kud), Cowardly Lion (left, Sophia Jackson), Scarecrow (second from right, Jacki Rambatt) and Tin Man (right, Cameron Cripe) arrive at Emerald City to see the wonderful Wizard of Oz in the hopes of making their respective dreams come true.
Eric Johnson
The Wizard of Oz (Alex Cudnik) in the April 14-15, 2023 production of “The Wizard of Oz: Junior Edition”
“Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain” — Seated in the Emerald City, the highly venerated “Wizard of Oz“ (Alex Cudnik), ruler of the Land of Oz, turns out to be a rather ordinary man, a conman and circus magician from Omaha, Neb. who has been using elaborate magic tricks, props and special effects to remake himself as the “Great of Powerful Oz.”
Eric Johnson
Glinda, the Good Witch of the North
Beautiful and graceful Glinda (Kinley Robbins), the Good Witch of the North, helps guide Dorothy Gale once she arrives in the Land of Oz. Said Glinda of Dorothy’s desire to return to Kansas from Oz, “You’ve always had the power my dear, you just had to learn it for yourself.”
Eric Johnson
“There’s no place like home…”
After her many and sometimes harrowing adventures in the magical Land of Oz, young heroine Dorothy Gale (Gianna Kud) discovers that home back in Kansas is where the heart is as she clicks the heels of her ruby shoes three times and prepares to leave Oz’s shining Emerald City: “There’s no place like home, there’s no place like home, there’s no place like home!”
Eric Johnson
Dorothy awakens back in Kansas, surrounded by concerned family and friends
Following the trauma of a tornado that struck her family’s Kansas farmstead, Dorothy (seated on bed at right, Gianna Kud) awakens, surrounded by concerned family and friends in the closing scene from Fontana Elementary School’s April 14-15 run of “The Wizard of Oz: Junior Edition.” Dorothy puzzles whether her visit to the magical Land of Oz was a just a fevered dream, or was it indeed a surreal real life adventure? Pictured, from left, are Uncle Henry (standing, Roman Vilona), Aunt Em (seated at left on bed, Kinley Robbins), Hunk (Jacki Rambatt), Zeke (Sophia Jackson), Professor Marvel (Alex Cudnik) and Hickory (Cameron Cripe).
Eric Johnson