McHenry District 156 school board candidates eye potential enrollment growth, direction

Of the five candidates running for three four-year seats on the McHenry Community High School District 156 school board, three are incumbents, one served on the board previously and one is new to school board elections.

Appearing on the April 4 ballot are incumbents Dawn Bremer, Timothy Hying and Nicole Morrow; former board member Steve Bellmore; and newcomer Colleen Galvicius.

The incumbent candidates and Bellmore said they are happy with the district’s current direction but are eyeing how potential enrollment growth via new housing developments could challenge the district in the coming years.

Galvicius, running for her first elected position, said while she knows and likes “everybody on our school board,” she did not like how the “last three years went with [COVID-19] and I want to see what I can do to change it.”

She also voiced some concern over books assigned for English reading. Galvicius, a police officer, has been a substitute teacher in the past, and with “two kids in the high school, I have read everything they read,” she said.

Bremer, the current board president, first ran for the school board in 2015 when she heard people say they didn’t want their children in the high school and planned to move out of district. She is proud that following additions and new programs, McHenry high schools are “a destination school district with a comprehensive curriculum course,” Bremer said.

Some of those curriculum additions came after voters approved a $44 million bond referendum in 2018. Using those funds, District 156 reconfigured its two high schools. The former McHenry West High School is now the Upper Campus, housing grades 10, 11 and 12.

The former East Campus is now the Freshman Campus, housing grade 9 students only.

Taxpayers also funded a 70,000-square-foot addition at the Upper Campus: the Center for Science, Technology and Industry. The program offers classes in computing, engineering, robotics, manufacturing, construction, broadcasting and biomedical equipment. A graphics printing studio, greenhouse and outdoor growing and experimentation area were also part of those additions.

Hying has served on the board for 10 years. What he appreciates about the science and technology program is that the high school offers dual credit, internships and other avenues to help students either get into college or go directly into work after graduation, he said.

“It is manufacturing related. It is health care related. The curriculum is not just for the college-bound students,” Hying said.

But the board must ensure it is planning for possible enrollment increases, too, he said.

“You have to continually have a plan a plan B and a plan C. The worst thing you can do is be caught behind the 8 ball” when those students arrive, he said.

McHenry’s high schools expect much of that growth from the massive Stonewater development in Wonder Lake. With up to 3,700 homes planned, the subdivision is expected to bring 10,000 new residents to the village of Wonder Lake and into the high school district.

Incumbent Nicole Morrow is finishing her first four-year term. Prior to running for office, she had worked in the district’s finance department for 10 years.

Becoming a “destination district” has helped the district hire and retain teachers, but it is also attracting new families, Morrow said. “We are going to have to figure out a plan, with Stonewater on how we can still serve our student population,” Morrow said.

Morrow said that may mean a new addition in the future, but there is groundwork laid for that. A space is set aside for additional classrooms on the top floor of the new addition.

Bellmore, who chose to not run for reelection in 2019, said the board has time to plan as it determines the best route to absorb new students.

He said the district also owns acreage on Route 120 that could be developed into a new high school campus. “Is that going to be needed for a new facility down the road?” he said. “I think so, but we have to be proactive.”

Galvicius said she is aware of the potential enrollment increases but understands “there is some cushion” to absorb that growth and that the high school is in good condition to do so.