{"id":40956,"date":"2026-06-22T18:42:16","date_gmt":"2026-06-22T23:42:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/?p=40956"},"modified":"2026-06-23T06:22:35","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T11:22:35","slug":"unit-40-school-board-ratifies-three-year-contract-w-district-support-staff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/local-news\/40956-unit-40-school-board-ratifies-three-year-contract-w-district-support-staff\/","title":{"rendered":"Unit 40 School Board Ratifies Three-Year Contract w\/District Support Staff"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"image_print\"Print<\/span><\/a><\/div>

The Effingham Unit #40 Board of Education Monday approved a three-year contract with the Effingham Educational Support Professionals Association.<\/p>\n

The contract is retroactive to the 2025-2026 school year and will also cover the coming two school years and will include 5% pay hikes each year as well as health benefits.<\/p>\n

Also Monday, Superintendent Andy Johnson shared that enrollment for the coming year is at 2,045 students with an anticipated total enrollment of 2,300, about the same as the number at the close of the past school year. The Board also approved property\/casualty, cyber, and worker’s compensation insurance coverage at a total cost of $505,490. That’s about $23,000 more, or 4% more than last year.<\/p>\n

Board members spent just over $30,000 on transportation software devices. Johnson said the equipment will be available on every bus. He said regular drivers might not want to use the software, but said it will be there for those who do want to use it and will be there when substitute drivers need to take a route. The Board also extended a data agreement with Bendi Investments for the coming school year, and agreed to seek bids for preventive maintenance of HVAC equipment in all buildings.<\/p>\n

The Board approved a final amended budget for the current fiscal year that includes $263,000 deficit in a budget of well over $30 million.<\/p>\n

In personnel moves, the Unit 40 board took these actions:<\/p>\n

EMPLOYMENT:<\/strong>
\nBarb Mueller ESY Bus Driver – Summer 2026
\nJackie Jones 3 Hr. Cook at EJHS for the 2026-27 School Year
\nJulie Buckman 6 Hr. Cook at EJHS for the 2026-27 School Year
\nMarissa Levitt Health Care Supervisor for the 2026-27 School Year
\nKaleena Knaus 5th Grade VB Coach for the 2026-27 School Year
\nDrew Deters HS Assistant Soccer Coach for the 2026-27 School Year
\nMadison Thompson HS Freshman Class Sponsor for the 2026-27 School Year
\nJennifer Fouts Assistant Principal at CGS for the 2026-27 School Year
\nLeah Hanfland LBS1 Teacher at EHS for the 2026-27 School Year
\nNathan Delks Mid-Day PreK Bus Driver
\nDustin Draear AM & PM Bus Driver
\nKelli Robertson AM & PM Special Needs Bus Driver
\nVOLUNTEERS:<\/strong>
\nJohn Winters HS Varsity Boys Asst. Basketball Coach for the 2026-27 School Year
\nChad Harminson HS Bass Fishing Coach for the 2026-27 School Year
\nJoel Deters HS Bass Fishing Coach for the 2026-27 School Year
\nTRANSFER:<\/strong>
\nAdriana Monnet 6 Hr. Cook at EHS for the 2026-27 School Year
\nDonna Gadd 3 Hr. Cook at EHS for the 2026-27 School Year
\nHeath Rauch Head Custodian at CGS
\nRESIGNATION:<\/strong>
\nQuenten Austin HS Boys Track Coach
\nGarrett Wolfe 6th Grade Boys Basketball Coach
\nKyle Bourgeois HS Varsity Assistant Baseball Coach
\nBryan West Director of Transportation
\nBrigette Brown Teacher Assistant at LHECC
\nRETIREMENT:<\/strong>
\nPeggy Haarmann Warehouse – March 2027
\nKurt Roberts EHS Principal – June 2029
\nSusan Kinkelaar Bus Driver – December 2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Effingham Unit #40 Board of Education Monday approved a three-year contract with the Effingham Educational Support Professionals Association. The contract is retroactive to the 2025-2026 school year and will […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":2424,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40956","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nUnit 40 School Board Ratifies Three-Year Contract w\/District Support Staff - Effingham's News and Sports Leader, 979XFM and KJ Country 102.3<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Effingham's News and Sports Leader\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/local-news\/40956-unit-40-school-board-ratifies-three-year-contract-w-district-support-staff\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Unit 40 School Board Ratifies Three-Year Contract w\/District Support Staff - 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