Unit 40 Dress Code Revisited at Tuesday Meeting, But No Vote

Effingham Unit 40 school board members again discussed whether to make changes to the district dress code, but there was no action. The issue was not on the special board meeting agenda, so a vote couldn't be taken, but there was some further discussion.

That was prompted by Superintendent Mark Doan, who said he's reflected on the situation, only as far as the timing of the matter. 

The Board has indicated they would decide on a person to fill a vacancy at their meeting on May 24. Doan said it seems unfair to bring someone in to fill the vacancy and then have a vote on the dress code at that person's first meeting. 

Meanwhile, Doan said they are waiting on input from district teachers on the issue.

Also Tuesday, the Board took action on several personnel items. 

Those hired were Blake Bushue and Jacob Stoneburner as summer seasonal help on the maintenance crew, Taylor Greene as summer seasonal help on the technology crew, Lauren Pals and Kara Huston as extended school year special education teachers, Jenny Castillo and Lauren Hoekstra as extended school year speech language pathologists, and Julie Hodges and Rhonda Flowers as extended school year paraprofessionals.

Jenna Orsborn was transferred to a secretary and cashier position at South Side School; resignations were accepted from Kami Hefner as a teacher at South Side and from Michelle Hinterscher as a teacher at the high school, and approved the retirement of Patricia Hernandez as an ELL teacher as of the end of the current school year.

The Board finalized a contract with CTS for a HVAC project at East Side School, and voted to expel two students through the end of the 2021-2022 school year.