Union Group Working To Keep Building Trades At Ottawa High

The Building Trades program won’t be going away at Ottawa High School if local laborers have their say.

Illinois Valley Building Trades Council President Steve Conrad says his group has had talks and will continue to talk with school board members and administrators about alternative options for building trades courses. He says board members and Superintendent Matt Winchester have been willing to listen and hopes they can come up with a compromise in the coming months.

Conrad sent a letter to the Ottawa High School Board a week before they cut Building Trades Instructor Dave Keely, asking the board to delay the decision. He understands they faced a deadline in letting teachers know whether they were being kept or not.