Teutopolis Board Hears About Efforts to Increase Interest in Serving on Board

Teutopolis school board members are working to generate interest in serving on the board by seeking input from past board members.

The current school board Monday heard information on an effort by the Teutopolis MAPPING Program to foster interest. A forum is being developed for Thursday, October 29 by a MAPPING sub-group focusing on education. The goal is to bring together past school board members to encourage more participation.

The effort is in response to recent elections where districts, including Teutopolis, have had a tough time getting enough candidates to fill the available seats, much less have a contested election.

Also Monday, the Board approved the Limitation of Administrative Cost Waiver Application. If granted, the District can exceed the 5% cap placed on increases in administrative expenditures. The Teutopolis district is pursuing the waiver since they have gone from a part-time superintendent to a full-time superintendent. Deb Philpot had worked on a part-time basis following Bill Fritcher's resignation. Matt Sturgeon is working as a full-time superintendent.

The Board authorized Sturgeon to work on a tentative tax levy for the coming fiscal year for review at the November meeting.

Board members were also updated on progress on renovation work at the high school building. In personnel moves, the Teutopolis board hired Holly Herboth as Student Services Counselor for the grade school and the junior high school, and hired Amber Rose as a four-hour per day cook at the junior high school.