Unit 40 Board Hikes Substitute Personnel Pay Rates

Effingham Unit 40 school board members this week voted to increase their pay rates for substitute employees.

Unit 40 Superintendent Mark Doan said the pay rate for substitute teachers was increased to $130/day, up from $105/day. Every other substitute pay rate was increased to the amount a regular first-year employee is paid. 

The Board was updated by Doan on COVID testing. The District has switched to the shield testing method, which involves saliva rather than nasal swabs. The tests are being taken building-to-building of both staff members and those students whose parents have given their permission for them to be tested. 

There was discussion about the return to full day employment of district staff members after last year's COVID conditions and a resulting increased workload. The Board decided to add three Student Improvement Days later in the school year. The days will give teachers and other staff members the opportunity to catch up on their workloads.

The Board voted to approve the fiscal year tax levy. Doan said the district tax rate will be the same or lower than in past years. There was also discussion about utilizing Health and Life Safety funds to help pay for roof work at Central Grade School. The District received a $50,000 matching grant to cover a portion of the project cost.

Board members also revisited installing a turf field at Klosterman Field at Effingham High School. Doan said there has been positive response among prospective donors for the project. The project has an estimated price tag of $1.4 million. There has been discussion about an amount Board members would be willing to allocate toward the project, but no decision. 

In personnel moves, the Unit 40 Board hired Kristy Rutledge as a secretary at the junior high school and Katelyn Roderick as a paraprofessional and transferred Stephanie Mitchell to junior high Scholar Bowl coach. Leaves were granted Nancy Ervin, Jacob Jenkins, Courtney Mathews and Alex Wall. Appointments were approved of Wyatt Jones as fresh/soph boys basketball coach, Stacey Walk as junior high assistant Scholar Bowl coach, Deonte King as high school assistant baseball coach, and Weston Peno, Naomi Ochs, Norene Ault, Morgan Pals, Marina Zaring and Abigail Thomas to the after school program at the high school. The Board also accepted resignations from Laurie Graves as a paraprofessional and from Ashlee Barcus as a cafeteria monitor at the Early Learning Center.

The Board also met in closed session this week regarding student discipline matters. Board members voted to expel two students through the end of the first semester of the 2022-2023 school year. The students were referred to alternative education opportunities.