Doan says farewell to Unit 40

Jun. 30—Members of the Unit 40 Board of Education said farewell to their superintendent of 11 years this week with a final motion.

"I now entertain a motion and a second to adjourn Mr. Doan's last Unit 40 board meeting at 7:13," Board President Robin Klosterman said before a final roll call. "Motion carries. Meeting adjourned."

Mark Doan, who has served as Unit 40 superintendent of schools for the past 11 years, participated in his last meeting Monday night as Unit 40 superintendent before his retirement on June 30. On Friday, Andy Johnson took over as superintendent.

In a statement earlier in the meeting, Doan said. "I wanted to take this opportunity to thank this board of education and our district and previous board members who took a chance 11 years ago to hire me and allow me to come work for the best school district in southern Illinois. We've done a lot in the last few years, but our staff, our teachers and our administrators are top notch.

"It's been an honor and a privilege and it will take a little bit of adjustment, but as I told Mr. Johnson (Andy Johnson) 'I will be on the west side of the district and if you need something ... Just give me a call,'" he said. "We love Effingham and love Effingham Unit 40 and will continue to support it moving forward.

"I just want to say thank you," said Doan.

"I know the board has really appreciated your insight, experience and knowledge, especially these last few years which was uncharted territory and to lead us through that unscathed," Klosterman said. "We really appreciate what you have done and hope you have a gracious retirement."

In other matters, Assistant Superintendent Jason Fox said due to two major claims outside of the district's control, there will be an increase in the cost of property casualty insurance. He said an uninsured motorist drove his car through the South Side Grade School playground, costing the insurance company $86,000. Another incident involved three juveniles who jumped the fence behind the junior high and vandalized three buses, costing over $20,000 in damages. He said the insurance company paid in full on both claims.

"This year we will see an increase of more than our normal 3 percent," Fox said.

He said there was also an increase in Workman's Comp insurance because the district had more claims than in previous years.

Fox said the district would be paying an extra $46,516 for insurance for fiscal year 2022-23 in the amount of $474,438 up from $427,922. The board voted unanimously to approve the casualty insurance renewal.

In a separate insurance matter, the board approved the renewal of the district's health insurance plan with Blue Cross/Blue Shield.

Fox said the district ended the month of May with a net balance of $24,622,411.84 of which the operating funds made up $22,150,260.34. He said in the education fund they received revenue locally in the amount of $261,654.66, from the State of Illinois $579,377.89 and federal funds in the amount of $182,078.28.

"Recommendations this month would be to reimburse the Imprest account in the amount of $1,620.48 and payment of the bills in the amount of $1,380,986.89," Fox said.

Board members unanimously voted to reimburse the Imprest account and play the bills.

Meanwhile, Fox said the South Side School project was going well.

"They have lowered the ceilings in several classrooms and have installed duct work above the ceilings," Fox said.

He said Grunloh construction will decide if they would be returning in Aug. to put a new roof on South Side School. Fox said Grunloh is awaiting delivery of the materials for the project and if they don't arrive in time Grunloh would wait until next summer to complete the roofing.

Fox said carpeting and painting at the Early Learning Center was going well. He said Unit 40 maintenance personnel were completing the project.

He said the junior high school asphalt project should be finished by next week and the new NEVCO scoreboard for the high school football field should be installed by July 13.

During an amended budget hearing held before the regular meeting, Board President Klosterman said there were no changes to the amended budget since May.

Fox recapped some of the budget numbers for board members. The fiscal year begins July 1 and runs through June 30 of next year..

The board voted unanimously to approve the fiscal year 2022 budget for adoption by the board during their regular meeting and was unanimously adopted by the board during the regular meeting.

In other matters, the board:

—Awarded bids to Prairie Farms for dairy and Alpha Bakeries for bakery goods for the 2022-23 school year.

—Approved the purchase of 840 cases of paper for the 2022-23 school year from Office Depot in the amount of $35,070. Fox said there was a 60 percent increase in the cost of paper over last year.

—Approved a motion to allow incoming Superintendent of Schools Andy Johnson (July 1) to make financial decisions on asphalt related expenditures related for the South Side School and Central School asphalt projects if needed. The move was taken so the asphalt projects can be completed before school starts.

—Approved the annual consolidated district plan to show how the district is spending their federal funding.

—Adopted numerous board policy updates and changes.

Board members approved the following personnel changes:

EMPLOYMENT

Lorrie Siler — Food Service Personnel

Kate Pagel — Food Service Personnel

Kae Hoyt — ESY Occupational Therapist Assistant

Erica McNeely — ESL Teacher

Urban "Sonny" Uptmor — Four Hour Bus Driver

Carolyn Karnes — Food Service Personnel

Chelsea Garcia — ESL teacher

Amanda Probst — Nurse Paraprofessional

Aspen Krietemeyer — Paraprofessional

Catlyn Sawyer — Paraprofessional

Sarah Ueleke — Paraprofessional

LEAVE OF ABSENCE

Morgan Pals — FMLA

RESIGNATION

Julie Flack — Effingham High School Student Council Sponsor

Rawle Persaud — Custodian

Natalie Stortzum — Junior High Cheer Coach

Teresa Riley — Custodian

Marlene Ruholl — Food Service Personnel

APPOINTMENTS

Norene Ault — Freshman Class Sponsor at EHS

Jackie Haarmann — Pep Club Sponsor at EHS

Megan Tylka — Student Council Sponsor at EHS

Sidney Webster — High School Assistant Volleyball Coach

Jeht Wendt — High School Boys Freshman Basketball Coach

Jeff Tonn — Volunteer Boys Basketball Coach

RETIREMENT

Kerri Krischel — Paraprofessional

Charles Mills can be reached at charles.mills@effinghamdailynews.com or by phone at 618-510-9226 or 217-347-7151 ext. 300126.