(ADDING PERSONNEL MOVES) Unit 40 Board Introduces New App for District

(THE STATE QUALIFYING EFFINGHAM HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS GOLF TEAM; FRONT ROW, ANNA SIGG, AVA BOEHM, MADI STORTZUM, MORGAN KROUSE; BACK ROW, COACH JERRY TRIGG, ANNA HIRTZEL, KENNEDY COLLIER, JAELYN BOONE, ASSISTANT MARK BURGESS)

Effingham Unit 40 school board members Monday got to hear about a new app for the school district.

District Director of Innovation Joe Fatheree said the easiest way to download the app is to go to the school district website. I did on my phone, and here's what I did...scroll down until you get to the display on the new app,..select either the App Store or Google and shop til you find the free app for Effingham Community Schools...load it...install it...enjoy it.

Fatheree said the app can be tailored to obtain information on the school building or buildings in which you're interested, the activities you want to check, the calendar of events, the lunch menus, the athletic schedules; your choice of items.

Fatheree reminded that this is Version 1, and said the app will be updated as improvements are needed and more items can be provided.

The Board saluted Coaches Jerry Trigg and Mark Burgess and the members of the state tournament Effingham Hearts girls golf team, the first EHS girls golf team to reach State. Team members are Kennedy Collier, Ava Boehm, Anna Sigg, Anna Hirtzel, Madi Stortzum, Jaelyn Boone, and Morgan Krouse.

Central School Principal Amy Niebrugge shared about a number of activities in her building, including grant awards, work with HSHS St. Anthony's Memorial Hospital on health issues, and interaction with local veterans who have shared in fifth grade classrooms. That interaction will be capped by the annual 5th Grade Veterans Day observance, set for Thursday, November 7 at 1:30pm.

Recognition was also given South Side Music Teacher Austin Stout, for his work with other music educators at the ILMEA District 5 "Sing, Move, Play, Create" Workshop that gave teachers exposure to various avenues of performance. Stout said the teachers benefitted from professional development hours and said they left happy.

(AUSTIN STOUT)

Assistant Superintendent Jason Fox discussed the tentative fiscal year tax levy. The levy is based in great measure on the school district's Equalized Assessed Valuation that, last year, totaled more than $448 million. The valuation in Unit 40 typically increases. A 3% increase would raise the EAV to just under $462 million. Unit 40's EAV, though, has increased an average of 6% per year. Fox recommended shooting for the 3% increase in EAV and a projected tax rate of 3.5512. The Board will finalize the levy at the regular November meeting.

Unit 40 Superintendent Mark Doan noted that the district's tax rate is the ninth lowest of 223 districts in 35 downstate counties. Doan also said that Teutopolis Unit 50's rate is 14th lowest, Dieterich Unit 30's is 17th lowest, and Beecher City Unit 20's is 23rd lowest. Altamont Unit 10's rate is 42nd lowest of those 223 districts.

The Unit 40 board approved the lease/purchase of seven buses and the disposal of seven current units; purchased two air lift bumper jacks for the bus garage; and received updates from the various board committees recently formed on their activities. The Personnel Committee discussed guidelines for when employees should return to duty after suffering injuries and whether the evaluation tool used should be used for all district employees. The Curriculum Committee discussed a schedule for textbook adoptions, the adoption of a new K-5 Math series, and a Computer Ed curriculum for Grades 3 through 12.

Doan asked board members to be mindful of the growing English as a Second Language population in the district and how those residents could be best served.

In personnel moves, Unit 40 board members hired Kathy Cramsey as assistant transportation director; appointed Colton Booher as varsity high school assistant baseball coach and Jeremy Patnaude as varsity high school assistant wrestling coach; transferred Janice Dougherty to a five-hour cook position at the high school, Lori West to a four-hour cook position at the junior high, and Melvin Haarmann as head custodian at the Early Learning Center; accepted retirements from Gerri Cochran as bookkeeper at the Board office and Charlotte West as a bus aide and cashier; and approved leaves for Jessica Mathis and John Taylor and extended the leave of Dorothy Depoister.

Board member Kathleen Smith was not present for Monday's meeting.