Unit 40 School Board Fills Vacancy; Looks to Future

Effingham Unit 40 school board members Wednesday discussed many plans for the future. The Board will move ahead with those plans with a full complement of members after appointing Erica Boone to fill a vacancy. The vacancy occurred due to Scott Volpi's resignation due to a move outside the school district.

Boone was one of six people who applied for the seat on the board. Three of the applicants were interviewed before Boone was appointed.

Also Wednesday, the Board approved an agreement for professional services with BLDD Architects. The firm will be paid a fee not to exceed $15,000 to continue a process begun in recent months involving a 30-person facilitating team. Unit 40 Superintendent Andy Johnson said the group will meet three or four times to get input on long-range planning for the school district. Among those goals is a way to house Grades Pre-K to 5.

One item to be considered is the one-cent sales tax, something that has been embraced in many area counties, but not in Effingham County. Johnson shared the concept at Wednesday's meeting and will again at the February meeting. The plan is to have a resolution on the Board's March meeting agenda endorsing the sales tax. Other county school districts are also considering putting the sales tax back on the ballot.

The Board also approved a project to enhance a library project at Central Grade School. The project was enthusiastically promoted by former Board President Robin Klosterman during her time on the school board. Also approved Wednesday was the purchase of a new website, app, and mass notification system for the school district. Edlio is the vendor for the work at a first year cost of $15,440 and at a cost of $13,940 in each of the following four years.

In personnel moves, the Unit 40 board hired Anthony West, Kenneth Pollum and James Ealy as School Security Officers at a wage of $28/hour, a $3/hour increase. The District's Director of Security Kevin Mante is hopeful of securing three additional officers soon. The Board hired Abbey Armstrong as a 5th grade girls volleyball coach and Becky Quandt as a 6th grade girls volleyball coach; Tia O'Dell as 7th and 8th grade girls B-Team volleyball coach; Celeste Stombaugh as elementary guidance counselor at Central for next school year; Allison Kingery as lead teacher and seasonal help at Little Hearts Early Childhood Center; and Dawn Hootselle and Allison Kingery as Preschool for All teahers at the Little Hearts Early Childhood Center in April 2024.

Leaves of absence were granted Violet Marshall, Donna Gadd, Chelsea Painter, Patricia Phillips and Rene Green.

Resignations were accepted from Kevin McKenna as a network specialist; Taylor Wilks as a special education teacher at Central School; Cheyenne Stewart as a teacher assistant at Little Hearts Early Childhood Center; Cailin Gilpin as paraprofessional at Central School; Danielle Colclasure as Lead Teacher at Little Hearts Early Childhood Center; Nicole Hamilton as paraprofessional at the high school; and Tammy Parks as a paraprofessional at South Side School.