Robinson Unit 2 is investigating changes in physical education that will make student athletes safer.

Meeting Monday, the Unit 2 school board heard a recommendation from Robinson High School football coach Casey Pinnell that would add an advance PE class that would emphasize training to avoiding concussions and soft tissue injuries while playing and practicing sports.

The proposal, which includes input from all coaches, would eliminate the waiver for PE now granted athletes who play at least two sports.

“We all think this is a good idea,” Pinnell said. “If nothing else, it’s about player safety.”

Work on the proposal began before the pandemic. Research then showed that during the 2018-19 school year, 216 RHS students – 48 percent of the student body – participated in sports. Numbers were evenly divided among boys and girls and among all four grade levels.

Between 2017 and 2019, RHS athletes suffered 132 injuries resulting in a loss of playing time. Of this, only 16 injuries were among students who participated in regular, year-round fitness training. Few students participated in off-season training. Use of the weight room by athletes is only mandatory when they are active in a sport.

The lack of regular training and a lack of emphasis on injury prevention led to more injuries, Pinnell said.

Pinnell called for mandatory physical education for all student athletes. This might include an “early bird” before school three days a week focusing on training and injury prevention.

By having the class early, juniors and seniors enrolled in dual credit courses at Lincoln Trail College could participate. PE courses during the first two periods each day could be open to other athletes.

The courses would also be open to non-athletes interested in lifetime fitness. They would provide all students with “what they need to stay healthy,” Pinnell said. “They would focus on health and well-being.”

Ideally, the program would be taught by a certified strength and conditioning coach. This might be accomplished through contracting with an outside expert or even through a change in the athletic training contract with Crawford Memorial Hospital.

There are questions about whether students will want to take an early bird PE class and whether it might discourage athletes from taking advanced and dual credit courses if they also must take mandatory PE.

“I like the early bird option, but I’m not sure 16- and 17-year-olds will,” Superintendent Josh Quick said.

“We don’t want to lose kids who are on the fence,” Pinnell said, adding he will survey students about the idea.

He hopes students would embrace the change “as part of the team process,” especially if it is promoted as “this is how we keep you safe, this is how we keep you going.”

Board members also gave final approval to the annual the tax levy Monday.

The levy, minus money to cover outstanding bonds, is over $12.9 million. This includes $8 million in the Education Fund, $2 million for buildings and maintenance and $800,000 for transportation. It also includes $150,000 for the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund, an amount cut $25,000 from last year.

Quick explained in November the district always sets the levy – the amount of tax income it needs to operate – high as a precaution. What it can collect, however, is based on Unit 2’s total equalized assessed valuation and limited by the tax rate.

Quick said the actual amount the district will likely collect is less than $12.5 million, about $36,632 less than collected this year.

The estimated EAV, at almost $384 million, is expected to be down from this year’s $385.2 million.

The board also heard a report about a program meant to build self-esteem and combat bullying at Nuttall Middle School.

Librarian Sarah Hemrich and several teachers discussed a “group read” of the book Starfish among eighth-grade girls. The book, written in verse by Lisa Fipps, is the tale of a middle-school girl bullied her whole life for her weight and how she overcame it.

“It really facilitated some great conversations among students,” Quick said. “It shed light on the impact of teasing.”

Hemrich said she would love to find something similarly empowering for boys that could be used in a follow-up program. “Something with a male character that the boys could connect with.”

In personnel matters, the board hired Jennifer Saad as an assistant girls basketball coach at RHS. It also hired Stephanie Dean and Tarita Siler as after-school tutors at Lincoln Elementary School, Jessie Steele and Abby Chipman as temporary intervention support at Washington Elementary School and Judy Smith as a long-term substitute English teacher at RHS.

Pay and hours were adjusted for RHS nurse Abby Williams and NMS nurse Kylie Littlejohn and resignations were accepted from NMS girls basketball coach Eric Dean and RHS assistant football coach Scott Albright.

The board authorized purchase of three full-sized pre-owned buses. The year-old vehicles will be delivered in July and will help bring the age of all buses in the district fleet down to less than 10 years.

Members also authorized Quick to purchase a pre-owned utility truck to replace a 20-year-old one owned by Unit 2.

In his monthly report, Quick told the board work has stated on drainage issues north of the high school football field and that bids for the construction of a new sidewalk from Highland Street to NMS are due Jan. 13.

The district library policy was reviewed and approved, as was an early-release day for April 7.