February 11, 2015

Total of 32 years, Calandrilla, Florey, to leave

by Keith Stewart
keith@newsprogress.com

At their first regular board meeting of the year last month, the Sullivan school district hired two in-house staff members to replace outgoing principals following the completion of this school year.
Sullivan middle school principal Jerry Calandrilla tendered his resignation at last October’s meeting whereas Sullivan elementary school principal Rita Florey announced her retirement at last July’s board meeting.

Allen

Last month the board approved the hiring of Dan Allen and Ted Walk, both Sullivan school district staffers, to replace Florey and Calandrilla, respectively.
Allen has been a high school teacher at Sullivan for 14 years and has served as student council sponsor, scholastic bowl coach, and middle school basketball coach. He was hired after a group of candidates was narrowed to eight and then interviewed.
“I’m really looking forward to this new atmosphere and working with the staff,” said Allen. “One of the biggest reasons my family and I stayed in Sullivan is the staff at all three buildings. I’m confident we’ll give our children a great education, and I’m very excited about working with the elementary teachers. Read More

January 21, 2015

Only two payments expected

by Ariana Cherry
Arthur/Sullivan Reporter

“We’ve received our first payment for transportation and special education, and we are excited about that,” superintendent Kenny Schwengel announced during his treasurer’s report at the ALAH School Board meeting Wednesday, January 15.
The district’s transportation fund had been short for several months, and the district found themselves borrowing money from other sources to help cover costs.
“We’ve had to take money from the education fund to help pay for transportation and special education needs” added Schwengel. Recently the district received a voucher for $11,324.89, although other payments are still to be expected. “We should receive four payments this year, but we will be lucky to see two of them,” noted Schwengel. It was also reported that the district received a voucher of $20,660 for reorganization. The current balance of all the district funds is $6,290,154.05. Read More

January 7, 2015

Electrical system deemed the cause

by Keith Stewart
keith@newsprogress.com

A fire Saturday morning north of Lovington ravaged a motor home that was inside a shed.

According to assistant Hammond fire district chief Gary Gee, his department was dispatched Saturday morning around 8:30 a.m. and upon arrival saw fire and smoke exiting a shed. Read More

January 7, 2015

Final figure to depend on actual EAV yet to be determined

by Keith Stewart
keith@newsprogress.com

The Sullivan school district approved their levy request last month and went with the higher of two levy increases that the board first made public in November.

At their December 18 truth in taxation hearing, which was attended by two members of the public, the board explained the need for the 6.73 percent levy increase request, citing in part the nearly $200,000 lost this year in state aid after the local property value raised considerably while student population fell. Superintendent Brad Tuttle also cited approximately $61,000 in tax money the board recently left on the table after last year’s levy request fell short of the full actual levy amount for which they could have asked.

“Even though we asked for 9.98 (percent levy increase) last year, it came in at 11.90. By us not asking for 11.90, we actually lost $61,000 that we could have recouped,” said Tuttle. “And if you look at the history of our school, we have not received the amount we could have received since 2002.” Read More

December 24, 2014

Camera system estimated around $800

by Derek Pope
Bethany Reporter

At this month’s regular meeting, Bethany village council members decided to delay a vote on the implementation of police body cameras until it is clear whether the state of Illinois itself will act on new legislation concerning them.

Since October, lawmakers have been actively engaged in creating legislation that would govern police use of body cameras, citing an Illinois Supreme Court ruling earlier this year that struck down the state’s current “eavesdropping” law as one of the major hurdles in drafting such legislation. On December 15, however, a new bill that would close the gaps in policy introduced by the Supreme Court’s ruling was sent to the desk of the Governor. Should the bill be approved, lawmakers would presumably resume discussions on police cameras when they return to session January 13 of next year. Read More