Unit 40 Board Amends Discipline Policy to Comply w/New State Law

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Published on April 25 2016 11:37 pm
Last Updated on April 26 2016 9:48 am
Written by Greg Sapp

(EHS STUDENT SHAYNA PHILLIPS, FLANKED BY DAD GLEN AND MOM JENI, WAS RECOGNIZED BY THE UNIT 40 BOARD AS A "GOLDEN APPLE AWARD" RECIPIENT)

The Effingham Unit 40 Board of Education Monday approved changes in the district discipline policy to comply with a new state law.

Senate Bill 100 ends "zero tolerance" policies and fines for students who fail to comply. Now, if a student is disciplined, the matter can go before the school board for a hearing. Also, a student can work back toward 100% vesting in the curriculum; Superintendent Mark Doan said students up to now could get back to 70% to 80%.

In the case of substance abuse, points can be assessed against a student, but the student can request a hearing before the Board over the issue.

Additionally, in the case of sports and discipline, the new guidelines read that if a student commits an infraction during football season and it isn't served during that season, a student can't just go out for a spring sport, serve the suspension, and then quit the spring sports team. Under new guidelines, students will have to go out for the spring sport at the start of the season and have to finish the season in good standing to serve out the suspension.

Ironically, Unit 40 Superintendent Mark Doan presented a report Monday on discipline in the district during this school year. Doan said there have been 11 expulsions this year, down from 28 last year. Also, there have been 37 suspensions this year, down from 91 last year.

Also Monday, Doan reported the Unit 40 Foundation agreed to fund $3,825 in teacher grant requests, and granted 38 scholarships, half of which were funded by the Foundation; Unit 40 enrollment is down 41 students from last year, about the same drop as has been seen for most of the school year; the Board agreed to offer student accident insurance, but will no longer pay for it, after the price tag rose to more than $50,000 for the coming year; approved paying $1,380.40 for catastrophic injury insurance; and hired Glass and Shuffett to audit the books from the past fiscal year for $17,250.

The Board heard that the balance of district funds is up 6% from last year, in part due to the sale of working cash bonds. The district will use the bond revenue to make a payment this fall. The balance of the operating funds is up 6.2% from last year.

Board members also recognized Shayna Phillips. The EHS senior is a Golden Apple Scholar Award recipient. The daughter of Glen and Jeni Phillips, Shayna will serve five years in an Illinois school district following graduation, but will receive instruction and mentoring in preparation for her service, to be offered during the summer months while she is in college. She is headed for DePaul University for instruction this summer.