Unit 40 Board Passes Budget, Awards Bids for Roof Work, Tennis Court Reconstruction

Effingham Unit 40 school board members Monday voted to move ahead with re-roofing East Side School and West Side School and with reconstructing the tennis courts at Effingham High School.

The re-roofing work will cost $313,937 with work to be done by Jim Taylor Roofing of Belleville. The gym at East Side will also be re-roofing as part of the project. The option of re-roofing South Side School was rejected for now. Assistant Superintendent Jason Fox said there are concerns that the work might loosen asbestos in the building that could prove to be a health hazard. The re-roofing of West Side will be delayed until the summer months when school is out.

The project will be paid for with health/life safety dollars already on account.

The Board also awarded work to Effingham Asphalt to reconstruct the tennis courts at the high school. The courts have been damaged by ground water. The plan is to install a better base and then install a new surface on the courts. The work will cost $283,280. The Board transferred working cash funds to the operations and maintenance fund to pay for the tennis courts work.

Board members voted to pass a budget for the fiscal year. Fox expects there to be just under $6.5 million remaining in the Education Fund at the end of the fiscal year. That's about $327,000 less than at the end of the past fiscal year. The budget also forecasts about $1,800 more in the Operations and Maintenance Fund, about $41,000 less in the Transportation Fund although that depends on whether the State pays the District all of the funds owed. Due to the fund transfer to pay for the tennis court work, there will be about $256,000 less in the Working Cash Fund.

As to money in the bank this year, operating funds are up close to 2% from a year ago, with over $16.3 million available in all funds.

Superintendent Mark Doan reported that 10th-day districtwide enrollment is down 36 students from a year ago. Doan said the drop is seen in Kindergarten, the junior high and at Central.

Central School Assistant Principal Todd Schuette, who is the District's representative to the Unit 40 Foundation Board, reported that three more scholarships have been committed to be awarded, the Foundation will be represented in the Homecoming Parade Wednesday evening, and that Trick or Trivia, the Foundation's biggest fundraiser, is set for Saturday, October 7th.

We'll talk more about it in Wednesday's news, but the Board heard from three Biology Club students at EHS, members of the Green Team, who gave a presentation with teachers Melissa Habing and Gena McDonald on the district's hydroponics program.

In personnel moves, the Unit 40 Board transferred Paula Bullard to a five-hour cook at the high school; approved leaves for Jordan Adams, Megan Logue, Angela Denoyer and Jalana Robison; and hired Jamie Irwin as a van driver.