Longtime Springfield school board member '99% sure' he won't run for reelection in 2023

Mike Zimmers, who spent nearly four decades in District 186 as a teacher, principal, coach and administrator, said Monday that he is "99% sure" he won't run for reelection for school board in 2023.

Zimmers has represented Subdistrict 4 since 2013. He has also served as board president.

"I figured 10 years is long enough to be on the board, so after my term I'll be moving on," Zimmers said after Monday's board meeting.

Zimmers, who still volunteers at Enos School, said he would like to do more traveling with his wife, Nancy.

Related:What to know about Springfield District 186 using e-learning for 'emergency days'

Former board member Tiffany Mathis said she is "considering representing Subdistrict 4" in light of Zimmers' announcement.

Mathis, the CEO and executive director of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Illinois, was appointed to the board in Subdistrict 5 in 2019 and then lost to Buffy Lael-Wolf in the 2021 election. Mathis recently moved into Subdistrict 4, which represents the city's southwest side.

All seven board seats are up in 2023 because of the decennial Census.

Zimmers said he ran in 2021 because he wanted to see the fruits of the district's 30-year master building plan that is being carried out after Sangamon County voters approved a referendum on a 1% sales tax hike in 2018.

The funds can only be used for facility upgrades or construction, safety improvements or to retire building bonds. That means major facelifts for schools or new construction around the district.

Zimmers was a major proponent of One Sangamon Schools, a political action committee that spearheaded the referendum’s passage.

"We had not passed (any referendum around here) since 1984," Zimmers pointed out. "Our hope that evening was that Springfield would come in at 50-50 and the county would carry us over in that vote. We were totally shocked. It was just the opposite. Springfield kicked butt at about 55% and the county barely passed it, so that did my heart good seeing all the support we had in this community.

"People are stopping me all the time talking about how great it is for these facilities and what this is going to do for Springfield and for the kids. Now that we've gotten a good start, I think I've seen what I wanted to see."

The passing of the referendum, Zimmers said, wasn't the crowning achievement of his time on the board.

That goes to the board's hiring of former educator and administrator Jennifer Gill as superintendent. A product of District 186, Gill replaced Walter Milton Jr. in 2014.

Zimmers, Gill said, was "somebody I looked up to as a young administrator growing up in the process."

In April, Zimmers was presented the Bob Goldman Friend of Education award.

The award, sponsored by the Springfield Education Association, was created in 1997 in honor of Goldman, who had served on the Springfield School Board for more than 20 years when he was killed in an automobile accident that year.

Zimmers said he was appreciative of the award "because it comes from teachers, which is what I was."

Zimmers' daughter, Layne Zimmers, is a longtime District 186 educator. On Monday, she was approved as Franklin Middle School's new administrative intern.

Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788, sspearie@sj-r.com, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: District 186 vice president likely won't run for reelection