After a late arrival due to his participation in a sectional track meet at Hoopeston, Paxton-Buckley-Loda High School graduate Brady Young receives his diploma from school board member Joshua Mullins on Friday, May 23. Andrew Rosten/Ford County Chronicle
PAXTON — On a Friday in late May, while their senior classmates were walking the stage and receiving their diplomas at Paxton-Buckley-Loda High School, Brady Young and Isaiah Busby were some 20 miles away in Hoopeston, where they were competing in a sectional track-and-field meet.
After both qualified for the IHSA Class 1A state meet in the 4×800 relay — with Busby also qualifying in the 800-meter run — the duo were rushed back to Paxton, but by the time they got there, the graduation ceremony had already ended.
A crowd aware of the situation stuck around, though, and waited for them to arrive. So did administrators and school board members, who made sure that Young and Busby still got to walk the stage and receive their diplomas in front of their community, family and friends.
On Wednesday, June 11, a parent of another trackand field athlete — incoming senior Mason Vaughan — urged the school board to adjust future graduation dates to “make sure that we do everything in our power to avoid that (scenario) next year” and beyond.
“I sat back and watched the Young and Busby families just have a lot of stress,” said Matt Vaughan of Roberts. “Selfishly, I don’t want to see that for my family next year or any families thereafter.”
Since PBL High School’s May 23 graduation ceremony, Vaughan said he has been doing some research to find out the facts behind how it happened, including making “multiple calls” to the IHSA office, PBL High School Athletic Director Brock Niebuhr, PBL High School track-andfield coach Dustin Franckey and officials at Hoopeston Area High School.
Vaughan said his research determined that the IHSA requires sectional track-andfield meets to be held within a three-day span — either a Wednesday, Thursday or Friday — with the host school able to choose “any one of those three days.” In this case, Hoopeston Area chose Friday — the same date as PBL’s graduation.
“All schools that have athletes participating in (a) particular sectional have an opportunity to present conflicts to the host school, which I confirmed that Brock did,” Vaughan said. “He followed everything that he was supposed to do. … But it’s ultimately up to the host school to choose which day they want to hold the sectional. In the case of Hoopeston, they ultimately chose Friday for the sectional despite pleas from PBL to hold it on Wednesday or Thursday.”
While such a scenario can be avoided next school year — as PBL is scheduled to host its own sectional in spring 2026, giving it “the flexibility to do what you want,” Vaughan said — graduation still might be moved from its currently scheduled date of Friday, May 22, 2026, to avoid any potential conflicts for student-athletes. The high school’s principal, Hannah Eshleman, said she is proposing to move graduation to Sunday, May 17, at 2 p.m.
“This would avoid any and all IHSA conflicts — either through baseball or track, which is typically busy during this time of the year,” Eshleman said. “Doing this allows our students to fully participate in all of their academic (and athletic) achievements their senior year, which we know is important. … Most schools in our (athletic) conference do (their graduation ceremonies) on a weekend anyways.”
The board took no immediate action on Eshleman’s proposal.
Other business
Also during the board’s monthly meeting, held in the commons area of PBL Junior High School:
The board voted to accept the resignations of Travis Duley as superintendent, Jaleigh Foster as elementary school special education teacher, Andrea Schumann and Melissa Stone as high school English/language arts teachers, Kerry Wise as junior high school secretary, Cherin Whitaker as elementary school secretary, Hannah Wells as elementary school vocal music teacher and Dustin Franckey as high school head cross country coach.
The board approved the hiring of Hayden Graham as high school assistant football coach, Mark Martin as junior high school assistant baseball coach, Santiago Nasevilla as high school Spanish teacher and Paige Weber as elementary school secretary.
The board approved the reassignments of Jamie Rini from junior high school paraprofessional to junior high school secretary and Cora Echavia from high school math teacher to high school special education teacher.
Assistant Superintendent Tara Chandler said the district’s policy review committee met Tuesday, May 20, to discuss “the most recent Press Plus policies” proposed. Chandler said “most of the changes are involving the roll-back of the Title IX regulations to the 2020 regulations.” In addition, she said, there are “several policies related to artificial intelligence as it relates to education.” Chandler said she will recommend the board’s approval of the new policies in July.
Chandler gave a brief report on summer maintenance projects, including the high school’s repainting project, which is “well under way,” she said; the sealing of cracks in school parking lots, which is scheduled to begin the week of Monday, June 23; and the re-coating of a gymnasium floor, which is expected to be completed during the first week of July.
School principals presented updates on summer school, the extended school year program and the credit recovery program. At PBL Junior High School, summer school is under way and concludes Thursday, June 26, Principal Josh Didier said, and the junior high’s extended school year program runs from Monday, July 14, through Friday, Aug. 1. In the absence of Clara Peterson Elementary School Principal Barry Wright, Didier said the extended school year program at the elementary school had the same schedule of July 14 through Aug. 1. At PBL High School, Eshleman said, “we’re on a similar schedule” with the school’s credit recovery and extended school year programs.
The board approved a food service management contract with Aramark for the 2025-26 school year.
The board approved the induction of Paul Flessner, Jennifer Rheeling and Neal Kottke into the PBL Alumni Hall of Fame this fall. Bios of each appear in the school district’s website. “Congratulations to those folks,” Eshleman said after recommending approval, calling it “a well-deserved honor.”
Chandler said the board should be prepared to vote in July on the approval of an automated external defibrillator and cardiac response plan. Chandler said a compliance audit by the Champaign-Ford Regional Office of Education revealed the need for such a plan to be adopted. The school district’s attorney, Chris Miller of Bloomington, “has provided the district with a revised AED and cardiac response plan that, we feel, better meets the guidelines and requirements that are required,” Chandler said.
The board approved requesting proposals for waste services for the 2025- 26 school year. Proposals are due at 1 p.m. Monday, July 7, Chandler said.
The board approved the renewal of boys’ soccer and boys’ and girls’ golf cooperatives with Rantoul Township High School. According to Chandler, Niebuhr earlier received the Illini Prairie Conference’s approval of the athletic coop renewals. Niebuhr said a potential girls’ soccer co-op with Rantoul for next spring might also be considered later this year as a “conversation for down the road.” Noted Niebuhr: “Rantoul has expressed a (girls’ soccer) cooperative could be a possibility. That isn’t something that has to be done until this winter — to co-op for a spring sport — so we can do some work this fall to solidify the numbers.”
The board approved the leasing of new laptops and desktop computers for staff for the next three years at a cost of $125,189.
The board approved
adding Chandler as an authorized signor to the district’s bank accounts at The Frederick Community Bank and the Bank of Pontiac as of Monday, June 30, and approved removing Duley from those accounts and any financial transactions on behalf of the district as of the same date.
The board approved increasing the assistant superintendent’s credit card limit, from $5,000 to $10,000. As a result of Duley’s resignation, Chandler requested the increase “in order to continue operations as normal for this summer and the upcoming school year.”
The board approved the renewal of the district’s property, casualty and liability insurance policy with ICRMT, effective July 1. The effective date was changed from Sept. 1, Chandler noted, “to be consistent with the district’s fiscal year.” Added Chandler: “The renewal rate of $134,377 is reflective of a 15.81% increase, or $18,347 more in premiums as compared with last year.”
Following a review of the minutes of closed sessions, the board approved not releasing any closed session minutes at this time.
The board’s next regularly scheduled monthly meeting is at 6 p.m. July 9.