Unit 40 Board Reports on Discipline; Approves New Teacher Contract

Unit 40 Superintendent Mark Doan took time at Monday night's school board to present information regarding discipline practices in the district. Some criticism has been heard at meetings in recent months over procedures and the number of expulsions.

Doan's information illustrated that 94% of the EHS student body did not earn an out-of-school suspension, more than 90% had neither an in-school or out-of-school suspension, and that of those seen in the EHS office for any discipline reason, 51% did not receive any points at all.

The information showed that 83% of the EHS student body did not receive any points and that number includes all issues from tardiness and bus write-ups to expulsion issues. The point system is progressive in nature, so more misconduct leads to additional consequences. In theory, the number of misconduct issues should decrease as student behavior adjusts with the consequences.

Doan's report indicated that less than 20 EHS students had more than five misconduct issues in the past school year. It also showed numbers from nine other school districts. Doan said those districts wouldn't supply the information if they were named. Of those 10 districts, EHS was fourth in number of students suspended, four of eight in in-school suspensions (since some districts don't have in-school suspensions), sixth of 10 in out-of-school suspensions with a majority of those students going through the AIM Program, and ranked ninth of 10 in expulsions. 

The AIM Program is designed to help students change their behavior, help keep students supervised if suspended, and help students gain credit for work missed while suspended. AIM participants can earn 80% credit for work completed; out-of-school suspensions mean 0% credit possible.

The discipline data also showed nine expulsions at EHS this past year. Eight of those were due to violation of the district's drug policy; one was due to point accumulation. Over the last four school terms, 90% of the expulsions were for violations of drug or weapons policies, 8% were for point accumulations, and 2% were for violation of Principal's Probation.

The report also noted that EHS students came to school on a regular basis as the attendance rate for 2013-14 was 96.1%. 

Doan's report came at the end of Monday night's meeting; there were citizens present at the start of the meeting. One parent of former EHS students talked about difficulties her children had in school, there were concerns voiced over the social media policy adopted by the Board, and one individual who doesn't live in the district asked questions about the amended budget and was told that the District has been working for several years to reduce spending to limit spending more than is received in revenue.

Effingham Junior High School Principal Bill Myers reported on work done to reduce the retention rate at his building. Myers said the retention rate was 0.5% and 0.8% in the last two years, after having ranged from 1% to 2% in previous years. He said steps taken have included tutoring after school and reports to home about missing assignments so students can participate in an academic lab to get caught up. 

Myers acknowledged the percentage of students involved is small, but said that if the corrective action is effective and a student doesn't have to be retained, it can save students a year of their academic life.

The Unit 40 Board ratified a three-year contract agreement with the Effingham Classroom Teachers Association that covers this past school year and the next two years. The contract will run though June 30, 2016. 

Financial terms include a step increase for employees in each year of the contract as well as longevity pay for those staff members past the last step increase. The yearly average increase is around 2%. In a written statement released by both groups involved, Doan said, "Effingham Unit 40 has earned an outstanding reputation for providing an excellent education. Our teachers and staff should be commended for their efforts on our students' behalf." ECTA President Rene Green said, "We are pleased that we were able to come to an agreement and feel like we have a better working document for both groups."

The Board also granted 2% pay hikes for administrative salaries for the past school year and for the coming year.

Board members awarded a package for property casualty and Workers Compensation insurance coverage for the coming year at a rate reduction of 2.05%, which will save the District $9,845 over the previous year with better provisions. The total expense is $469,369, of which $294,069 is for Workers Comp coverage.

Doan reported that plans for a manufacturing skills class offered at EHS is set for this fall with two sessions due to the level of interest by students. Separately under development is an occupational skills class to be taught in cooperation with Lake Land College for students throughout Effingham County, with a tentative launch date of 2015-16.

Doan reported that in excess of $1.3 million in scholarships and other awards were presented to EHS students at the school's annual Awards Night.

Several personnel items were acted on at Monday's meeting.

Those hired were:

Katherine Mette and Julie Flack as Co-Student Council sponsors at EHS; Whitney Hill as part-time Chorus teacher at EHS and at the junior high, replacing Zachary Rhines whose resignation was accepted Monday night; Julie Flack as Mustang Outreach sponsor at the junior high; John O'Dell and Lauren Pals as Special Education teachers; Jordan Black as Band Director, replacing Peter Manzi, whose resignation was accepted Monday night; and Juli Peterson as a Nurse Paraprofessional.

Resignations were accepted from:

Charlie Schwerman as boys JV basketball coach; Pam Higgs as EHS cross country coach and junior high track coach; Megan Whitacre as EHS frosh-soph girls basketball coach; Whitney Duncan as JV and varsity assistant softball coach; Ryan Wohltman as boys frosh-soph basketball coach; Christine Killion as a teacher; Lynsie Hoffman and Holly Borton as paraprofessionals; Betty Riechman as cafeteria monitor; and Jeff Tonn as assistant junior high softball coach.

Board members Delbert Soltwedel, Todd Schafer and Jeff Michael were all absent from Monday night's meeting.