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At its December 3 meeting, the Coal City Community Unit School District 1 Board of Education approved the 2025 property tax levy. The Board adopted a levy of $34,901,092, not including bond and interest. This decision was made to anticipate possible additional revenue connected to the GE-Hitachi spent fuel property. The district has filed an assessment complaint with the Board of Review for this property. By setting the full levy now, the district can access extra funds if the property's assessed value rises. After a decision from the Board of Review, the school board may adjust the levy downward if necessary.
The new levy is a 19 percent increase compared to last year’s amount. However, district officials expect that tax bills for homes valued at $200,000 will remain about the same in 2026 as in 2025. The final tax bill depends on both the levy and Equalized Assessed Valuation (EAV). If EAV increases because of a favorable review for GE-Hitachi property, it could offset the higher levy and possibly lower tax rates for taxpayers.
Coal City Community Unit School District 1 serves Grundy and Will counties and includes several schools such as Coal City Early Childhood Center, Coal City Elementary School, Coal City High School, Coal City Intermediate School, and Coal City Middle School (https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/). According to state data from Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE), there are 153 teachers in this district with an average salary of $69,297 before pension contributions; most teachers are women (77.9 percent) while men make up 22.1 percent (https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/). ISBE reports also show that no teacher had more than ten absences in one school year.
Demographically, students enrolled in this district are mostly White (86.9 percent), with smaller percentages identifying as Hispanic (9.6 percent), Black (0.6 percent), or Asian (0.6 percent) according to ISBE statistics (https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/). In terms of finances, in 2020 Coal City CUSD 1 spent $21,619 per student for a total expenditure of $47 million that year (https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/).
In other actions at their December meeting:
- Superintendent Chris Spencer received approval for a new five-year contract extending through his planned retirement in June 2031.
- Samantha Guistat and Samantha Harsh were hired as classroom aides at the Early Childhood Center.
- Volunteer wrestling coaching assignments were approved: Jacob Hiles and Ryan Wazilewski at Middle School; Zach Berman, Joey Breneman, Zach Finch, Bob McGuinn, Nick O’Bert and Brant Widlowski at High School.
- Health Savings Account contributions were provided by the board to various administrators including principals and directors.
- "The Board recognized IHSA State Tennis qualifier Rebecca Hall and the 2025 Boys Soccer Team on its historic year and third place finish at the IHSA State Finals."
- Jennifer Kenney presented standardized test scores for 2025.
- A second reading was held on nearly one hundred revised policies with consideration set for January’s meeting.
- A mid-year graduation request was approved.
- "Board members accepted a donation of $12,823.96 from the Coal City Soccer Club." This donation funds co-ed soccer at Coal City Middle School; it is part of three years’ support from the youth club.
- Jason Smith was reappointed Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and Open Meetings Act officer for calendar year 2026.
- The superintendent discussed planning underway for setting next school year's calendar.
- Information regarding certified staff openings was presented.
Upcoming meetings include a study session scheduled Wednesday December 17th and a regular monthly meeting on January 7th; both start at six p.m., held in the District Administration Center’s board room.
