EHS Principal Fox Named Next Asst. Superintendent

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Published on December 21 2015 8:25 pm
Last Updated on December 22 2015 6:41 am
Written by Greg Sapp

 

The Effingham Unit 40 Board of Education has named Effingham High School Principal Jason Fox to succeed Rem Woodruff as assistant superintendent. The change will come when Woodruff retires after the 2016-17 school year.

Effingham Junior High Assistant Principal Kurt Roberts was named by the Board to succeed Fox as Effingham High School principal.

Unit 40 Superintendent Mark Doan said Fox is completing work on his superintendent's certification so has been preparing for the next step up. Doan thinks Roberts is the right choice as EHS principal since he served as a teacher and coach for several years at the high school and has complimented that with his administrator duties at the junior high school.

Both Fox and Roberts gave God credit for giving them the opportunities they've been given. Fox termed it a "bittersweet" moment, in that he's spent 15 of his 17 years in Unit 40 at the high school, but is excited for the opportunity. Both men are pleased that they'll have the additional time to get ready for their new positions.

Also Monday, board members heard from Curriculum Director Michelle Beck on the school district report card from the State Board of Education and on the first year of PARCC testing. The results are on the Unit 40 website. Beck also noted that after years of giving the ACT in Unit 40, the SAT testing system won the state bid, so that's another bit of transition for students and staff to accommodate. She said the goal is to make for a smooth process for staff and students in getting ready for the next round of testing.

Some other findings from the school district's report card:

--49.5% of those living in Unit 40 are classified as low-income

--there is an 11.5% mobility rate among district students and their families, including some students moving in and out of the district are repeat basis

--EHS has a 91.8% graduation rate, compared to a state average of 87.7%

--2.2% of district students are considered homeless

--0.9% of district students have a language other than English as their native language

Also Monday, the board voted to direct the administration to work with the Effingham Sportsbackers to explore the feasibility of a field house on the EHS campus west of the football field. There were questions over the cost of studying the project, but Doan suggested they can make a more informed decision after studying the matter. The building could be used by all sports for practices and for conditioning in the off-seasons for various sports.

Jerry Herrmann was retained to do the district's mowing at the same price as the past three years, and the Board approved a leave of absence for Allen Birch.

Board members also recognized the achievements of EHS senior Avery Braunecker who has finished among the top swimmers in the state in each of her four years in high school, including two state championships as a junior and two second place finishes this year, even though her times this year were better than her state champion times her junior year.

The Board also heard from EHS teacher Joe Fatheree, who is among 50 teachers worldwide in the running for a Global Teaching Prize. Fatheree noted that people he knows the world over want to know more about the Effingham community, not just its schools. He suggested that we don't know how good we have it until we travel elsewhere to see how others have it.