Teutopolis School Board Approves Budget; Looks at Future Facility Maintenance Needs

Teutopolis school board members this week approved the annual budget for the school year. Projections show deficit spending in both the Education Fund and the Operations anc Maintenance Fund. Superintendent Matt Sturgeon said the deficit spending in the O&M Fund is largely a matter of summer projects rolling across the fiscal year and maintaining and updating facilities.

Also approved was the state-required 10-Year Health/Life Safety Report as completed by district architect The Upchurch Group. Upchurch representatives discussed facility maintenance needs and potential prioritization over a 15-year period and estimated costs.

The Board hired Glass and Shuffett to do audit work in the coming year and accepted their audit from the past fiscal year; approved a state-required two-year bullying policy review; and approved a three-year agreement for services with Bushue Human Relations. Board members also discussed the potential of conducting an additional school climate and culture survey with staff members. A subcommittee was formed to further investigate the topic.

Sturgeon reported on transportation services, including the addition of a bus driver and the future rollout of a parent portal for monitoring bus pickup and dropoff information; and shared that an After-School program is again being considered and that the District is pursuing the possibility of local partnership as a means to establish the program for students and families. He also updated the Board on a application for Tax Increment Financing funds with the Village of Teutopolis, discussed possible dates for facility open houses and tours, and were updated on a board evaluation subcommittee.

In personnel moves, the Teutopolis board accepted the irrevocable resignation of custodian Zach Wolfe and approved the following hires: Katherine Mette and Cassie Carpenter as co-sponsors of the high school National Honor Society; Fred Stevens as a bus driver; Molly Smith as a volunteer junior high girls basketball coach; Manny Wei and Bob Rynke as split-stipend assistant golf coaches for this school year, and Sue Mills as assistant volleyball coach for this school year, with the hirings of Wei, Rynke and Mills in conjunction with memoranda of understanding with the teachers union.